Does Negative Advertising Decrease Voter Turnout?

I watch a lot of YouTube.  Because of this, I also seem to watch a lot of political advertisements.  When I can, I skip them as fast as possible, mostly because I want to get back to the video that I was watching, but also because I don’t want to be influenced by those advertisements.  After reading through this week’s chapter in the textbook about media and how it influences our thoughts, I realized that most of the presidential and political advertisements out in our media right now are “political advertising gone bad.” Our textbook explains that “in the United States, most negative campaigns do not focus on the disadvantages of the opponents’ positions on the issues. Rather, the typical negative campaign focuses on what a despicable individual the opponent is” (Gruman, 2017).  If I am going to watch a political advertisement, it better be outlining the important factors of the election, not just encouraging people to think badly of the candidates. Therefore, when we are watching TV or YouTube or Hulu and these political advertisements come on bashing candidates, it makes it challenging for voters. According to the textbook, “several experimental studies demonstrate very clearly that negative campaigns decrease voter turnout” (Gruman, 2017).  Especially in our current election and in my home state of Pennsylvania, we really don’t want a decrease in voter turnout.  We want to complete opposite!

Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (2017). Applied social psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. Los Angeles: SAGE.

3 comments

  1. There was a time when our television viewing habits were more restrictive. This television show comes on between the hours of 8:00 to 10:00 everyday. It gets high ratings because the show is entertaining and it’s on at a time when most people watch television. Advertisers would spend millions on a 30 second spot to sell all of those people a product. Presidential campaign season could be seen the same way at this time with political ads geared toward the audience to sell a candidate. At some point someone got tired of commercials and not being able to watch their favorite TV show at 5:15 in the morning, and TiVO and the internet was invented. Constructed cable television was destroyed and had to be changed and altered to adapt to the internet. How can a corporation sell a product without the control over what you want to watch? The same can be said about a political candidate…. Advertisers have gotten creative…. Streaming downloaded videos with commercial breaks for candidates…. Internet banners to give candidates exposure…. Advertisements within the content….. If you happen to watch any form of constructed television which, still has a purpose, mainly out of finding interests or television shows through internet searches, than you will be bombarded by advertisements. If you’re a member of a low socio-economic class you will be bombarded by advertisers looking for ways to control thought processes such as a Presidential candidate. I’m actually watching television right now and I can’t believe how much of a deterrent not to vote has the onslaught of commercials for presidential candidates been over the past hour.

    References

    Gruman, J. A., Schneider, F. W., & Coutts, L. M. (2017). Applied social psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems.

  2. I could not agree more! Those political advertisements are nothing more than “mudslinging.” Pointing fingers has never been a good way to win over someone’s trust or respect, and most importantly, in this case, their vote. Additionally, I fully believe they have a negative effect on voter turnout. How many times have you heard someone say, “I don’t know who to vote for, they all seem like horrible options”? I hope voters take the initiative to do their research, watch the debates, they speak more to the candidates’ character than I believe people realize and vote!

  3. I applaud your statement regarding the air of distaste that surrounds the most recent political propaganda. It seems the vast majority of mass media enjoy little else more than capitalizing on the drama and theatrical nature of it all.

    Though some may find our current political state of affairs somewhat bizarrely entertaining, others have become rightfully disassociated from it, as you have mentioned in your post. With the election of 2020 less than two weeks away, America braces for a tremendous coin-toss.

    Without getting too political, i’ll just state that there is a selection of voters who are likely to adhere strictly to information that further enhances their confirmation bias, rather than disproving it. To put it bluntly, bigotry runs rampant in these individuals. The real problem comes about however when the advertisement propaganda statements convey intense emotions, but they are received by non-critically thinking viewers as “unchangeable facts”.

    Unfortunately, this is where the greatest injustice of all takes place; in the viewers mind. The unsuspecting user simply absorbs the convoluted messages as if they were irreverent facts, and they are not even aware of it. However, it turns out that these emotionally charges digs might not in-fact end up being beneficial for the creator as intended. According to a research study conducted by Sharpen Merritt in The Journal of Advertising, results indicated that negative political advertising evokes negative affect not only towards the targeted opponent but also towards the advertisements sponsor (Merritt, 2013).

    I think this choice of running tactic showcases a lot about the character of the individual. Who would you rather vote for? A candidate who works to win an election through tearing down the opposing candidate, or one who focuses on why they, themselves, ought to honorably deserve the publics vote.

    Resources

    Merritt, S. (2013, May). Negative Political Advertising: Some Empirical Findings. Retrieved October 25, 2020, from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00913367.1984.10672899

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