How do consumers react to political ads that meddle in the primaries of the other party?
Dems and Reps spent $53M+ on ads helping extreme members of the other party in primaries.
Their goal? To boost their own chances in the general election by helping candidates who might are easier to defeat.
As more information becomes available about this strategy, we ask: How do consumers react to the use of "meddle ads"?
Consumers might tolerate meddle ads because of polarization and wanting to keep the out-party out of power.
Consumers might be averse to meddle ads. It is underhanded and risky.
We consistently find that consumers (N = 7,740) are *averse* to the use of meddle ads--even from candidates from their own party.
Consumers donated smaller amounts to, reported more negative attitudes towards, and spoke more negatively about candidates who used meddle ads.
Dec 12, 2024 15:56This aversion is remarkably robust! It emerged across:
‣ measures of aversion (choice, donations, attitudes, word-of-mouth)
‣ control conditions (no information, issue ads, attack ads, microtargeting)
‣ paradigms (conjoint, vignette studies, NLP analysis of online comments)
This aversion is driven by 3 factors:
1. Concerns about character of the candidate (immoral)
2. Concerns about outcome risk (losing elections)
3. Concerns about system risk (losing trust in democracy)
This aversion is present for both Dems and Reps but slightly stronger for Dems
What can be done to minimize backlash from meddle ads?
‣ Candidates are not penalized when meddling is done by parties or outside organizations
‣ Candidates are not penalize if they reframe meddling as necessary to protect democracy
We see the contribution of this work as:
1. Highlighting a novel advertising strategy (meddle ads)
2. Identifying a new type of risk perceptions (system risk)
3. Expanding work on election interference
4. Offering practical guidance to campaigns and marketing managers
Our work focuses on costs of meddle ads. But, they may have benefits too. The Q of whether meddle ads are a net ➕or ➖is still open. It will depend on awareness, salience, counter-effects from mobilization, etc. We hope to see work on the causal impact of meddle ads in the field.
Here's a link to our paper, which was recently accepted at JCR!
academic.oup.com/jcr/advance-...
How Do Consumers React to Ads That Meddle in Out-Party Primaries?
Abstract. In 2022, Democrats spent $53 million on ads helping far-right candidates win Republican primaries. Paying for ads that support far-right candidat
When Political Ads Backfire: The Hidden Risks of ‘Meddle Advertising’ in US Elections | Columbia Business School
New research from Professor Mohamed Hussein finds that political advertisers are spending big bucks on so-called meddle ads — but consumers aren't always buying it.
