How Effective Are Campaign Ads?

[SalixIncendium]

After you get over the shock of Salix creating a thread in the political forum, I have a question for you.

Have campaign ads ever influenced who you vote for?

I recall walking into a polling place some years back and being confronted by someone handing me a Ralph Nader flyer and saying something to the effect of, "Vote for Green Party."

I replied, "Thank goodness you're here!! I was walking in here clueless on who to vote for! Thanks!"

Yeah, needless to say, I didn't vote for Nader.

But are any of you swayed by TV ads or the campaign real estate signs that litter roadsides? Because it really scares me to think that people base their votes on such frivolity.

 

[Rival]

No, I vote based on longheld beliefs. I prioritise a belief as a party may have one but not the other, and another party have the other but not the one. I pick which seems more beneficial at the time.

 

[sun rise]

I might pay more attention to someone in the primary because of one, but commercials for soap, antiperspirant or politicians does not change my mind.

 

[Enoch07]

Nope

 

[Laika]

After you get over the shock of Salix creating a thread in the political forum, I have a question for you.

Have campaign ads ever influenced who you vote for?

I recall walking into a polling place some years back and being confronted by someone handing me a Ralph Nader flyer and saying something to the effect of, "Vote for Green Party."

I replied, "Thank goodness you're here!! I was walking in here clueless on who to vote for! Thanks!"

Yeah, needless to say, I didn't vote for Nader.

But are any of you swayed by TV ads or the campaign real estate signs that litter roadsides? Because it really scares me to think that people base their votes on such frivolity.

I live in one of the safest conservative seats in the country (Tories got over 60% here in 2017 and about 50% in 2015 and 2010), so my vote doesn't effect the result in a general election. The choice comes down to whether I vote Labour or Green. If it's only Labour standing, it will be them. If there is a Green standing and they are an option, I'll vote for them over Labour. That's the limit of choice I've got here.

However, on the EU referendum I was a swing voter and changed my mind about four or five times. I did eventually sit down and research it online, only to come to the conclusion that it was too complicated to know what would really happen either way. I could have been persuaded to vote leave if I had the confidence to believe that a "left-wing" Brexit could be delivered, but, I voted remain out of a mixture of caution and anti-fascist sympathies to defend/bail out the status quo, but that was about it. I have no love for the EU as an institution even if I like the idea of a United Europe. (As far as adverts were concerned, I despised both campaigns and would never have voted if I'd had to rely on them for information it was so bad).

This year I decided not to vote in the European elections (i.e. the elections that weren't supposed to happen for positions soon to be abolished for an organisation we were supposed to have already left- all very Alice in Wonderland). There was no rational way to decide who to vote for in that case so I let that one pass. It wasn't a second referendum and I wasn't going to treat it as such and wouldn't be 100% sure how I'd vote if it ever came up. I didn't vote in the local elections either (the choice was labour, conservative and independent; independents are nuts, and neither of the two major parties inspire confidence in their ability to govern at the moment, whatever my convictions).

Having been on the far left, I'm using to not relying on mainstream media and news sources, but researching and developing my views independently. The kind of candidates, policies and parties that would interest me never stand in my area and wouldn't come up in any adverts either way. So my voting behaviour is usually very predictable and I will know within at least a week of polling day who I am going to vote for. Ads play very little role in that.

 

[ChristineM]

I think the lie on the side of this bus persuaded some

 

[bobhikes]

After you get over the shock of Salix creating a thread in the political forum, I have a question for you.

Have campaign ads ever influenced who you vote for?

I recall walking into a polling place some years back and being confronted by someone handing me a Ralph Nader flyer and saying something to the effect of, "Vote for Green Party."

I replied, "Thank goodness you're here!! I was walking in here clueless on who to vote for! Thanks!"

Yeah, needless to say, I didn't vote for Nader.

But are any of you swayed by TV ads or the campaign real estate signs that litter roadsides? Because it really scares me to think that people base their votes on such frivolity.

The person that gave you the flyer in a polling place was committing a federal crime but aside to that. Campaign ads influence how I feel about the candidate presenting them. If a Republican/Democratic group presents a real nasty one and the republican/democratic candidate does not speak out against them and force them to take it down it is a mark against the candidate. If they present positive ads, I will feel positive about the candidate. If they try to invoke sympathy by using puppy dog ads, I will feel negative about the candidate. I short the ads give me an idea of what the side promoting them feels, I do not believe any of the information concerning the opponent.

In general I use the ads to see what kind of person the ad promoter is
I use Newspaper articles real and online(through mainstream news sources)
I watch the debates(Presidential)
I will also follow the candidates Facebook pages to see what they are saying
I will look for the yard signs to get an idea of how the election in my area will go.

 

[SalixIncendium]

The person that gave you the flyer in a polling place was committing a federal crime...

I'm not sure it was at the time it happened. This was back around 2000.

 

[Erebus]

I live in one of the safest conservative seats in the country (Tories got over 60% here in 2017 and about 50% in 2015 and 2010), so my vote doesn't effect the result in a general election. The choice comes down to whether I vote Labour or Green. If it's only Labour standing, it will be them. If there is a Green standing and they are an option, I'll vote for them over Labour. That's the limit of choice I've got here.

However, on the EU referendum I was a swing voter and changed my mind about four or five times. I did eventually sit down and research it online, only to come to the conclusion that it was too complicated to know what would really happen either way. I could have been persuaded to vote leave if I had the confidence to believe that a "left-wing" Brexit could be delivered, but, I voted remain out of a mixture of caution and anti-fascist sympathies to defend/bail out the status quo, but that was about it. I have no love for the EU as an institution even if I like the idea of a United Europe. (As far as adverts were concerned, I despised both campaigns and would never have voted if I'd had to rely on them for information it was so bad).

This year I decided not to vote in the European elections (i.e. the elections that weren't supposed to happen for positions soon to be abolished for an organisation we were supposed to have already left- all very Alice in Wonderland). There was no rational way to decide who to vote for in that case so I let that one pass. It wasn't a second referendum and I wasn't going to treat it as such and wouldn't be 100% sure how I'd vote if it ever came up. I didn't vote in the local elections either (the choice was labour, conservative and independent; independents are nuts, and neither of the two major parties inspire confidence in their ability to govern at the moment, whatever my convictions).

Having been on the far left, I'm using to not relying on mainstream media and news sources, but researching and developing my views independently. The kind of candidates, policies and parties that would interest me never stand in my area and wouldn't come up in any adverts either way. So my voting behaviour is usually very predictable and I will know within at least a week of polling day who I am going to vote for. Ads play very little role in that.

This is so similar to my own experiences that it's almost spooky.

I will say though that the ads from the Leave campaign did somewhat help me decide which way to vote. They were just so full of blatant nonsense and provable lies that it was obvious I couldn't trust anybody involved.

 

[bobhikes]

I'm not sure it was at the time it happened. This was back around 2000.

Its a federal law that you are not allowed to campaign in a polling place
§ 452.111 Campaigning in polling places.
There must not be any campaigning within a polling place 54 and a union may forbid any campaigning within a specified distance of a polling place.

54 See Hodgson v. UMW, 344 F.Supp. 17 (D.D.C. 1972).

Apparently since 1972 and Almost all states put distance limits to how close you can be to a polling place and campaign.

 

[SalixIncendium]

Its a federal law that you are not allowed to campaign in a polling place
§ 452.111 Campaigning in polling places.
There must not be any campaigning within a polling place 54 and a union may forbid any campaigning within a specified distance of a polling place.

54 See Hodgson v. UMW, 344 F.Supp. 17 (D.D.C. 1972).

Apparently since 1972 and Almost all states put distance limits to how close you can be to a polling place and campaign.

Rural PA. Go figure.

 

[Salvador]

I'm a registered Republican who was persuaded by this political ad to vote for the Illinois Democratic gubernatorial candidate J.B. Pritzker .

I liked J.B. Pritzker's pledge to fight for job creation, universal health care, better infrastructure and quality public education.

 

[Revoltingest]

After you get over the shock of Salix creating a thread in the political forum, I have a question for you.

Have campaign ads ever influenced who you vote for?

I recall walking into a polling place some years back and being confronted by someone handing me a Ralph Nader flyer and saying something to the effect of, "Vote for Green Party."

I replied, "Thank goodness you're here!! I was walking in here clueless on who to vote for! Thanks!"

Yeah, needless to say, I didn't vote for Nader.

But are any of you swayed by TV ads or the campaign real estate signs that litter roadsides? Because it really scares me to think that people base their votes on such frivolity.

I refuse to watch campaign ads...& to listen to their speeches.
So no effect upon me.
I don't think there's much effect on others, but a small effect
could sway that small percentage of the voters who are on
the fence. This could tip the balance in one way or the other.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

After you get over the shock of Salix creating a thread in the political forum, I have a question for you.

Have campaign ads ever influenced who you vote for?

I recall walking into a polling place some years back and being confronted by someone handing me a Ralph Nader flyer and saying something to the effect of, "Vote for Green Party."

I replied, "Thank goodness you're here!! I was walking in here clueless on who to vote for! Thanks!"

Yeah, needless to say, I didn't vote for Nader.

But are any of you swayed by TV ads or the campaign real estate signs that litter roadsides? Because it really scares me to think that people base their votes on such frivolity.

I'll answer with a question, so apologies for that.

You're aware, I guess, that the following things have some measureable impact on voting...

1) Name recognition
2) Coat-tail effect (ie. Association with other candidates)
3) Ordering of candidates on voting forms

So, perhaps these things don't effect you. I like to think I put enough thought into voting that they don't effect me, too. But they do impact some people, it seems.

Voting cards are really targeting two things...
1) Increased name recognition, plus possible restating key message.
2) In Australia, at least, preferential voting is very heavily impacted by how to vote cards handed out. Many voters follow the suggested order of their favourite party, and this has a massive electoral impact.

 

[Aupmanyav]

After you get over the shock of Salix creating a thread in the political forum, I have a question for you.
Have campaign ads ever influenced who you vote for?
I recall walking into a polling place some years back and being confronted by someone handing me a Ralph Nader flyer and saying something to the effect of, "Vote for Green Party."

Neither ads nor political campaigns influence me. I have my settled views for things.