The Effects of Television Political Advertising on Image Components of the Same Candidate : Focusing on Changes in Accordance with the Different Election Campaigns

Abstract

This study examined the effects of television political advertising on voters’ candidate image changes based on the experimental study during the 1997, the 2002 and the 2007 presidential election campaigns. The main purpose of this study was not to find out the effects of whole candidate image, but to find out the effects of respective image components on young voters among the 1997, the 2002 and the 2007 campaigns.BR The results showed that the factor structures of candidate image were significantly different among the 1997, the 2002 and the 2007 campaigns. The results also revealed that the changes in candidate image components influenced voters’ intention to vote for the advertised candidate(Lee, Hoe-Chang) and emotional responses to the candidate among the 1997, the 2002 and the 2007 campaigns. Contrary to the previous study findings, political advertising showed less influence on candidate image component changes in the 1997 and the 2007 than in the 2002 campaign in which Lee, Hoe-Chang, presidential candidate was conspicuous to most voters. In conclusion, candidate image was proved to be not a static one, but a variable concept in accordance with the lapse of time.