Internet Political Ads in 2012: Can Humor Mitigate Unintended Effects of Negative Campaigning?

A posttest-only experimental design is used to test the effects of humorous negative video ads from the 2012 presidential campaign on evaluations of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney among young people. Findings show that ads targeting Romney had a negative effect on attitudes toward him. Romney also had his evaluations lowered as the result of respondents viewing third-party ads attacking Obama. This may be consistent with some research that suggests that negative political ads have a backlash, or boomerang effect on their source. Obama, on the other hand, was largely insulated from both target and source effects. The study suggests first that candidates who decide to go negative may not be able to insulate themselves from unintended negative effects by framing their ads in a humorous fashion. Moreover, because the anti-Obama ads were sponsored by a third party, it suggests that the source really might matter in terms of the effects ads have on their candidates.