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Promotional Advertising Products

Our most striking result is that product and political advertising are distinguished so clearly. Despite the inherent bias of all forms of advertising, people perceive product ads as generally truthful and interesting. In contrast, political ads are dismissed as dishonest, unappealing, and uninformative. When judged against political advertising, product advertising enjoys considerable public support. The evidence shows that political advertising hardly constitutes a threat to the advertising industry.

What accounts for the significant reputation gap between the two genres of promotional products advertising? We suggest two explanations. First, public distaste for political advertisements may stem from the belief that electoral choice and consumer choice are not equivalent activities. Purchasing a particular brand of soap or cereal is one thing, selecting the next president or senator quite another. The fact that voting is a serious task tends to undermine the legitimacy of non-serious forms of political communication. People may be averse to political advertising simply because it clashes with widespread norms concerning the nature of citizenship and campaigns for public office.

We are more certain of our second explanation, namely, that the negativity of the message breeds distrust of the medium, and, more broadly, of the political process. Our results show clearly that voters were especially turned off by political ads for both candidates and initiatives when they featured negative appeals. Commercial advertisers seek to depict their clients in the most attractive terms possible, often entertaining and amusing the audience in the process. Positivity is the currency of product advertising. In seeking to depict their clients opponents in the most unattractive terms possible, political advertisers typically anger, threaten, and repulse the audience. The overwhelming negativity of political advertising, while intended to weaken public support for the opposition candidate, also rubs off on the message itself.

The advertising industry takes for granted that the public dislike for political ads will spillover to product ads. In this study, however, we find a somewhat different result. Exposure to political ads drives down evaluations of political ads while leaving product ads untouched. In comparison with political ads, product ads appear even more attractive and credible. In other words, our results indicate a contrast effect. Watching political ads that they perceive as less truthful and appealing, people realize that product ads, relatively speaking, are not so bad. Rather than calling for a greater curbs on political advertisers, commercial advertisers should instead encourage the greater use of political advertising in general and negative political advertising in particular. If form holds and the next campaign features a sufficient number of nasty negative ads, many voters, instead of making the trip to the voting booth on election day, may well make the trek to the mall or stay home to enjoy another Miller Light.

More Advertising Products from Heritage Advertising

Summary of our products - Catalog Listing
Over 50 pages for decals and bumper stickers, every kind. Ask us about 10% off all catalog products.
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Visit our Catalog for Products not found. Over 100 pages of product information. Hertiage Advertising Catalog

Wooden Rulers and Yardsticks

Custom printed wooden rulers are practical cheap hand outs used to keep your name on your customer's or voter's minds every time they use it. The wood ruler is a popular item for school kids and carpenters. Available in 6 inch and 12 inch sizes Wooden Rulers. How many feet in a ruler. The measurement of a ruler is 12 inches. How many inches in a yard or yardstick? The measure of a yardstick is 36 inches, or 3 feet.
The best quality wood yardsticks are Yardsticks.

Calendars

2012 Wall Calendars

2012 Magnetic Calendars

Save the Date Magnets

Appointment calendars

Monthly Pocket Planners

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Tee Shirt Printing

The Smithsonian Institute boasts the oldest printed tee-shirt on record, printing with the phrase Dew-IT with Dewey from New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey's 1948 presidential campaign. The tshirt became a status symbol by the 1950s when it was worn on screen by icons James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause and Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire. Suddenly tee-shirts were cool!

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Koozies

Everyone has seen these koozies or can coolers around for many years. The main purpose seems great; they keep your can cool while your hands stay warm. A simple yet very effective invention. They can also be personalized with your logo or any text you want at a very affordable price. The materials used to make a can koozie are made specially to insulate the bottle and keep the contents cold, while keeping your hand comfortably warm. They are easy and inexpensive to get with your custom Logo or Text.
Try our insulated can coolers, Koozies or Can CoolersInsulated can coolers are popular gift items and are also called custom koozies.

Union Label Bug Plastic Signs and Stickers

Contact us for any jobs requiring union label, or union bug. We can print union made signs, campaign yard signs and other political election products. Turn around time is generally two weeks, or longer for complicated orders.

10% Special! Buy $200 of another product, and take 10% off the price of many designated products.

Plastic Signs Bag material - Plastic Yard Signs
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SPECIAL $1.39 Each for 24 X 16 Plastic Sign, 2 Colors 2 sides, with wire stands,

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T-shirt Advertising

Experts in helping you create cheap Tee-shirts, tshirts, and expert T-shirt printing. We are the t-shirt advertising specialist. Cheap T-Shirts Tee-Shirts ,Custom Tee-Shirts, Tshirts, Long Sleeve T-Shirts

Political Advertising Examples

Comparing Commercial and Political Advertising Even though the use of political advertising has spread exponentially, both in terms of the sheer frequency of exposure and the increased length of political campaigns, political advertising is still miniscule compared with commercial advertising. The total cost of the 1996 election (all races combined) amounted to approximately $2.5 billion (Center for Responsive Politics, 1999). This figure is less than the annual advertising budget for major U.S. corporations. During the height of the 1996 campaign, the research firm CMR found that fewer than one percent of all televised advertisements (750,000 out of 93,000,000) in the top 75 media markets were sponsored by political candidates or organizations (Goldstein, 1998). Clearly, the publics distaste for these advertisements is based on factors other than sheer frequency.

The most distinctive feature of contemporary political campaign advertisements is the negativity of their content and tone. Political advertisers frequently engage in so-called "comparative" advertising in which the opposing candidates program and performance are criticized and even ridiculed. Highlighting the opponents liabilities and weaknesses usually takes precedence over identifying the sponsors program and strengths. In the most comprehensive tracking of campaign advertising to date, scholars at the Annenberg School of Communication have found that such "negative" advertising makes up approximately one-third of all campaign ads used in presidential campaigns (Jamieson et al., 1998). The level of negativity is actually significantly greater when one considers frequency-weighted indicators of content (Prior, 1999). In 1996, for instance, while fewer than one-half of the ads produced by the major candidates featured negative appeals, these appeals accounted for some seventy percent of the candidates ad buys (Goldstein, 1998). While we do not have comparable data for any commercial advertising campaign, the "comparative" element is unlikely to be so prominent; when compared with commercial ads, political ads are much more negative in content.

Unlike commercial advertisers, political advertises do not adhere to any codes or procedures intended to protect the public from inaccurate and unsubstantiated claims. All commercial advertisers voluntarily subscribe to a "code of advertising ethics" administered by the Advertising Division of the Better Business Bureau. This code includes provisions for dealing with complaints of false or misleading claims. Complaints directed at specific ads are reviewed and arbitrated by a panel appointed by the National Advertising Review Board. After reviewing the evidence from both sides, the panel may find the complaint to be valid and require that the ad in question be modified or discontinued. The panel may also refer the complaint to the appropriate governmental agency. If the advertiser fails to comply with a request for modification or termination, the panel may issue a "notice of noncompliance" identifying the advertiser.

Political advertisers are not subject to comparable voluntary guidelines. First Amendment protections make it virtually impossible to impose involuntary restraints on the content of political advertising. The American Association of Political Consultants has shown no inclination to encourage any form of self-restraint. The result is a free-for-all environment in which candidates repeatedly attack and counter-attack the claims of their competitors. The only accountability is provided by the press, in the form of sporadic "ad-watch" news reports that scrutinize specific ads for their accuracy (for a review of research into the effects of these reports, see Pew Commission, 1998). The very nature of ad-watch journalism, however, is bound to exacerbate public cynicism over the fairness and credibility of political advertising.

The Effects of Political Advertising

The harsh tone of political advertising, the often controversial techniques employed by political advertisers, and the fact that the competing claims made in campaign ads are beyond review, have raised questions about the goals of political advertisers. Many critics have suggested that political advertisers seek votes at any cost, even including a degraded sense of public regard for the candidates and the electoral process. Perhaps the amount of negativity featured in political campaigns is designed to shrink the "market" rather than increase the sponsors relative share. Discouraging people from voting is much more feasible than persuading supporters of one candidate to vote for the opponent. It is well known that most Americans hold fast to their partisan attachments and that the act of voting generally serves expressive (as opposed to instrumental) needs (for a review of research on political participation, see Rosenstone and Hansen, 1992). Since people acquire their affiliation with the Democratic or Republican parties early in life, the probability that they will cross party lines in response to an advertising campaign is slight. And since the motivation to vote is typically symbolic or psychological (in the sense that ones vote is unlikely to be pivotal in determining the outcome of the election), increasing the level of controversy and conflict in ad campaigns is bound to discourage voters from making a choice and casting a vote. In effect, negative campaigns create an "avoidance" set within the electorate (see Houston 1998, 1999).

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