The Perception of Political Advertising During an Election Campaign: A Measure of Cognitive and Emotional Effects

Abstract

Scientific interest in political ads has been growing in recent years and has fuelled an important body of research, focusing mostly on the United States. Yet many issues associated with the impacts and contents of electoral ads remain unexplored, especially within the Canadian context. This article investigates the immediate and simultaneous effects of positive, negative, and mixed-content electoral ads. It presents data drawn from a series of pre-tests of an experimental design carried out with 31 voters during the Canadian federal election of 2011. Participants viewed ads selected for their argumentative content and non-verbal components. The impacts of the ads were tested using an innovative multimethod approach combining physiological and cognitive measures. Among its contributions, this novel method helped generate a more nuanced and precise evaluation of the effects of negative advertising on viewers.