How to generate emotional response in political advertising

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How to generate emotional response in political
advertising
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Why emotional response?

• According to George E. Marcus, president of the
  International Society of Political Psychology,
  unless political ads evoke emotional responses
  they dont have much effect. Voters need to be
  emotionally primed in some way before they will
  pay attention.

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• Research suggests that the reason candidates
  seem appealing often has little to do with their
  ideas. Political campaigns are won and lost at a
  more emotional and subtle level.
• Shankar Vedantam, Washington Post
• Many researchers and most practitioners agree
  that emotional advertising is most effective

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How are emotions evoked?

• Video
• Sound
• People
• Situations
• Stories
• Cultural icons/symbolism

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How are emotions evoked?

• The overall emotional impact of the ad is
  produced by the conjunction of words, music, and
  images in a narrative structure.
• Brader
• Emphasized hope and fear

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Video

• Use of color v. black and white
• B/W represents sinister past, poverty/sadness,
  etc.
• Framing of candidates
• Surroundings
• Light/darkness (shading of face, starkness of
  detail)
• Slow motion
• Quick cuts

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Sound

• Music
• Background
• Choice of resonant popular music for particular
  target group
• Voices
• Candidates voice
• Narrator
• Man-on-the-street
• Testimonial

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People

• Humans are hard-wired for emotional/empathic
  bonding
• People naturally take the perspective of others,
  feeling what they would in the other persons
  place
• People react extremely strongly to the human
  face, where emotion is most clearly represented

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People

• People who represent target groups
• Empathy/identification
• Instinctive response to human faces/emotions
• Children/elderly/sick
• Vulnerable people whose troubles are not of their
  own doing
• Heroes
• Soldiers/police/firefighters
• Less often doctors/teachers
• Villains
• Terrorists/Saddam Hussein/Oil speculators/HMO
  officers/Lobbyists

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Situations

• Audience will often identify with people facing
  difficulties/experiencing pain
• Candidate can save the day/act as hero
• Must be believable, must represent a situation
  that resonates with target, candidate must be
  seen as legitimate hero
• Disabled vets
• Hurricane/storm victims
• Poor, workers without health insurance

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• Another situation is brought on by the actions of
  the opponent
• Villain who caused trouble, brought about
  suffering
• Happy situations are claimed as result of
  incumbent action
• Results of past heroic action

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Stories/Narratives

• Usually tales of overcoming setbacks, poor roots,
  trials in early life
• Heroic quest stories
• Development of values, dedication, etc.
• Pride in background, accomplishments, heritage
• Led to decision to serveto seek office

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Cultural icons/symbolism

• Revered iconsflags, patriotic music, mom, apple
  pie, etc.
• Church and religious symbols
• Schools
• Small-town America
• Children as symbols of our future

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The use of humor

• Humor is a risky choice
• People may not get it
• People may find it inappropriate for a political
  campaign
• People may not think something is funny
• Sense of humor varies widely
• Humor can be especially useful if
• You want to take the edge off an attack ad
• You need to deflect criticism
• The humor identifies a target audience in a
  positive manner
• It is self-deprecating