Contact: Vince McGourty
M&M Communications, Inc.
(908) 713-1267
vinmcg@earthlink.net
For Immediate Release:
New Video Rocks the Boat for John Kerry
-- Vietnam Portrayal Casts Doubts Among Independents --
Flemington, New Jersey -- August 13, 2004 -- A video released last week by the Swift Boat Veterans For Truth (www.swiftvets.com), an organization aiming to refute John Kerry's Vietnam war record, has drawn the attention and skepticism of independent voters.
As reported on the website ReadMyLipz.com, the Swift Boat video, featuring outspoken Vietnam veterans claiming that Kerry has been untruthful about his Vietnam service, was successful in drawing the attention of non-affiliated voters. In fact, 6 out of 10 independents who viewed the video reacted with suspicion and skepticism.
During an on-line poll of more than 1200 pre-selected nation-wide voters - Republicans, Democrats and Independents - were asked to respond on a sliding scale for interest and believability to what is said and shown in the video.
While viewed with doubt by a solid majority of independent voters, the video also appears to have an effect on placing doubt in the minds of independent voters that are leaning towards Kerry in the November election. More specifically, 27% of independents who either planned to vote, or were leaning toward voting for Kerry, indicated that they were no longer sure of voting for him after watching the video.
Dr. Chris Borick, Director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion, indicated that "given the tight nature of this year's race for the White House, any advertisement that can cast doubt about a candidate is important." He contends, "While most independents in our study treated the ad with skepticism, it does appear to weaken some of Kerry's support among the crucial set of voters who are not affiliated with the Democratic or Republican Parties."
One surprise was the advertisement's weak effect upon Independents intending to vote for Bush. Among this segment, only 1.52% felt that they were less likely to vote for the President after watching the video. This is contrary to past advertising research, which has demonstrated that negative advertisements tend to push viewers away from both the candidate being attacked and the candidate doing the attacking.
"It was clear to us that this video was going to have an impact on voters," said
Glenn Kessler, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, HCD Research. "Obviously the Swift Boat Veterans' intent was to publicly question Kerry's war record, and it looks like they succeeded."
"Organizations such as the Swift Boat Veterans For Truth, may still accept 'soft money' donations under new campaign finance laws, therefore the don't have to play by the same rules as the candidates," explained Kessler. "Our objective is to measure whether the message is positive or negative toward either candidate," Kessler noted.
Additional testing is being conducted on a weekly basis through the November election. This is the first time a quantitative analysis of this type has been performed for political advertising.
ReadMyLipz.com was developed by HCD Research in conjunction with the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion, (MCIPO) and Emmy Award-winning Network Television Producer Stu Kreisman. Headquartered in Flemington, New Jersey, HCD Research is a pioneer in Internet health care marketing and advertising research. Headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania, MCIPO is a respected source of public opinion data on local, state and national issues. Kreisman is a writer/producer best known for his work on popular network television series such as Cheers, Night Court, Newhart and SCTV. For more information or to share your views on current campaign political advertising, access www.ReadMyLipz.com.
The advertising study was conducted by ReadMyLipz.com, a joint project by HCD Research and Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion (MCIPO) that aims to track public sentiment regarding campaign advertising. The 1275 participants, 371 of whom were Independents, were asked to watch an advertisement supporting one of the two major candidates and to give feedback using a variety of methods, including real-time interest and believability tracking and the Ayer Emotional Battery. Complete information on survey methodology can be found at www.ReadMyLipz.com.
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