Does Political Advertising Persuade?

Well over $1 billion was spent on televised political advertising in the U.S. in 2004. Given the ubiquity of the 30 second spot, one might presume that ads must affect viewers' vote choices. Somewhat surprisingly, though, scholars have yet to make much progress in confirming this claim. In this...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Political behavior 2007-12, Vol.29 (4), p.465-491
Main Authors: Michael M. Franz, Ridout, Travis N.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Advertising
Advertising research
Mass Media Effects
Original Paper
Persuasion
Political advertising
Political Attitudes
Political Campaigns
Political candidates
Political partisanship
Presidential elections
Television
United States Senate
Voting
Voting Behavior
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Summary:Well over $1 billion was spent on televised political advertising in the U.S. in 2004. Given the ubiquity of the 30 second spot, one might presume that ads must affect viewers' vote choices. Somewhat surprisingly, though, scholars have yet to make much progress in confirming this claim. In this paper, we leverage a comprehensive dataset that tracks political ads in the nation's top media markets and a survey of presidential and U.S. Senate voters in 2004. We ask whether exposure to presidential and Senate advertising influences voters' evaluations of candidates and the choices that they make at the ballot box. In the end, we find considerable evidence that advertising persuades-and that its impact varies depending on the characteristics of the viewer.
ISSN:0190-9320
1573-6687
DOI:10.1007/s11109-007-9032-y