Chapter 25 Quiz: Political Advertising: From TV Spots to Targeted Ads
Instructions: Select the best answer for each multiple-choice question. Short-answer questions should be answered in 2-4 sentences unless otherwise noted.
Multiple Choice
1. A media market with 500,000 target voters runs a campaign at 400 GRPs over two weeks. If reach is 80%, what is the average number of times the target audience will see the advertisement?
a) 3 times b) 4 times c) 5 times d) 8 times
Answer: c (400 GRPs ÷ 80% reach = 5 exposures on average)
2. The Wesleyan Media Project is most useful for which type of political advertising analysis?
a) Measuring the real-time audience of specific television advertisements b) Tracking the content, volume, and spending of political advertising across races c) Evaluating the causal persuasive effects of different advertising messages d) Calculating the cost per vote for campaign advertising programs
Answer: b
3. The "Daisy" advertisement from Lyndon Johnson's 1964 campaign is significant in the history of political advertising because it:
a) Was the first political advertisement ever aired on American television b) Demonstrated how emotional negative advertising could generate controversy that multiplied its reach far beyond its paid placement c) Established the legal precedent that political advertising is protected by the First Amendment d) Was the first advertisement to use the 30-second spot format that became standard
Answer: b
4. Research on negative advertising's "backlash" effect most accurately shows that:
a) Negative advertising consistently reduces vote share for the attacking candidate b) Backlash effects are most common when the attack is perceived as unfair or inaccurate c) Backlash effects are so severe that negative advertising is rarely the optimal strategy d) Backlash affects only voters who are already positively disposed toward the attacking candidate
Answer: b
5. The "spillover" problem in television advertising refers to:
a) The tendency of television advertising to generate earned media coverage that extends beyond paid placement b) The cost of reaching voters in neighboring states who cannot vote in the race being advertised c) The effect of advertisements from one race on voter attitudes in other races on the ballot d) The tendency of advertising to improve or hurt candidates other than the one being advertised
Answer: b
6. Gerber, Gimpel, Green, and Shaw's 2011 field experiment on television advertising found that:
a) Advertising effects were large and persistent throughout the campaign b) Advertising effects existed but decayed rapidly, with a half-life of approximately one week c) Advertising had no significant effect on candidate favorability in competitive races d) Advertising was effective for mobilization but not for persuasion
Answer: b
7. Connected television (CTV) advertising is considered strategically significant because it:
a) Is the least expensive digital advertising channel per thousand impressions b) Reaches audiences who do not watch any traditional television c) Combines the visual storytelling of traditional television with the targeting precision of digital advertising d) Is exempt from FEC disclosure requirements that apply to other advertising channels
Answer: c
8. The voter file is the foundation of micro-targeting because it:
a) Contains comprehensive data on voters' issue positions and political preferences b) Provides individual-level registration records that can be enhanced with commercial data and modeled scores c) Enables campaigns to track whether individual voters have seen their advertising d) Contains legally required contact information for all registered voters
Answer: b
9. Kalla and Broockman's meta-analysis finding of near-zero average persuasion effects in general elections is best interpreted as:
a) Evidence that campaigns should abandon advertising and focus resources on field operations b) A result specific to presidential campaigns that does not apply to Senate or state races c) An average effect that encompasses significant variation; advertising is not uniformly ineffective but is ineffective in many common contexts d) A refutation of the Elaboration Likelihood Model's predictions about persuasion
Answer: c
10. Which of the following is the most ethically serious concern about political micro-targeting, according to the chapter's discussion?
a) The higher cost of micro-targeted advertising compared to broadcast advertising b) The use of voter file data to deliver different messages to different voter segments without public accountability c) The potential for digital advertising platforms to charge different rates to different campaigns d) The risk that micro-targeted messages will reach unintended voter segments
Answer: b
Short Answer
11. Explain the strategic logic of the "flight strategy" in television advertising, specifically: why do campaigns structure advertising in defined periods rather than continuous placement, and what does the decay research suggest about optimal flight timing? (4-5 sentences)
Model Answer: Campaigns structure advertising in flights—defined periods of concentrated placement—for both strategic and economic reasons. Economically, flight buying enables volume discounts and advance planning. Strategically, the Gerber et al. finding that advertising effects decay with a half-life of approximately one week implies that the timing of advertising relative to the election matters as much as total volume. An ad that runs six weeks before election day will have lost most of its persuasive effect by election day; the same dollars spent in the week before election day will have their full effect at the moment voters are deciding. This decay logic favors later flights for persuasion objectives and earlier flights when the goal is framing introduction (building candidate familiarity) that subsequent reinforcing advertising will activate.
12. What is the strategic logic of the "outside group attack / campaign positive" division of labor in political advertising, and what does it accomplish for the sponsoring candidate? (3-4 sentences)
Model Answer: When outside groups (Super PACs, 501(c)(4)s) run aggressive attack advertising while the candidate committee runs comparatively positive or contrast advertising, the candidate benefits from the attacks while maintaining relative distance from them—allowing a public stance of "I'm focused on my record and vision" even as the advertising environment surrounding the race is dominated by attacks. This division of labor exploits the backlash research finding: attacks from sources other than the candidate may be received with less backlash because audiences hold candidates less personally responsible for independent expenditures. The candidate also maintains plausible deniability about specific attack claims if those claims are challenged as inaccurate. The practical limit is that outside groups are legally prohibited from coordinating with campaigns, though the legal definition of coordination has significant gray areas.
13. Explain the difference between "reach" and "frequency" in television advertising and explain why both matter for effective communication. (3-4 sentences)
Model Answer: Reach measures what percentage of the target audience is exposed to an advertisement at least once; frequency measures how many times, on average, those exposed see the advertisement. Both matter because effective political communication typically requires a minimum threshold of exposure—research suggests roughly 3-5 exposures—for a message to register, below which additional reach extension produces diminishing returns. A campaign that reaches 90% of its target audience but only once will typically underperform a campaign that reaches 70% of its audience with 4-5 exposures each, because the under-exposed majority will not have processed the message sufficiently for it to influence evaluation.
14. A voter advocacy organization argues that political micro-targeting should be banned because it "delivers different information to different citizens based on their personal data, fragmenting shared democratic discourse." Evaluate this argument using the chapter's discussion of micro-targeting and democracy. (5-6 sentences)
Model Answer: The organization's concern captures a genuine democratic tension: micro-targeting creates a political information environment in which citizens receive different campaign messages based on their personal characteristics, making shared deliberation about campaign claims difficult and reducing public accountability for what candidates promise to different groups. These are real problems. However, the argument for an outright ban is complicated by several considerations. First, tailoring political communication to audience characteristics predates digital micro-targeting—campaigns have always tailored speeches to different audiences, and direct mail programs have long delivered segmented political information. Second, a ban on micro-targeting would disadvantage resource-constrained campaigns that benefit disproportionately from the efficiency of targeted digital advertising relative to broadcast advertising that requires large media buys. Third, regulatory questions about what exactly would be banned are technically complex: audience targeting by issue interest is different in character from targeting by inferred race or suppression targeting of opponent supporters, but distinguishing them in regulation is difficult. A more targeted regulatory approach—focusing on the most harmful applications (suppression targeting, discriminatory exclusion) and requiring disclosure of targeting criteria—may better address the genuine concerns while preserving the legitimate uses.