Now that you mention it, I think this does occur, although I think most of the judgement is directed at the ‘signaller’ (or in my language ‘panderer’) for being vain or duplicitous, although I don’t like saying I’m offended by it (“Offense is a sign of a weak and bourgeois mind” says my inner Dali.)
I think that ‘pandering’ does carry the connotations of how ‘signalling’ is used, but I’m happy to accept alternatives. One I can think of right away is “appealing to”, and I’d be happy to switch from ‘pandering’ to ‘appealing’ if you like.
Now that you mention it, I think this does occur, although I think most of the judgement is directed at the ‘signaller’ (or in my language ‘panderer’) for being vain or duplicitous, although I don’t like saying I’m offended by it (“Offense is a sign of a weak and bourgeois mind” says my inner Dali.)
I think that ‘pandering’ does carry the connotations of how ‘signalling’ is used, but I’m happy to accept alternatives. One I can think of right away is “appealing to”, and I’d be happy to switch from ‘pandering’ to ‘appealing’ if you like.
“Influencing” is pretty neutral, if not very specific. “Exploiting the halo effect” is too long, but precise.