Negative Ads Turnoff Voters, Enthrall News Media

NEGATIVE ADS TURNOFF VOTERS, ENTHRALL NEWS MEDIA
[SOURCE: washingtonpost.com 11/15, AUTHOR: Shanto Iyengar]
The 2006 election cycle will set a record for the amount of money spent on campaign advertising in an off-year election. By most accounts, the tone of the ad campaigns reached new lows, with candidates and the parties relying heavily on harsh and often personal attacks. Just how did the 2006 ad campaign play out in the key Senate races? Were the candidates in fact better off relying on negative rather than positive messages? And what role does the media play in fueling the cycle of negative advertising? A study include a few surprise results. Even though negative ads did reliably accomplish their immediate objective -- making the opposing candidate appear less attractive -- positive ads had the stronger impact on vote choice. More in keeping with the conventional wisdom, both negative and positive ads polarized the electorate along party lines, with Democrats appreciating the content of their candidates' ads while detesting just about everything in Republican ads, and vice-versa. While positive and negative ads both elicit cheers from strong partisans, negative campaigns tend to turn off independents and weak partisans from the political process.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/15/AR2006111500827.html
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