The research question of this master thesis is how the content of political ads on YouTube and on TV differs with regards to their negativity.
In the past few election cycles, presidential campaigns have begun to integrate YouTube into existing messaging strategies, which traditionally used to rely heavily on television advertising. The goal is to determine whether campaign messages on YouTube should be considered as a complement to traditional means of communication or a surrogate for them. In particular, the differing channels are analyzed concerning their content and tone. Thus, it should be determined whether the tone of YouTube messages occupy a unique place in modern campaigns distinct from that of television ads. Understanding how politicians use YouTube as compared to older forms of communication is crucial in order to comprehend the full campaign repertoire used by candidates and the possible differences in the types of messages, i.e. more positive or negative, to which citizens are exposed.
In terms of advertising, the 2016 presidential election stands out specifically through the fact that advertising spending for television did not exceed spending in 2012. The trend during the last few election cycles has consistently indicated spending to far outpace the prior cycle in terms of dollars spent by the major-party candidates. Clinton’s final total was far less than Obama’s budget in the past two elections. Her spending was almost cut in half when compared to Obama’s 404 million U.S. Dollar budget in 2012. When comparing the two campaigns, the Clinton campaign vastly outspent the Trump campaign in terms of TV ad buys. Although the Trump campaign made up ground in the final weeks of the campaign, it did not nearly reach the level of the Clinton budget in terms of overall spending. By the 2nd November 2016, Clinton had already spent 211.4 million US Dollar on TV ads, while Trump had spent only 74 million US Dollar, about of third of Clinton’s budget.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Overview
- Online Advertising in U.S. Presidential Elections
- Advertising in the 2016 Presidential Election
- Regulation of Political Advertising on TV and the Internet
- Research Question
- Structure
- Theoretical Background
- Political Campaigning and Advertising
- Functions of Campaign Messages
- Negativity in Political Advertising
- Effects of Negative Campaigning
- Online Campaigning
- Content and Distribution of Online Ads
- Image vs. Issue Ads
- Negativity in Issue and Image Ads
- Emotional Appeals in Political Ads
- Framing Theory
- Frames and Types of Framing
- Framing Effects
- Framing and Emotions
- Framing and Distinct Emotional Responses
- Implications on Political Decision-Making
- Hypotheses
- Methodological Approach
- Data Collection and Sampling
- Analysis of the Transcripts
- Text analysis
- Sentiment analysis
- Regression Analysis
- Linear Regression
- Logistic Regression
- Operationalization
- Preprocessing of Transcript Data
- Variables of Interest
- Control Variables
- Methodological Challenges
- Descriptive Results
- Campaign's Advertising Strategies in the 2016 Election
- Tone of Advertising
- The Ten Most Frequent Negative and Positive Words
- Positive Campaign Ads
- Negative Campaign Ads
- Fear and Anger Appeals
- The Ten Most Frequent Words Evoking Fear
- Fear Evoking Ad
- The Most Frequent Words Evoking Anger
- Anger Evoking Ad
- Empirical Assessment of Theoretical Hypotheses
- Tone of TV and YouTube Ads
- Tests using the BING Sentiment score
- Tests using the SentimentR score
- Tone of Issue and Image Ads
- Tests using the BING Sentiment score
- Tests using the SentimentR score
- Issue and Image Ads on TV and YouTube
- Emotional Appeals in Issue and Image Ads
- Tests using Percentage of Anger words
- Tests using Percentage of Fear words
- Emotional Appeals on TV and YouTube
- Tests using Anger
- Tests using Fear
- Discussion
- Overall Tone of Advertising
- Issue and Image Advertising
- Fear and Anger Appeals
Objectives and Key Themes
This study aims to examine the use of online advertising in U.S. presidential elections, focusing on the 2016 campaign. It explores the role of negativity, emotional appeals, and framing in political ads, particularly in relation to traditional television advertising.
- The impact of online advertising on campaign communication
- The use of negativity and emotional appeals in political advertising
- The influence of framing theory on political messaging
- A comparison of online and television advertising strategies
- The effectiveness of different types of advertising (issue and image) on voters
Chapter Summaries
- Introduction: This chapter provides an overview of the study, outlining the research question and its significance. It discusses the evolution of political advertising in the U.S., particularly the emergence of online platforms, and highlights the importance of understanding the impact of these new communication channels on elections.
- Theoretical Background: This chapter explores key theoretical frameworks that underpin the study. It delves into the role of political campaigning and advertising, examining the functions of campaign messages, negativity in political advertising, effects of negative campaigning, and the specific characteristics of online campaigning. The chapter further introduces framing theory, discussing its principles, effects, and implications for political decision-making.
- Methodological Approach: This chapter outlines the research methodology, including data collection and sampling techniques, as well as the analysis methods used to examine the data. It describes the specific tools used for text analysis, sentiment analysis, and regression analysis, and details the operationalization of variables and the potential challenges encountered in the study.
- Descriptive Results: This chapter presents descriptive findings on the advertising strategies employed in the 2016 presidential election. It explores the tone of advertising, including the frequency of positive and negative words, as well as the use of fear and anger appeals, providing examples of specific advertisements and their intended effects.
- Empirical Assessment of Theoretical Hypotheses: This chapter examines the empirical support for the study's hypotheses, focusing on the tone of television and YouTube ads, the impact of issue and image advertising, and the presence of emotional appeals. It utilizes sentiment analysis scores and regression analysis to assess the relationships between various factors, such as the type of advertising, the channel used, and the emotional content.
Keywords
This study focuses on political advertising, online campaigning, emotional appeals, framing theory, sentiment analysis, and the 2016 U.S. presidential election. It explores how these concepts relate to voter behavior and the effectiveness of different campaign strategies in the digital age.
- Quote paper
- Angela Gubser (Author), 2018, Negative Campaign Advertising. Which effect does New Media have?, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/468882
