Travis Ridout
Travis Ridout

Candidates running for office in 2016 are expected to spend a record amount of money on political advertising.

Last year, Wells Fargo Securities reported that an estimated $6bn was going to be spent on political ads in 2016, up 16% from the 2012 campaign season. Billionaire candidate Donald Trump’s new commercial is one of the first of the year, and also the first released by the Republican frontrunner.

Even though the spots are often short, there is an entire field of scholarly research that focuses on the effectiveness of political advertising. In order to find out what makes a political ad work, The Guardian asked three experts, including WSU’s Travis Ridout, professor in the School of Politics, Philosophy, and Public Affairs.

Appeal to emotions

“Ads that connect with audiences at a more emotional level can be very effective,” said Ridout, a political scientist at WSU and co-director of the Wesleyan Media Project. “Different emotions work in different circumstances.”

Trump’s new commercial plays to the fear of terrorism and immigration. It also reinforces Trump’s call to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the US at a time when the number of attacks against American Muslims is on the rise.

“It depends on what you’re trying to accomplish,” Ridout said, noting that emotions such as anxiety are often effective in making voters stop and pay attention to an ad. “Fear in particular may be good at converting voters.”

Find out more

The Guardian