In the final stretch before Nov. 4th, both the Obama and McCain camps have been hurling their efforts—not to mention cash—at key battleground states like Ohio, Colorado, and Florida. Most of the money has gone towards a near-nonstop rotation of TV and other ads, many of which consist of shoveling as much BS on your opponent’s head as possible in 30 seconds.
The ad game is all part of the conventional election wisdom, which goes something like, “Drown out the other guy’s messages with your own, and you’ll snag the voters.” But as it turns out, the barrage of competing ads may actually be having the opposite effect: A new study found that the more bombarded people are with different political messages, the more confused and ambivalent they become. In other words, all those clogged airwaves in Michigan and Ohio may be upping the chances that voters stay home on election day.
The study’s data consisted of surveys from the American National Election Study in 2000—which, as you’ll likely recall, was a particularly messy/disastrous/laughable example of politics in action. That year, the University of Michigan ran the survey, which included interviews with over 1,800 voters.
Study authors (and swing state voters) Luke Keele of Ohio State University and Jennifer Wolak of the University of Colorado, Boulder compared the survey results of voters in battleground versus sure-thing states, measuring levels of ambivalence based on the number of positive and/or negative items that the respondents listed about both Bush and Gore. The idea was that if a voter thought the two candidates were equally good/bad, it was a sign of that voter’s ambivalence. Keele and Wolak then cross-checked their results against the amount of TV each voter watched.
And the results?
[T]he total volume of candidate ads in a state had no effect on ambivalence levels among residents. However, ambivalence levels were higher in states where there was a high number of Democratic ads and a high number of Republican ads running at the same time.
“Competition in presidential ad spending promotes ambivalence,” Keele said. “People are continually hit with conflicting messages.”
Thank God we have YouTube to splice it all together and save us some time.
Related:
RB: Politicians v. Technology: Obama, McCain Battle the Internet
RB: How Much Does Your Brain Control How You Vote?
October 21st, 2008 at 4:47 pm
I’ve found that I am more involved and actively interested in this election and in state and local measures than I have ever been. I stopped watching TV about a year ago, and have been relishing the fact that I haven’t seen ANY political ads, except the small handful that I have actively sought out online. I’m not angered at or weary of – except in principle – the endless barrage of vague and misleading ads. I read about the issues, I read about the candidates, and I feel more confident than I ever have that I am casting an informed, researched vote. I do, of course, very much enjoy watching a candidate make a fool of him or herself on YouTube!
Portland, Oregon
October 15th, 2009 at 10:04 pm
found your site on del.icio.us today and really liked it.. i bookmarked it and will be back to check it out some more later ..
October 20th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
There is nothing better than to go to your blog in the morning with a cup of coffee
October 22nd, 2009 at 1:27 pm
I don
October 22nd, 2009 at 1:32 pm
I don
October 22nd, 2009 at 1:38 pm
I don
October 22nd, 2009 at 1:43 pm
Hi, I don’t like commenting but I did find this helpful for newbies on this topic. TY
October 22nd, 2009 at 1:49 pm
Thanks. I liked your post, do you have more like this? The topic needs lots of research, most people don’t have it.
October 22nd, 2009 at 1:55 pm
VRy interesting to read it
October 22nd, 2009 at 2:00 pm
Good post, nice info. One of my favorite topics, very few good writers out there.
October 22nd, 2009 at 2:05 pm
Hello, I found your blog in a new directory of travel blogs. I dont know how your blog came up, must have been a typo, Your blog looks good. Have a nice day. keep teh content coming…
October 22nd, 2009 at 2:10 pm
Good post, nice info. One of my favorite topics, very few good writers out there.
October 22nd, 2009 at 2:15 pm
Good post, nice info. One of my favorite topics, very few good writers out there.
October 22nd, 2009 at 2:20 pm
Wow! Thank you! I always wanted to write on my site something like that. Can I use part of your post in my blog too?
October 22nd, 2009 at 2:25 pm
found your site on del.icio.us today and really liked it.. i bookmarked it and will be back to check it out some more later ..
October 22nd, 2009 at 2:30 pm
found your site on del.icio.us today and really liked it.. i bookmarked it and will be back to check it out some more later ..
October 22nd, 2009 at 2:35 pm
I think your blog needs some updating. I would love to read more about this.
October 22nd, 2009 at 2:41 pm
Wow! what an idea ! What a concept ! Beautiful .. Amazing
October 22nd, 2009 at 2:46 pm
thanks !! very helpful post! Great company.
October 22nd, 2009 at 2:51 pm
Thanks for writing this. It was interesting. You seem very knowledgeable in your field.
October 22nd, 2009 at 2:59 pm
Please, can you PM me and tell me few more things about this, I am really blogs like yours…
October 27th, 2009 at 12:09 am
Hello Guru, what entice you to post an article. This article was extremely interesting, especially since I was searching for thoughts on this subject since last Thursday.
October 31st, 2009 at 8:13 am
Whatever you say, but I do not agree with your point of view about this issue
October 31st, 2009 at 11:47 pm
ohhh nice info, keep it coming
November 3rd, 2009 at 2:46 pm
I don
November 16th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
I’ve really enjoyed reading your articles. You obviously know what you are talking about! Your site is so easy to navigate too, I’ve bookmarked it in my favourites