When negative political ads work

University of Miami professor examines when and how negative campaigns ads are effective

2012-10-24

(Press-News.org) Televised political advertising takes up a large portion of campaigns budgets. Much of it is spent on negative political ads. But do these negative ads work? A new study by Juliana Fernandes, assistant professor of strategic communication at the University of Miami (UM), shows that a negative political ad is most effective when it's shown in moderation. The findings reveal that massive exposure to a negative ad has a backlash effect on the evaluation of the sponsor candidate. "People will be more likely to appreciate and vote for the candidate that is sponsoring the negative advertisement, if the ad is presented in a spaced-out manner, over time," "says Fernandes, a UM School of Communication professor. "A candidate that doesn't have a large budget for political advertising can use the same advertising over and over again; but in a way that is more strategic." In the study, university students participated in two separate tests. First, 150 participants watched the repetition of a 30-second negative political ad of candidates that were likely unknown to participants (one, three, or five exposures). The ads were presented sequentially, characterizing the presentation as massive. The results show that evaluation and the likelihood of voting for the sponsor candidate was highest when the participants were exposed to the ad three times and lowest when they were exposed to the ad five times. In the second test, 306 university students watched advertisements of unknown candidates within a 30 minute television program, with varying time intervals between ad repetitions. Afterwards participants filled out questionnaires to evaluate the sponsor and the attacked candidates, as well as the likelihood of voting for them. The results indicate that larger time intervals between repetitions of the ad favor the evaluation of the sponsor candidate and disfavor the evaluation of the target candidate. This was true even with increased repetition, suggesting that the sponsor candidate can avoid the backlash effect by allowing larger time intervals between ad exposures. "In my study I show that negative political ads do work under certain conditions," Fernandes says. "I think they can help the political process, because people can look at some facts, process the information more carefully and later on--when people cast their votes--they can make an informed decision." The study is titled "Effects of Negative Political Advertising and Message Repetition on Candidate Evaluation" The findings will be published in March of 2013, in the journal Mass Communication and Society. In the future Fernandes would like to investigate valance variation, such as what happens when there are repeated negative and positive political ads and when there are negative ads sponsored by opposing candidates. She would also like to analyze the possible effects of individual variables, such as gender and party affiliation.

### The University of Miami's mission is to educate and nurture students, to create knowledge, and to provide service to our community and beyond. Committed to excellence and proud of our diversity of our University family, we strive to develop future leaders of our nation and the world. www.miami.edu

The School of Communication prepares forward-thinking, analytical and responsible communication professionals for success in a global society. The School offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in advertising, cinema, communication studies, interactive media, journalism and public relations, with a total current enrollment of approximately 1100 students and 58 full-time faculty members

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Urgent need to expand use of shingles vaccine and treat shingles-related pain

2012-10-24

New Rochelle, NY, October 24, 2012–Shingles, a reactivation of the herpes zoster (chickenpox) virus affects nearly 1 in 3 Americans. About 1 million cases are diagnosed each year, with some patients suffering excruciating pain and itching due to post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN), a complication of the viral infection that can last for years despite treatment. The latest information on shingles and PHN, including a new, improved vaccine to prevent shingles and alternative therapies to control symptoms, are discussed in a special focus section in Population Health Management, ...

100 million-year-old coelacanth fish discovered in Texas is new species from Cretaceous

2012-10-24

VIDEO: A fossil discovered in Texas is a new species of coelacanth fish. Paleontologist John Graf, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, identified the skull as a 100 million-year-old coelacanth, making it the... Click here for more information. Pieces of tiny fossil skull found in Fort Worth have been identified as 100 million-year-old coelacanth bones, according to paleontologist John F. Graf, Southern Methodist University, Dallas. The coelacanth has one of the longest ...

'Grassroots' neurons wire and fire together for dominance in the brain

2012-10-24

PITTSBURGH—Inside the brain, an unpredictable race—like a political campaign—is being run. Multiple candidates, each with a network of supporters, have organized themselves into various left- and right-wing clusters—like grassroots political teams working feverishly to reinforce a vision that bands them together. While scientists know that neurons in the brain anatomically organize themselves into these network camps, or clusters, the implications of such groupings on neural dynamics have remained unclear until now. Using mathematical modeling, two researchers from the ...

Fossil study helps pinpoint extinction risks for ocean animals

2012-10-24

Durham, NC – What makes some ocean animals more prone to extinction than others? A new study of marine fossils provides a clue. An analysis of roughly 500 million years of fossil data for marine invertebrates reveals that ocean animals with small geographic ranges have been consistently hard hit — even when populations are large, the authors report. The oceans represent more than 70% of the Earth's surface. But because monitoring data are harder to collect at sea than on land, we know surprisingly little about the conservation status of most marine animals. By using ...

New vitamin-based treatment that could reduce muscle degeneration in muscular dystrophy

2012-10-24

Boosting the activity of a vitamin-sensitive cell adhesion pathway has the potential to counteract the muscle degeneration and reduced mobility caused by muscular dystrophies, according to a research team led by scientists at the University of Maine. The discovery, published 23 October in the open access journal PLOS Biology, is particularly important for congenital muscular dystrophies, which are progressive, debilitating and often lethal diseases that currently remain without cure. The researchers found that they could improve muscle structure and function in a zebrafish ...

Scientists propose revolutionary DNA-based approach to map the wiring diagram of the brain

2012-10-24

A team of neuroscientists have proposed a new and potentially revolutionary way of determining the neuronal connectivity (the "connectome") of the whole brain of the mouse, in an essay published October 23 in the open access journal PLOS Biology. The team, led by Professor Anthony Zador, Ph.D. of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, aims to provide a comprehensive account of neural connectivity. At present the only method for obtaining this information with high precision relies on examining individual cell-to-cell contacts (synapses) by electron microscopy. But such methods ...

Precisely targeted electrical brain stimulation alters perception of faces, Stanford study finds

2012-10-24

STANFORD, Calif. — In a painless clinical procedure performed on a patient with electrodes temporarily implanted in his brain, Stanford University doctors pinpointed two nerve clusters that are critical for face perception. The findings could have practical value in treating people with prosopagnosia — the inability to distinguish one face from another — as well in gaining an understanding of why some of us are so much better than others at recognizing and remembering faces. In a study to be published Oct. 24 in the Journal of Neuroscience, the scientists showed that ...

Men with certain cardiovascular risk factors may be at increased risk of peripheral artery disease

2012-10-24

CHICAGO – Among nearly 45,000 men who were followed up for more than two decades, those with the risk factors of smoking, hypertension, high cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes had an associated greater risk of developing PAD, according to a study in the October 24/31 issue of JAMA. "Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is a distinct atherosclerotic syndrome marked by stenosis or occlusion [blockage] of the arteries, particularly of the lower extremities. PAD affects 8 to 10 million individuals in the United States, and is associated with reduced functional capacity and increased ...

Most large treatment effects of medical interventions come from small studies

2012-10-24

CHICAGO – In an examination of the characteristics of studies that yield large treatment effects from medical interventions, these studies were more likely to be smaller in size, often with limited evidence, and when additional trials were performed, the effect sizes became typically much smaller, according to a study in the October 24/31 issue of JAMA. "Most effective interventions in health care confer modest, incremental benefits," according to background information in the article. "Large effects are important to document reliably because in a relative scale they ...

Mechanical ventilation at lower level among patients without lung injury linked with better outcomes

2012-10-24

CHICAGO –Among patients without acute respiratory distress syndrome, protective mechanical ventilation with use of lower tidal volumes (the volume of air inhaled and exhaled during each breath) was associated with better outcomes including less lung injury, lower mortality, fewer pulmonary infections and a shorter hospital length of stay, according to a meta-analysis of previous studies, reported in the October 24/31 issue of JAMA. "Mechanical ventilation is a life-saving strategy in patients with acute respiratory failure. However, unequivocal evidence suggests that ...

Wiley advances Knowitall Solutions with new trendfinder application for user-friendly chemometric analysis and additional enhancements to analytical workflows

When negative political ads work

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: