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Variability in Citizens’ Reactions to Different Types of Negative Campaigns

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  • Kim L. Fridkin
  • Patrick Kenney

Abstract

Do negative advertisements lower voters’ evaluations of the targeted candidate? We theorize that there is much to be gained by examining the variance in the content and tone of negative campaign messages and the variance in voters’ sensitivity to negative political rhetoric. We employ data from the 2006 Cooperative Congressional Election Study to investigate the impact of negative campaigning in U.S. Senate campaigns. We sampled 1,045 respondents in 21 of the 28 U.S. Senate races featuring a majority party incumbent and challenger. In addition to the survey data, we collected contextual data regarding the political advertisements aired during the campaigns and the news coverage of these campaigns in state newspapers. The evidence suggests that the impact of negative information is multifaceted, and under some circumstances, substantial. We find that uncivil and relevant negative messages are the most powerful, especially for people with less tolerance for negative political rhetoric.

Suggested Citation

  • Kim L. Fridkin & Patrick Kenney, 2011. "Variability in Citizens’ Reactions to Different Types of Negative Campaigns," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 55(2), pages 307-325, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:amposc:v:55:y:2011:i:2:p:307-325
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-5907.2010.00494.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Ivar Kolstad & Arne Wiig, 2016. "How do voters respond to information on self-serving elite behaviour? Evidence from a randomized survey experiment in Tanzania," CMI Working Papers 9, CMI (Chr. Michelsen Institute), Bergen, Norway.
    2. Juha Koljonen & Emily Öhman & Pertti Ahonen & Mikko Mattila, 2022. "Strategic sentiments and emotions in post-Second World War party manifestos in Finland," Journal of Computational Social Science, Springer, vol. 5(2), pages 1529-1554, November.
    3. Alessandro Nai & Mike Medeiros & Michaela Maier & Jürgen Maier, 2022. "Euroscepticism and the use of negative, uncivil and emotional campaigns in the 2019 European Parliament election: A winning combination," European Union Politics, , vol. 23(1), pages 21-42, March.
    4. Alessandro Nai & Ferran Martínez i Coma, 2019. "Losing in the Polls, Time Pressure, and the Decision to Go Negative in Referendum Campaigns," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(2), pages 278-296.
    5. Lingling Zhang & Doug J. Chung, 2020. "The Air War vs. the Ground Game: An Analysis of Multichannel Marketing in U.S. Presidential Elections," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 39(5), pages 872-892, September.
    6. Franz Reiter & Jörg Matthes, 2022. "How Partisanship Matters: A Panel Study on the Democratic Outcomes of Perceived Dirty Campaigning," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(4), pages 247-260.

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