Many citizens underestimate the impact of political ads. Research shows that while people somewhat underestimate the impact of ads on others, they vastly underestimate the impact of ads on themselves. Indeed, this finding is part of a whole family of odd effects clustered under the phrase "third person effect"--the finding that in response to mass media messages, such as news stories and programs, people estimate themselves to be less affected than others.
While many ridicule the frequent, and often negative, political commercials that become ever-more frequent as Election Day approaches, a large body of studies carried out in the last 15 years shows quite clearly that political commercials have major effects on people. And from Presidential elections to state-level races, television commercials consume most of the money spent by candidates in their attempts to get elected.
As a result, it's remains important for citizens to look carefully at political ads. Certainly the truth or deceptiveness of ad content is important to examine. Many newspapers and television analysis programs provide potential voters with a good opportunity to learn more about the quality of the verbal content of political commercials. While the government closely controls the truth value of national product advertising on television, because of the principle of free speech protected by the U.S. Constitution, there is no control whatsoever on the content of a political commercial. Basically, a politician can say anything she or he wishes in a political ad. The only "control" over content in a political ad is media and public response to that content.
But ads communicate more than their verbal content. Like any persuasive message developed by a professional communicator, every aspect of their breif duration is carefully designed to influence. Aspects of ads beyond their verbal content are called "structural features."
This section describes ten of the structural features that political ads use most commonly. Recognizing a persuasive tool for what it is, helps people understand the true impact of ads on themselves and others. Regardless of what verbal content an ad uses, it will employ one or many of these persuasive tools. Recognizing them and figuring out what their intended meaning is can provide important new insight into a political ad.
For those who would like to read more about research on political ads, the following provide interesting insights:
Political Advertising in Western Democracies: Parties and Candidates on Television. Lynda Lee Kaid and Christina Holtz-Bacha (Eds). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1995.
Advances in Political Advertising Research: A Progression From If to When. Ronald Faber, Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, 1992, Volume 14, pages 1-18.
Negative Political Advertising. Karen Johnson-Cartee and Gary A. Copeland. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1991.
Esther Thorson, Graduate Dean of Journalism at the University of Missouri, has authored many studies on how people process product and political advertising.
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