Does Attack Advertising Demobilize the Electorate?

TLDR

The study examines the impact of negative campaign advertising on voter turnout. The authors use a unique experimental design that manipulates advertising tone within identical audiovisual content, and they replicate the effect with aggregate analysis of 1992 Senate election turnout and campaign tone. Negative advertisements reduce voting intentions by 5%, a result replicated in the 1992 Senate elections, and they also erode political efficacy and increase cynicism toward public officials and the electoral process.

Abstract

We address the effects of negative campaign advertising on turnout. Using a unique experimental design in which advertising tone is manipulated within the identical audiovisual context, we find that exposure to negative advertisements dropped intentions to vote by 5%. We then replicate this result through an aggregate-level analysis of turnout and campaign tone in the 1992 Senate elections. Finally, we show that the demobilizing effects of negative campaigns are accompanied by a weakened sense of political efficacy. Voters who watch negative advertisements become more cynical about the responsiveness of public officials and the electoral process.