Political Advertising and Persuasion in the 2004 and 2008 Presidential Elections

The 2008 presidential election was historic in many respects. The campaign included the first African American major-party candidate, and neither candidate was an incumbent president or vice president. In addition, one candidate took public funding and the other candidate did not. This latter dispar...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American politics research 2010-03, Vol.38 (2), p.303-329
Main Authors: Franz, Michael M., Ridout, Travis N.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Advertising
African Americans
Campaign expenditures
Comparative analysis
Comparative studies
Elections
Electoral campaign financing
Electoral campaigning
Financing methods
McCain, John
Obama, Barack
Persuasion
Political advertising
Political analysis
Political campaigns
Political marketing
Presidential elections
Presidents
U.S.A
Vice Presidents
Voters
Voting
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Summary:The 2008 presidential election was historic in many respects. The campaign included the first African American major-party candidate, and neither candidate was an incumbent president or vice president. In addition, one candidate took public funding and the other candidate did not. This latter disparity resulted in an imbalance of resources across the two campaigns, especially in the purchase of political advertising. But did that imbalance matter for who won? Did advertising move voters, and if so, by how much? This article examines patterns of presidential ad buys in 2008 and compares them with presidential ad buys in 2004. It also examines the impact of advertising on county-level vote returns in both years. The results demonstrate some important differences in advertising patterns across years, especially in terms of ad sponsorship and market-level advertising advantages. We also find significant and strong advertising persuasion effects in 2008.
ISSN:1532-673X
1552-3373
DOI:10.1177/1532673X09353507