Is Negative Advertising Effective for Female Candidates?

Abstract

Female candidates sometimes are discouraged from negative campaigning because they would risk voter backlash by defying gender stereotypes. In this experiment, a negative television campaign advertisement was manipulated to control for the candidate's gender, issue content, and the character traits emphasized in the narration. The female candidate's support was not diminished because of the attack upon her opponent. The findings show that in low-information contests, female candidates are assumed to be weaker on "male" issues. However, when the female candidate used a "male" issue as the basis of an attack upon her male opponent, she was judged more competent on the issue. This suggests that negative advertising could be an effective tool to neutralize the disadvantages caused by gender stereotypes.

Shaken and Stirred: A Content Analysis of Women’s Portrayals in James Bond Films

“…For example, Gordon et al (2003) found negative political ads directed toward opponents did not hurt the image of female political candidates. Additional research has pinpointed differential effects by sex of the viewer.…”

How Women Attack: Candidate Reliance on Feminine and Masculine Traits in Campaign Negativity

“…This type of punishment for negativity differs from the punishment facing women because men are not being punished for violating stereotypic expectations. Men still use campaign negativity to attack their female opponents on stereotypically masculine issues (Gordon et al, 2003; Melich, 2005; Windett, 2014), a strategy that can further reinforce the perception that women lack the masculine qualities needed to hold political office. The extent to which men benefit from attacking their female opponents is not entirely clear.…”

Navigating the “Double Bind”

“…Women candidates have historically been warned against attacking their opponents in ads, as this behavior violates the stereotype that women are kind and compassionate, and could thus prompt negative backlash responses from voters (Gordon, Shafie, and Crigler 2016;King and McConnell 2003). This concern may explain prior findings that women candidates were less likely than men to run attack advertisements (Herrnson and Lucas 2006).…”

“…However, more recent studies have found that airing negative campaign messages can benefit women candidates if they employ attacks that are viewed as justified (Krupnikov and Bauer 2014). In fact, some argue that criticizing their opponents can help to mitigate the harmful impact of gender stereotypes by making women candidates seem "tougher" (Gordon, Shafie, and Crigler 2016). Scholars have also found that the negative emotions produced by attack ads may deter viewers from applying gender stereotypes when assessing candidates, because people process information more deeply in this state (Chang and Hitchon 2004).…”

“…With these findings in mind, I suspect that there will not be a significant gender difference in promotional versus contrasting ads aired during the 2012-2018 elections. Political campaigns have become more negative over time (Lau, Sigelman, and Rovner 2007;Gordon, Shafie, and Crigler 2016). This is because campaign consultants believe that negative advertisements help win votes, and scholars have found that voters can recall them more easily (Kahn and Kenney 2000).…”