Explaining perceptions of advertising tone

Abstract

The authors investigate whether the news media and the tone of actual ads aired during a political campaign influence people's perceptions of campaign ad tone. Using data on the content of political advertising, local television news coverage, and local newspaper coverage in nine races in five midwestern states in 2006, the authors discover that perceptions of ad tone respond to both exposure to advertising and exposure to local news media. Both positive and negative advertising drive tone perceptions, and the impact of ad coverage depends not on its volume or mentions of tone but on whether that coverage is framed strategically or not. © 2012 University of Utah.