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View the commercials Watch John Kerry's Ad "Rassmann" Watch Swift Boat Vertan's For Truth Ad "Sellout"
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August 22, 2004 - Research Findings: Executive Summary
- Both ads are well-designed. Viewers found them to be attention-getting, clear and easy to understand, and memorable.
- Independent viewers do not find the ads to be very relevant to themselves.
- Independents found the new Swift Vets ad to be very negative, and more negative than the first Swift Boat ad.
- Neither ad is very effective, though the Swift Vets ad does make some Independents less likely to vote for Kerry.
- The new Swift Vets ad performs poorly among Independents who viewed the group’s first ad.
1. Both ads are well-designed. Viewers found them to be attention-getting, clear and easy to understand, and memorable.
Both ads performed well over a series of questions intended to measure the basic aesthetic effectiveness of an advertisement. In questions of prominence, clarity, and lasting effect, both ads received strong marks. Neither ad significantly outperformed the other overall: while the Swift Vets ad attained higher levels when respondents were asked how "attention-getting" or "memorable" the ads were, the Kerry ad outperformed it over whether the ads were "clear and easy to understand."
When asked whether they agreed with the statement, "This advertisement is attention-getting," Independents responded positively, both with the Swift Vets ad and the Kerry ad, the former getting notably high levels of attention. The Kerry ad was found to be attention-getting to some extent by 56% of Independents. These were more strongly balanced, however, towards a neutral position, with 24% of Independents "somewhat" in agreement. Meanwhile, 72% agreed that the Swift Vets ad was attention-getting, with 27% registering the strongest level of agreement.
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View the commercials Watch John Kerry's Ad "Strength" Watch Swift Boat Vertan's For Truth Ad "Any Questions"
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August 13, 2004 - Research Findings: Executive Summary
- Confirming expectations, viewers find the Swift Boat ad to be highly negative.
- Despite high negativity, the Swift Boat ad does not push away Independents intending to vote for Bush.
- As with past negative political advertising, the Swift Boat ad captures the attention of viewers.
- Independents show belief in the Swift Boat ad.
- The Swift Boat ad proves quite effective in raising questions about Kerry’s Vietnam service among Independents.
1. Confirming expectations, viewers find the Swift Boat ad to be highly negative.
A majority of Independents viewing the Swift Boat video found it to be “negative or troublesome,” a rate higher than past negative ads targeting Kerry. While some viewers said that they were concerned about the veterans’ credibility, the majority were distressed either by the message of the ad itself – i.e., that Kerry lied about his Vietnam service – or by the impossibility of knowing whom to believe.
Overall, 52.33% of Independents viewing the Swift Boat Ad felt that there was some aspect that they found negative or troublesome.
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View the commercials Watch John Kerry's Ad "Who Is This Man" Watch George Bush's Ad "Family Priorities"
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July 23, 2004 - KEY FINDINGS
- Independents find Bush's ad more attention-getting, but not significantly more memorable.
- Though Independents register more positive emotions in response to the Kerry ad, they are not particularly attracted to it nor find it believable.
- Independents are more likely to seek info on the Bush campaign than on the Kerry on the basis of their ads. This result runs counter to the fact that they found the Bush ad so much more negative.
- In questions which relied on self-examination, Independents did not find themselves more likely to vote for Kerry because of his ad. But at least one question asked before and after viewing the ad reveals that some Independents were persuaded to increase their support for Kerry or decrease their support for Bush after viewing an ad.
The political scene is a bit stagnant this week and this is reflected in the Presidential ads. Two weeks after Kerry chose Edwards as his running mate the campaigns seem almost to be taking a breather. Neither campaign released more than one English-language ad this week. Again, as with last week, the campaigns are fighting over the definition of "John Kerry."
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View the commercials Watch John Kerry's Ad "Three Minutes" Watch George Bush's Ad "Priorities"
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July 16, 2004 - KEY FINDINGS
- Partisan polarization continues
- Ads contribute to polarization by targeting their candidate's party rather than trying to persuade opposite party's members
- Independents find Bush's ad to be more negative
- Participants feel displeased with negativity found in ads; independents in particular feel this way
Research into the e-ads released by the major Presidential candidates this week demonstrates a continued trend of survey participants attributing positive and negative qualities to an advertisement based upon the political party they support.
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View the commercials Watch John Kerry's Ad "New Team" Watch George Bush's Ad "First Choice"
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July 9, 2004 - The latest survey reinforces past results and demonstrates some new trends, notably with the introduction of John Edwards and John McCain into the advertisements. The following are some key findings supported by the data.
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Study participants tended to support their party’s ads and find the opposing party’s ads to be negative. These trends held even in categories that are not dependent upon candidate’s policies or the message the advertisement is trying to convey. This seems to counter a fundamental purpose of advertising: to persuade the unconvinced.
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View the commercials Watch John Kerry's Ad "Paperwork" Watch George Bush's Ad "Rage"
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June 28, 2004 - A new video advertisement released by the Bush re-election campaign (www.georgewbush.com) elicits very strong negative reactions among viewers in comparison to past advertisements, shows a study by HCD Research and the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion (MCIPO).
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But a new ad released by the Bush campaign has caused a vigorous jump in negative reaction numbers. The advertisement, which refers to "John Kerry's Democratic Party" as the "Coalition of the Wild-Eyed," features clips of vitriolic speeches by Democratic luminaries such as John Kerry, Al Gore, and Howard Dean, interlarded with comments by leftist filmmaker Michael Moore and clips, lifted from an ad submitted to a MoveOn.org competition last year, which equate Bush policies with those of Hitler. The advertisement ends with a picture of Bush and a message promoting "optimism, steady leadership, and progress" over "pessimism and rage."
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View the commercials Watch John Kerry's Ad "The Optimist" Watch George Bush's Ad "The Patriot Act"
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June 8, 2004 - Kerry Ad – "The Optimist" - The commercial is a classic positive ad in Which Kerry himself narrates over pictures of Americans at work, children playing, veterans saluting and gatherings of diverse citizens listening to him. The major themes are his pledge to make America stronger at home and more respected in the world. Bush Ad – "The Patriot Act" – This commercial attacks Kerry on his flip-flop on the Patriot Act, citing that he voted for the act, now seeks to repeal essential aspects of it. The ad alleges Kerry bowed to "liberal" pressure in changing his position. Thus the commercial incorporates two key planks of Bush"s strategy against Kerry: (1) that he does not stand for anything and will change his positions easily; and (2) that he is a liberal.
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Looking at emotions, Kerry is raising up something positive in his appeal for a ‘kinder, gentler" society (to steal the phrase from someone else). And despite the high level of suspicion, it does touch something important for independents. The Bush commercial, on the other hand, elicits levels of deep unease. This could be important and is worth following. Could Bush be alarming those independents; could he be touching some deep and troubled part of they psyches?
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View the commercials Watch John Kerry's Ad "Ten Million Jobs" Watch George Bush's Ad "Troubling"
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May 10, 2004 - Context is important when analyzed alongside the Interest and Believability scores. Interestingly, these emotional responses are likely the result of viewing within each party’s frame of reference and/or context. For instance, while 38.2% of Republicans feel Disgusted, etc…by the Bush ad, they may be just as likely to feel this way due to the content of the Kerry references themselves as the overall negative tone of the advertisement. Taken in combination with their overall high Interest and Believability scores of this advertisement among Republicans, it is likely these scores reflect more upon the record of Kerry, while Democrat scores on this emotion are more tied to the negative tone of the ad.
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Underscoring the significance and importance of this issue to the campaign is the strong response by both Democrats (46.3%) and Republicans (69.6%) that this advertisement makes each group feel Suspicious, Skeptical. Jobs is clearly an issue to which both sides are paying attention and upon which some votes could hinge.
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