The Effects of Nonverbal Content in Political Spot Advertisements: The Interaction of Candidate Visual Presentation and Verbal Appeal Type

The results indicate that individuals are more confident in their beliefs about candidates when they have ample opportunity to see and hear the candidate. The findings also demonstrate that appeals based on a candidate's record of accomplishments are more effective than appeals based on a candidate's agenda. In addition, a pattern of dependable interactions was observed which suggests that when candidates do appeal to voters based on their agenda, viewer responses are more favorable when the candidate nonverbal presence is high. Finally, the findings support the view that, contrary to conventional wisdom, variations in verbal content have more influence on viewers' responses to candidates than do variations in nonverbal content. The results argue for further study to account for these findings and to explore effects due to the specific manner in which the candidates are presented nonverbally.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Speech Communication

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Hale, Scott L.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Swanson, David L.

• Political Science, General

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

(MiAaPQ)AAI3017089

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/87496