Study: Political Campaign Attack Ads are Most Effective in Moderation

In a study to be published next year in  Mass Communication and Society, Assistant Professor Juliana Fernandes  found that negative political ads work best when they are shown in moderation.

Higher exposure to a negative ad has a backlash effect on the evaluation of the sponsor candidate, according to her study.

“People will be more likely to appreciate and vote for the candidate that is sponsoring the negative advertisement, if the ad is presented in a spaced-out manner, over time,” Fernandes said. “A candidate that doesn’t have a large budget for political advertising can use the same advertising over and over again; but in a way that is more strategic.”

In the study, university students participated in two separate experiments.  First, 150 participants watched the repetition of a 30-second negative political ad of candidates that were likely unknown to participants (one, three, or five exposures). The ads were presented sequentially, characterizing the presentation as massive. The results show that evaluation and the likelihood of voting for the sponsor candidate was highest when the participants were exposed to the ad three times and lowest when they were exposed to the ad five times. In the second test, 306 university students watched advertisements of unknown candidates within a 30-minute television program, with varying time intervals between ad repetitions. Afterwards participants filled out questionnaires to evaluate the sponsor and the attacked candidates, as well as the likelihood of voting for them.

The results indicate that larger time intervals between repetitions of the ad favor the evaluation of the sponsor candidate and disfavor the evaluation of the target candidate. This was true even with increased repetition, suggesting that the sponsor candidate can avoid the backlash effect by allowing larger time intervals between ad exposures.

“In my study I show that negative political ads do work under certain conditions,” Fernandes said.  “I think they can help the political process, because people can look at some facts, process the information more carefully and later on — when people cast their votes — they can make an informed decision.”

Entitled “Effects of Negative Political Advertising and Message Repetition on Candidate Evaluation,” the article will be published in the March 2013 issue of the journal Mass Communication and Society.

Click here to visit Fernandes’ Web site.

Graduate Writing Workshop

A workshop will be offered to assist graduate students who want to learn more about writing the thesis or dissertation.

The Graduate School’s Dissertation Editor, and staff from the university’s Writing Center, and campus library, will offer hands-on help.

Topics will include learning about the electronic thesis/dissertation process, and help with on-campus resources to guide you.

When: Wednesday, Oct. 24, 10:30 a.m.

Where: University Center, Flamingo Ballroom A

For more information, and to sign up, visit: http://www.miami.edu/gs/index.php/graduate_school/helpful_links_resources/graduate_school_events/pff_workhop_dissertation_resources/

Steinberg: VP Debate heat is on

The presidential election could be impacted by the upcoming Vice Presidential candidate debate, according to David Steinberg, Lecturer in the Communication Studies department, as quoted in a recent article by Reuters.

According to the article:

“Biden has a chance to undo some of the damage from the first debate,” said David Steinberg, a debate coach and political communications specialist at the University of Miami.

“The vice president’s biggest job will be as a fact checker,” he said. “He can come in and say, ‘Well, this is what Governor Romney said last Wednesday, and this is why it’s wrong.'”

…

“It would be nice to be Biden,” Steinberg said. “He’s got a wider range of stuff he can say and people go, ‘Oh, that’s just Biden.’ If Ryan said it, they will be looking at him through a microscope.”

Click here to read the full Reuters article.

Debate Watch Party Tonight

The School of Communication is hosting a “watch party” tonight for the first presidential debate of this 2012 election.

It will begin at 9 p.m., in room 2055 of the School of Communication building.

Refreshments will be served.

Applications now being accepted for new Interactive Media MFA

We are offering a Master’s of Fine Arts (MFA) in Interactive Media, and applications are now being accepted.

The goal of the new program is to train students to research, prototype, design, and build projects in business, social, cultural, and academic contexts.

Courses will explore the use of technology, design, human behavior, and its impact on communication.

The curriculum draws from emerging technologies, including mobile, gaming, data visualization, and interactive design.

Enrollment begins Fall 2013. Click here for more information and to apply.

Deadlines

• Priority admission: Feb. 1, 2013
• Assistantships: Feb. 1, 2013
• International students: April 1, 2013
• Final deadline: May 1, 2013

For more about the program, including courses, application requirements, and news, click here. To learn more about the faculty, click here. For answers to Frequently Asked Questions, click here.