Political Identity and Preference for Supplemental Educational Programs

The market for supplemental educational programs (SEPs)—tutorials, educational materials, summer programs—has burgeoned. Thus, it is important to understand factors that may influence parents’ choices for SEPs. This article examines how parents’ political identity affects their preference for SEPs contingent on their focus on self. Using two main educational orientations—conformance orientation and independence orientation—the authors argue that SEPs with conformance-oriented pedagogy may be preferred more by conservative parents due to their higher need for structure. This association of political identity with preference for SEPs is moderated by self-focus. Counterintuitively, when using political orientation to target messages for SEPs, firms should frame messages to focus parents on themselves for identity-consistent effects to manifest. Five studies, including a field study, test this theorizing and replicate key results using different measures of political identity and self-focus.