Third International Conference on Communication & Media Studies

Abstract

Electoral air war or the influx of TV advertising is a clear indication of high reliance of electoral candidates on this campaign tool because of its known impacts to the cognitive, affective, and voting behavior of viewers despite the gigantic cost. However, many studies claim that TV ads affect people differently. It is imperative to focus on the moderating factors of TV ad effects. This study subscribes to the transactional nature of communication. Guided by the Individual Difference Theory, this study analyzes how the characteristics and behavior of 104 young voters from Laguna, Philippines could moderate their information recall about and attitude towards a candidate before and after their exposure to a fast food TV ad. This was selected because of the candidate’s consistent fatherly portrayal is an ascended paternal trait desirable within the Philippine cultural context. Experimental design was employed. Using t-tests for unmatched population samples at 0.05 level of significance, findings indicated that the immediate TV ad’s effects on the information recall of the participants were moderated by: 1) occupation; 2) household type; 3) level of perceived adherence to religious values; and 4) information-seeking behavior. Attitudinal impacts of the TV ad include: 1) residual effect was moderated by educational attainment; and 2) immediate effect was moderated by their sex and educational attainment. Differences in the profile, and the presence of networks/resources set the variations in the measured groups which can guide advocates of responsible voting in their communication planning/outputs. Conclusions include recommending in-depth analyses to contextualize results.