Attack Ads Research Articles

The role of gender in ‘'attack ads: “ Revisiting negative political advertising

An experiment was designed to examine the relationship between candidate gender and the impact of negative political ads on perceptions of the sponsoring candidate and the likelihood of voter support. Gender of candidate sponsor (M/F) and opponent target (M/F) were manipulated in the 2×2 between subjects design. Subjects listened to one of four negative political campaign radio spot ads differing only in the names of the sponsoring candidate and targeted opponent. Results indicated that there was a significant difference in subjects’ attitudes toward and likelihood to vote for the candidate sponsor of a negative ad depending on the gender of both the sponsor and the opponent target candidate. Specifically, respondents rated the candidate sponsors of negative political ads significantly more positively and were more likely to vote for the sponsor when the ads were directed against an opponent of the opposite sex.

Broadcast Adwatch Effects

Several national news networks adopted a strategy for responding to misleading, attack ads during the presidential campaign of 1992. These were called adwatches. The adwatches evaluated the content of political commercials for errors and deceptive and misleading claims. They did so, not simply by replaying the offending material and then offering commentary, but rather by interrupting the ad with commentary and repositioning the ad on the screen. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of the adwatch on people's attitudes toward the source of the ad, the target of the ad, the ad itself, and recall and interpretation of the ad's content. A field experiment was conducted to evaluate overall effects of the adwatch procedures on an ad generated by the Buchanan campaign during the Michigan primary. The ad attacked the credibility of George Bush and his advisers. Particular formats were also tested. The adwatches affected attitudes toward the source of the ad and toward the perceived fairness and importance of the ad. Adwatches did not affect attitudes toward the object of the attack ad nor interpretation of the ad's content. Education interacted with experimental condition such that interpretations of the ad by the least well-educated portion of the sample were adversely affected by the adwatches in contrast to the better educated.

The ethics of political marketing practices, the rhetorical perspective

Negative “attack ads” used in political compaigns have been attacked as being unethical because they contribute to voter cynicism and apathy and as being manipulative. From a rhetorical perspective these advertisements serve a positive societal function by creating alternative rhetorical visions that can contribute to the marketplace of ideas.

News verdicts, the debates, and presidential campaigns

Preface Introduction Study Design and Rationale Network Television News Coverage of the Debates, 1976 to 1988 Candidate Verdicts in Post-Debate Analysis Programs Journalists and the Idea of Presidential Debates The First Bush-Dukakis Debate: Face-To-Face Contact The Quayle-Bentsen Debate: A Verdict Effect? The Final Presidential Debate: October 13, 1988 Debates in the Eyes of the Audience The Audience Responds to Attack Ads Debates in the Context of the Rest of the Campaign Appendix Bibliography Index

Tobacco foes attack ads that target women, minorities, teens, and the poor

Tobacco foes attack ads that target women, minorities, teens, and the poor

Tobacco Foes Attack Ads That Target Women, Minorities, Teens, and the Poor

FROM GHETTOS to ski slopes, tobacco advertisements are coming down. Advocates for minors, minorities, women, and the poor are on the offensive, scoffing at tobacco company claims that cigarette promotions are not aimed at the groups most at risk for acquiring nicotine addiction. Antismoking activists are adopting what they see as the industry's own tactics, moving away from wide-angle warnings about the long-term health threats and focusing instead on specific brands, the smoker's self-image, and the short-term social consequences, in messages tailored to specific groups. We've done a good job of reaching middle-class white America, but not the groups most at risk, says American Cancer Society (ACS) spokesman Steve Dickinson. So new ACS ads twist the tobacco industry's images of success and sophistication. As a beautiful, dark-skinned woman smoking a cigarette becomes covered with a gloppy substance, the ad asks, If what happened on your insides happened on your outsides,