Obama's Favorability Ratings Drop Slightly Among All Parties After Viewing New McCain Ad
Flemington, NJ, October 1, 2008 - A new national study among 308 self-reported Democrats, Republicans and Independents, revealed that after viewing a
new ad by John McCain, Barack Obama's favorability ratings decreased among all parties.
The study was conducted by HCD Research and the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion (MCIPO) on September 30,
to obtain Americans' perceptions of a new ad by John McCain which focuses on the number of times Barack Obama mentioned
that John McCain was right during the presidential debate last Friday.
The ad earned John McCain a Political Communications Impact Score (PCIS) of 8.1 and Barack Obama received a score of
4.3, resulting in a net score of 3.8 for John McCain. The scores can be compared to a mean score of 7.6 for previously
tested McCain ads and 9.4 for previously tested Obama ads. To date, the total mean score for all previously tested ads
is 8.5.
Favorability for Candidates Pre/Post Viewing of the Ad:
Obama / Pre / Post
All Responders / 54% / 50%
Democrats / 81% / 79%
Republicans / 24% / 19%
Independents / 56% / 52%
McCain / /
All Responders / 52% / 52%
Democrats / 22% / 22%
Republicans / 84% / 85%
Independents / 52% / 49%
The PCIS is a metric scoring system designed to gauge the effectiveness of political communications by generating a
score for each candidate to monitor changes in voter perceptions. The PCIS score is derived from the change in voters'
support and the extent that the support shifts. To view scores and results of recent studies go to: http://www.mediacurves.com/PCIS/
While viewing the video, participants indicated their levels of 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. The
participants' emotions were measured using the Ayer Emotion Battery. Participants were also asked pre- and post-viewing
questions. To view believability curves and detailed results go to: www.mediacurves.com.
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