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2016 ElectionsBlogReleases

Eschewing policy in advertising? Lessons from 2016

Photo: Lorie Shaull   (MIDDLETOWN, CT) February 25, 2020 – Michael Bloomberg’s recent political ad, which portrays Donald Trump as a bully, has prompted discussion on social media about the effectiveness of personal versus policy attacks. Many of these discussions invoked a Wesleyan Media Project analysis from 2016 published in The Forum. In this research, we demonstrated that Clinton ran one of the most unusual presidential advertising campaigns in recent history by focusing overwhelmingly on personal characteristics of her opponent, Trump. While our 2016 study did not speak to effectiveness of personal versus policy ads, there is evidence that candidates suffer…
Wesleyan Media Project
February 25, 2020
2016 ElectionsBlogReleasesYear-End Summaries

2016 Election Study Published

Wesleyan Media Project shares lessons, analysis from 2016 election cycle   (MIDDLETOWN, CT) March 6, 2017 - The 2016 presidential campaign broke the mold when it comes to patterns of political advertising. But, in a new publication, the Wesleyan Media Project directors say “Not so fast” to those who argue that advertising no longer matters in elections. The article published in The Forum: A Journal of Applied Research in Contemporary Politics (open access through mid-April 2017) shows that the presidential race featured far less advertising than the previous cycle, a huge imbalance in the number of ads across candidates, and one candidate…
2016 ElectionsReleases

Clinton Crushes Trump 3:1 in Air War

Clinton also dominates local cable, which Trump has largely ignored Over 3.3M airings in 2016 Cycle; Nearly $600 million in ads for Senate races November 3, 2016 Report Highlights President • Clinton crushes Trump 3:1 on air (Table 1) • Presidential volume comparison from the last two weeks (Table A1) • NEW: WMP reports local cable airings from 2016 and 2012 (Table 2) • MAP: Large Clinton advantages on air persist in last two weeks (Figure 1) • Clinton dominates top markets including Orlando, Tampa, Las Vegas (Table 3) • MAP: Geographic comparison of presidential ad volumes from 2012 and…
Wesleyan Media Project
November 3, 2016
2016 ElectionsReleases

Presidential Ad Volumes Less than Half of 2012

Clinton Maintains Huge Advantage Over Trump Trump Campaign Running Positive Ads; Dems Hold Ad Advantage in Many Senate Races October 18, 2016 Report Highlights • Clinton ads out-air Trump ads more than 3:1 (Table 1) • Group ads still favor Clinton campaign (Table 2) • Pres ads this cycle more positive than the last 4 presidential campaigns (Table 3) • 50% of Trump ads are positive (Table 4) • Top media markets data show Florida still at center of pres ad storm (Table 5) • Senate ad advantage map (Figure 6) • NV Sen sees the most negative ads this…
Wesleyan Media Project
October 18, 2016