Voter Perceptions

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Introduction
Media coverage of political advertisement is not a new idea. Many politicians have ads produced because they know that it will be picked up by the media, and they will only have to pay to run the ad a few times. This strategy is very important to campaigns because it saves money that would have otherwise been spent on expensive air time. Consequently, this practice has given rise to a debate about whether or not it is ethical to cover political advertisement because it is tantamount to offering free advertising to a campaign. Many researchers have examined the coverage that political advertisement are given, but very little research has been done to determine if media coverage of political ads actually change voter perceptions …show more content…
To begin with, the media can only magnify a political ad. They cannot change the message of that ad or the affect that it will have on individual voters. There are three basic type of political advertisements: attack ad, comparative ad, and promotional ads. Campaigns use the ads to highlight the strengths of their candidate and the weaknesses of their opponent. Many political campaigns start off with positive advertising, but in a close race that advertising can quickly turn negative. Who are these ads targeting? Most political advertising is done to either sway independents or to rally a candidate’s base. Many voters have made their minds up long before Election Day, and there is little that the campaign can do to sway those voters. A staunch Republican is not going to vote for a Democrat simply because of an ad that gives a negative impression of said Republican and vice versa. Negative advertising can affect voter turnout among this demographic, but it doesn’t change their political …show more content…
One ad can change the entire perception of a political candidate. For example, the New Hampshire primary is one of the most important for any presidential campaign. Even though New Hampshire is a small state, with only four electoral, it is one of the most important primaries because it is the first. The New Hampshire primary is retail politics in the fullest sense of the term. While many primaries serve as a way to differentiate a candidate’s policy goals, the New Hampshire primaries are more focused on getting to know the candidate on a personal level. Voters around the nation are given their first glimpse of a politician during the primary, and a win or even a strong showing in New Hampshire can change the perceptions of that candidate on national level. Advertising plays a big role in voter perceptions of a candidate during this primary. In 1992, Tom Bonnar said of advertising during the New Hampshire primary, “58% of all ads and 64% of all news programming ads were political ads.” (Devlin p. 2) Researchers who have examined this particular primary found that candidates that used less advertising received a higher percentage of the vote, and candidates that choose to employ negative advertising only received 37% percent of the Republican vote and 10% of the Democrat
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