Voter Support Remains Virtually Unchanged After Viewing New John McCain Energy Ad
-- Democrats and Independents Express Skepticism; Republicans are Inspired --
Flemington, NJ, July 23, 2008 – According to a new national study among 304 self-reported Democrats, Republicans and
independents voter support for both John McCain and Barack Obama remained unchanged after participants viewed a new ad
sponsored by Senator John McCain.
The study was conducted by HCD Research and the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion (MCIPO) during July
22-23, to obtain Americans’ perceptions of a new ad by John McCain focusing on off-shore oil drilling.
While viewing the ad, participants indicated their levels of interest and believability by moving their mouse from left
to right on a continuum. The responses were recorded in quarter-second intervals and reported in the form of curves.
Participants were also asked pre- and post-viewing questions regarding their support for John McCain. To view detailed
results and believability curves, go to: www.mediacurves.com
Respondents were also asked to evaluate the candidate on 8 personal attributes before and after viewing the ad. They
could rate the candidate for each attribute using a negative and a positive scale.
Among the study findings:
Undecided voters expressed a slight increase in intensity of support for John McCain with 6% moving from “leaning”
toward the senator to “strongly leaning” toward voting for John McCain after viewing the ad.
Republicans reported positive scores for McCain on all 8 attributes before and after viewing the ad. Among Democrats, he
received negative scores on 5 out of 8 attributes prior to viewing the ad, and negative scores on 7 out of the 8
attributes after viewing the ad. Independents reported negative scores for 4 attributes prior to viewing the ad; however
Independents’ scores moderately improved after viewing the ad.
“Please specify how much you agree/disagree with the following statements about John McCain.”
Before Viewing the Ad
Mean Responses on a Scale of:
-100% (Completely Disagree) to +100% (Completely Agree) Scale / Registered Democrat (n=100) / Registered
Republican(n=102) / Registered Independent (n=102) / Total (n=304)
He is hard working. / 21% / 56% / 24% / 33%
He is honest / 0% / 43% / 7% / 17%
He is concerned about people like me. / -26% / 37% / -14% / -1%
He is fighting for a change / -20% / 34% / -15% / 0%
He will represent my values / -25% / 40% / -12% / 1%
He is not tied to special interests / -29% / 13% / -23% / -13%
He is accountable / 1% / 43% / 2% / 15%
He is firm and consistent in his views / -3% / 37% / 6% / 13%
“Please specify how much you agree/disagree with the following statements about John McCain.”
After Viewing the Ad
Mean Responses on a Scale of:
-100% (Completely Disagree) to +100% (Completely Agree) Scale / Registered Democrat (n=100) / Registered Republican
(n=102) / Registered Independent (n=102) / Total (n=304)
He is hard working. / 20% / 58% / 25% / 34%
He is honest / -11% / 46% / 5% / 13%
He is concerned about people like me. / -22% / 46% / -5% / 7%
He is fighting for a change / -15% / 42% / -7% / 7%
He will represent my values / -23% / 44% / -7% / 5%
He is not tied to special interests / -31% / 17% / -20% / -11%
He is accountable / -4% / 44% / 7% / 16%
He is firm and consistent in his views / -8% / 44% / 8% / 15%
Emotions Most Felt While Viewing the Ad
• Among political parties, the emotions most felt by Republicans while watching the ad were “inspiration” (42%) and
“skepticism” (20%), compared to Democrats, who reported “skepticism” (43%) and “anger” (17%) as the emotions most felt,
and independents who reported “skepticism” (38%) and “inspiration” (21%) as the emotions most felt.
The Media Curves web site provides the media and general public with a venue to view Americans’ perceptions of popular
and controversial media events and advertisements.
ENDS