Political advertising — a research overview

Abstract

In the United States electoral advertising on television has always been the most important campaign tool. Even though social media are gaining relevance, a major share of the campaign budget still goes into TV advertising. In other parts of the world, electoral advertising on television is much more regulated, which may be the reason why this campaign tool has not reached the same relevance as in the U.S. Th is article provides a comprehensive overview of the different research perspectives and in particular discusses differences between the role of electoral advertising in the U.S. and other countries, which also pose a challenge for international comparisons.

Polling, Partisanship, and Promoting Violence: New Developments in Impression Management From Candidate and Super PAC Advertisements

“…Scholarship on political advertising often lacks theory-driven methods (Holtz-Bacha, 2018). Sociological theory can serve a pivotal role in filling this gap by providing deeper analytic frameworks.…”

30-second politics, 30 years too late: Political TV advertising in Swedish election campaigns, 2006–2018

“…It is hard to abstain from a direct communication channel if everyone else is using it. Other important external factors are regulations and laws and the technological development of new digital media platforms where political messages can be distributed (Holtz-Bacha, 2018).…”

“…Political TV ads are a central element in election campaign communication in many countries, and especially in the US (Kaid & Holtz-Bacha, 2006;Holtz-Bacha, 2018). TV ads are perceived as an effective communication channel during election campaigns.…”