Republicans swept Virginia's races for Governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general in November led by newly elected governor Glenn Youngkin's come-from-behind victory against Terry McCauliffe, and broadcast TV political ads were a factor in turnout and decision making.
A new study from the Television Bureau of Advertising, whose task is to promote the efficacy of broadcast advertising, found that, in the governor's race, TV and the political ads that ran there, was the most important "influencer" at all stages of the process--defined as "awareness/interest/get more information/consider voting/vote."
And of the TV options, broadcast trumped cable.
According to the Voter Funnel Study of 1,000 registered Virginia voters, seven of 10 who cited TV as the most important influence cited broadcast over cable.
And while respondents went to the net to search for information about candidates, 83% said TV ads influenced them in that search.
The survey found that broadcast TV was the most trusted news source, something other surveys have also found, and that even for online information, TV station web sites or apps was the most trusted digital source. And while more than half of the voters polled (56%) said TV motivated them to vote, only 20% said social media did so.
The study, administered by Dynata, was conducted Nov. 2-12 among 1,000 adults 18-plus. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points (at a 95% confidence level).. ■
