The Issue Focus of Online and Television Advertising in the 2016 Presidential Campaign

Theories of campaign issue emphasis were developed in a pre-digital era. How well do these theories explain spending in the current era, when digital media allow for targeting of specific types of voters? In this research, we compare how the 2016 campaigns, both primary and general election, deploye...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American politics research 2020-01, Vol.48 (1), p.175-196
Main Authors: Franz, Michael M., Franklin Fowler, Erika, Ridout, Travis, Wang, Meredith Yiran
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Campaigns
Candidates
Digital media
Expenditures
Internet
Mass media
Online advertising
Political advertising
Presidential elections
Primaries & caucuses
Profiles
Television
Television advertising
Voters
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Summary:Theories of campaign issue emphasis were developed in a pre-digital era. How well do these theories explain spending in the current era, when digital media allow for targeting of specific types of voters? In this research, we compare how the 2016 campaigns, both primary and general election, deployed television advertising with how they deployed online advertising. We suggest that, because online messages are targeted to specific viewer profiles much more than television messages, television ads should be more likely to discuss highly salient issues and valance issues than online ads. To test these ideas, we rely upon data from the Wesleyan Media Project, which tracked all televised political ads that aired in 2016, and our coding of data from Pathmatics, a company that tracks online advertising. We find, contrary to our expectations, that the predictors of issue discussion online and on television are largely similar.
ISSN:1532-673X
1552-3373
DOI:10.1177/1532673X19875722