Abstract
This study investigates the “dual effects” of negative political information. Research in negative political advertising indicates that negative ads can have intended effects, harming the target of such attacks, or they can boomerang, thereby harming the sponsor (or the opponent of the target) of such advertising. These investigations have commonly been undertaken in an experimental or quasi-experimental setting, exposing subjects to a few isolated advertisements. This study examines advertisements in the context of a real-world campaign setting and utilizes advertising buy data for the entire campaign, which allows for the more accurate construction of messages available in the information environment over time. Advertising messages sponsored by candidates and parties are then analyzed to determine their relationship to a relatively dramatic shift in Republican candidate Rudy Boschwitz’s favorabilitywith the public. Findings indicate that, in addition to theintended impact of Paul Wellstone and Democratic Farmer-Labor Party ads against Boschwitz, unintended consequences of National Republican Senatorial Committee ads against Wellstone made a significant contribution to understanding variation in candidate Boschwitz’s favorability with the public over time.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1-12 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Journal of Advertising |
Volume | 31 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2002 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors thank Professors John L. Sullivan, William Flanigan, Oene Borgida, and Ronald Faberofthe University of Minnesota, James Stimson of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, David Romero from the University ofTexas at San Antonio, Dhavan Shah ofthe University ofWisconsin-Madison, and Lars Willnat ofAmerican University and panelists and participants on the "Media Campaigns and Election Effects" panel at the 1999 American Political Science Association meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, for comments on previous versions of this work. The authors also acknowledge the cooperation andcontributionsofthe People for Boschwitz '96 and Wellstone for Senate '96 campaigns, with special thanks to the particular consultants for each campaign cited in this article. This research was partially funded by an NSF grant through the Mershon Center at Ohio State University. Any errors are the responsibility of the authors.