Are You Influenced by Political Advertising?
April 28th, 2008 by Bob Bly
According to an article in the Daily News (4/28/08, p. 8), the two Democratic front runners have spent a record $110 million on TV commercials — $70 million for Obama and $40 million for Hillary.
I know next to nothing about political advertising, but it seems to me these ads can influence voters in 3 different ways:
1–Give the candidate more air time — so he or she is always on the voter’s mind.
2–Present the candidate’s views — so that voters who support those views will vote for him or her.
3–Communicate the candidate’s personality and values — to make voters like him or her.
Do the TV commercials for Obama and Hillary have these or any other effect on you?
Or do you form your opinions of the candidates based on input from other sources — and if so, which?
This entry was posted on Monday, April 28th, 2008 at 4:39 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
April 28th, 2008 at 4:54 pm
I read the newspapers and listen to talk radio.
April 28th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
We’re Tivo’d to the hilt here, so I don’t see them. Haven’t skipped over any that I’ve felt compelled to watch either (which brings up another subject - how to create visual ads that are compelling during a DVR time-shift.. compelling enough to make the user back up and watch the whole thing.. I’ve done this with other creative commercials). On another note, this seems to be one of the problems with prez campaigns.. The cost of TV advertising - to reach masses - is way to high for entry into the fray. All we get is candidates who are experts at raising money and connecting to “sponsors.”
April 29th, 2008 at 6:59 am
Phil: If TV advertising is critical to getting elected, than the U.S. president must necessarily be either wealthy or have a better fundraising team than his rivals.
April 29th, 2008 at 7:25 am
True. I’m hoping for a day when the fragmentation of media is further along, and TV is less influential.
April 29th, 2008 at 9:04 am
My eyes glaze over any time I see a political ad. They’re so simplistic and transparently manipulative that I find most of them to be sort of offensive. If I see one, I make a mental game of trying to analyze the strategy they’re using to “influence.” I like to think that they don’t sway my opinion. I try to form my opinions by hearing the candidates speak “unedited”–on C-Span, for example. I was lucky enough to see Obama in person before he was elected to the Senate. He spoke at length on the separation of church and state. His eloquence was powerful.
April 29th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Sick and tired of that so called Public Relation. It is just nothing but brain wash.
But one must admit - they do it professionally
thanks!
April 29th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
Was there a fourth influential nature of these ads: to badmouth the competition?
I don’t pay attention to the ads. (I DO enjoy the debates however.) It seems most of us don’t, because we don’t trust the message or have found a way to defeat the medium (TiVo).
But this is an educated demographic: Internet savvy, able to type clearly, interested in the underlying facets of marketing as it pertains to the presidency. Most likely well-read and have some level of college education.
It would be interesting to see how many votes $70M gets you compared to $40M. What’s the ROI and what demographic is it affecting the most? Is anybody polling that?
April 29th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
Craig: Yes, badmouthing — negative advertising — should be the fourth item on the list. I missed it. Also, your comments have a broader implication: that TV commercials are diminishing in importance as an advertising and communications medium. Many articles I’ve read in marketing publications agree with that view.
April 30th, 2008 at 7:28 am
If I’m already behind a candidate, I simply filter out anything negative an opposition advertisement says about him or her. I know what their intention is with the negative ad, so I just dig in my heels.
I don’t get my information from newspapers or television. Frankly, I don’t trust them to give me the straight goods. I listen to talk radio, do my own research, and pull in selected news from sources that have demonstrated that they are trustworthy.
May 2nd, 2008 at 12:55 pm
Political ads = spin. There’s no substance, no meat to them, they’re as puffy as cola ads.
Do they influence? Hell yea! They influence the mass of non-critical thinkers who rarely read. That the vast majority, unfortunately.
That is why those who would be best to govern are not interested in running. It’s more a game of celebrity than depth.
May 2nd, 2008 at 1:10 pm
Sorry for the poor spelling/grammar in my post. In the future I will proof 1st.
May 12th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
with the liberal media, i tend to think less of candidates that get a lot of air time.