Do boots and a truck make candidates Republican?

Voters now associate brands and lifestyle choices with each partisan side, meaning candidates can use ostensibly non-political signals like attending NASCAR and eating Chick-fil-a to show their loyalties. When do these candidate symbols translate into ideological reputations? Can candidates use the other parties' symbols to attract their voters? Levi Allen finds that voters can intuit partisanship from symbols like cowboy boots and a truck but rely more on partisan and policy information when it is available. Yet a Republican candidate drinking Starbucks and driving a Prius can cost him with Republicans without helping him with Democrats.