Missing the Message: The Measurement and Effects of Attention to Political Advertisements.

Abstract

Political advertisements are everywhere. In the current media environment, it seems as if you cannot turn on your television, open your laptop, or listen to the radio without encountering some form of a political ad. Yet most citizens express disdain for their existence, seemingly giving ads only glancing attention. Existing theories of political communication poorly understand the way in which ads are processed and how engagement with ads impacts behavior. This work examines the impact of personal attributes and environmental factors on the degree of attention granted to both televised and online political advertisements. In particular, I highlight the role of unconscious processes in determining attention to political ads. Using physiological arousal as an indicator of attention, I find evidence that citizens’ existing predispositions, namely political knowledge, partisanship, and interest in politics, influence their degree of attention, memory, and subsequent self-reported emotion and behavior. The first paper, “Tuned Out,” uses a laboratory experiment to demonstrate that individuals with the highest levels of knowledge about politics “tune in” or pay attention to political ads more often than their peers. Moreover, those with the lowest levels of political knowledge pay significantly greater attention to ads about their in-party, irrespective of whether the ad is positive or an attack. The second paper, “Motivating Participation,” directly compares the impact of self- reported emotion and physiological arousal on citizens’ stated intent to participate in politics. The results suggest that as arousal increases, so too does citizens’ willingness to participate in politics. The third paper, “Incidental or Captive,” focuses on online political advertisements and the influence of viewing context—whether citizens were told to pay attention to the ad or not— on self-reported emotion. I find “who is angry” varies based on how often one follows politics and whether attention to the ad is forced. Specifically, asking citizens to pay attention to an online ad only benefits those with low levels of political interest, as those with high levels of interest already pay attention to the ad on their own.