How do candidate poll ranking and election status affect the effects of negative political advertising?
Journal
International Journal of Advertising
Journal Volume
29
Journal Issue
5
Pages
815-834
Date Issued
2010
Author(s)
Chou, Hsuan-Yi
Abstract
Many studies examine the effects of negative political ads, but results remain inconclusive. This controversy may be attributed to the contextual effects of sponsored-candidate characteristics. This research explores the potential impact of an ad sponsor’s poll ranking (leader/laggard) and status (incumbent/challenger) on voters’ responses to negative political ads. Across high and low elective knowledge contexts, the experimental results indicate: (1) poll results have positive effects on voters’ candidate attitudes or voting intentions, in support of the bandwagon effect; (2) the leader in polls, compared with the laggard, can use negative ads to generate better cognitive and candidate responses; (3) negative political ads sponsored by the incumbent elicit better cognitive responses than do those sponsored by the challenger; and (4) an interactive relationship between candidate poll ranking and status affects voters’ cognitive responses to negative political ads. The implications of these findings are discussed.
Type
journal article