Online image content analysis of political figures: an exploratory study

Abstract

This study investigates the emotional content of facial images of South Korean politicians. The data were drawn from official websites of 18th National Assembly members. We categorized facial expressions (smiling, frowning, and no expression) by using photos on the websites. The smiling image was the most prevalent facial expression regardless of the socio-political-demographic attributes of the politicians. The existence and strength of the smiling image had significant positive correlations with the politicians' web visibility. Opposition parties were significantly more likely to show frowning or expressionless images than the ruling party. The more experienced politicians were more likely to continue their use smiling images than similarly aged politicians with less experience.