ERIC Number: ED238037
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1983-May
Pages: 21
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Defining the Images of Presidential Candidates from Televised Political Spot Advertisements.
Shyles, Leonard
A study examined the images of the 1980 presidential election primaries as expressed by televised political spot advertisements. Systematic coding of image content was completed for all 30- and 60-second commercials during the primary campaign. An advertisement's image score was defined as the number of positive evaluations of words and phrases used which matched terms from a predetermined list of image attributes. The results indicated that most image references were about experience (30.5%) and competence (15.1%). Democratic party dominance in the altruism category was nearly balanced out by the Republican party's dominance in competence. For both parties, the experience, leadership, and competence categories together accounted for over 55% of image mentions. The major image references made on behalf of incumbent Jimmy Carter were to his experience, strength, and honesty. Ronald Reagan was also drawn as a man with great experience. Among the other candidates, Edward Kennedy was portrayed as a caring leader with strong personal qualities, George Bush was characterized as highly competent and experienced, and John Anderson was mainly portrayed as "different" from the mainstream candidates. (HTH)
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: Researchers
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A