New research indicates that the third Swift Boat advertisement "Gunner", which was released on the Internet on August 27, 2004, has had a minimal impact in what appears to be a firming of commitment among Independent Voters regarding presidential preference. The ad questions Senator Kerry's accounts related to being in Cambodia during Christmas of 1968.

More than 1,600 probable voters including 483 independent voters, participated in an on-line political ad testing survey of the new counter ad, conducted yesterday by Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion (MCIPO) and HCD Research.

Survey participants were asked a number of demographic questions as well as voting history and current preferences. They were then asked to view the advertisement two (2) times to evaluate the content for interest and believability using an automated response methodology. While participants view the ad, they move the mouse to the left on a continuum, to indicate low levels of interest and right to indicate high interest. They repeat the procedure to measure the ad's believability.

After viewing the advertisements, responders were asked questions related to their intensity of support, which was compared to the levels of support that they indicated in the survey prior to viewing the commercials.

The study reveals that among Independent voters who viewed the ad:

• When comparing Pre/Post viewing of the advertisement, there was little change in likelihood of responders to support Senator Kerry.
• Those "definately" voting for Kerry remained the same, at 62%, pre and post viewing.
• However, 27% of those leaning toward the Senator indicated they were "most likely" to vote for him before viewing the ad, after viewing the ad the number declined slightly to 26%.
• Independents "leaning towards" the Senator declined from 11% to 9%.
• Those who were not sure whether they would vote for the senator increased from 1 to 3 %
• Of the voters expressing commitment to President Bush before viewing the ad, the level of commitment for him increased slightly post viewing.
• 67% of those leaning toward the President before viewing indicated that they were "definately" voting for him. After viewing the ad this number increased to 69% post viewing.
• Only the first Swift Boat advertisement appeared have a significant affect on Pre/Post results. The results of the Swift Boat Ads 2 and 3 results were virtually the same.

This on-going advertising study is being conducted by ReadMyLipz.com, a joint effort by HCD Research and Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion (MCIPO). The two organizations are conducting non-partisan advertising research throughout the election to measure voter reactions to the candidates' advertisements.

The participants are asked to view advertisements supporting one of the two major candidates and provide feedback using various methods, including real-time interest and believability tracking and the Ayer Emotional Battery. For more information on the survey methodology and testing results, access www.ReadMyLipz.com.

For more information or to schedule an interview with Glenn Kessler, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, HCD Research, Arthur Kover, Ph.D., Senior Consultant, HCD Research or Chris Borick, Ph.D., Associate Political Science Professor, Muhlenberg College, please contact Vince McGourty, M&M Communications, Inc., at 908-713-1267 or vinmcg@earthlink.net.