Do Campaign Ads Actually Influence Your Vote?
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PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – The 2018 midterm election campaign is nearing its end and so too are the campaign ads.
They flood the airwaves, your newsfeed, it's hard to escape them. But, do the ads really influence your vote?
It seems like every time your favorite show goes to commercial the new norm is a constant bombardment of political ads.
"There is a lot of negativity, it's a lot of Peter blaming Paul," said one voter.
"I wish they didn't do it and I think it's a waste of money," another voter said.
Many may not take them seriously, but are they actually effective?
"One thing that research shows, these ads have a very short duration of effect," said Marc Meredith, an associate professor of political science at the University of Penn.
He says campaign managers tend to pay big money to fill the airwaves in the days before the election.
"The campaigns know that they want to get these ads in people's minds right before they go to the voting booth," said Meredith.
And though many disagree, Meredith says negative attack ads are the most effective.
"Voters tell you they want to hear positive ads, they want to hear what you stand for, most of the research shows it's negative ads which affect people's vote choice," said Meredith.