Keith R. Sanders

Political Television Commercials An Experimental Study of Type and Length

Considerable controversy has arisen over the use in political campaigns of short, image-oriented television commercials. This study compared the effect of type (image and issue) and length (5 minute and 60 second) of political television commercials in terms of candidate evaluation, recall of commercial content, and likelihood of voting for the candidate. Issue commercials resulted in higher candidate evaluation while image commercials resulted in greater recall of content. Higher evaluation of the candidate was achieved by five-minute commercials, but no significant difference in content recall attributable to length was present. An interaction between type and length of commercials surfaced on the voting variable, and the 60-second issue commercial appeared to be slightly superior to other combinations.

John A. Stormer and the Hofstadter hypothesis

Does political rhetoric hold the key to an understanding of political pathology? Blending historical scholarship and behavioral research, this study tested empirically hypotheses derived from Richard Hofstadters model of the “paranoid style” in American politics. The data were drawn from John A. Stormers None Dare Call It Treason.

Information sources and voting in a primary and general election

There is a considerable variance in audience perceptions of media use and credibility between primary and general elections. The authors are in the School of Journalism and the Department of Speech, respectively, at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. They gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Drs. Robert 0. Hirsch and Larry Kokkeler in the collection of data for this report.

Political rallies: Their uses and effects

Arguing that political speech‐making can have significant impact, this study surveyed 416 members of the audience at appearances by jour presidential candidates during the 1976 primary in Illinois. The researchers concluded that rallies attract a large percentage of persons who are not members of the featured candidates political party. From a uses and gratifications perspective, audience motivations for rally attendance were complex, and, while the strongest motivations were of a cognitive‐orientation nature, reasons related to the excitement of the event were surprisingly prominent.