Report: TV Commercials 'Most Influential' For Voters

The Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB) has announced that initial results are in from the 2018 Voter Funnel Study, showing that voters in Arizona and Florida found advertising on television to be most influential in making voting decisions.

“Preliminary results from these hotly contested states confirm that television continues to be the most important platform in generating awareness of candidates and issues, as well as influencing voters’ decision-making process. In addition, television is a key motivator in getting voters out to vote,” says TVB President and CEO Steve Lanzano. “The 2018 elections broke all records when it comes to campaign spending on local broadcast TV – and our newest study shows that this was a worthwhile investment.”

Though data continues to come in, the topline figures show that registered voters in Arizona and Florida ranked TV as more influential than all other types of advertising when generating interest, awareness and in choosing a candidate for whom to vote. Per state, registered voters responded:

• 55 and 58 percent of voters in Arizona and Florida, respectively, ranked TV as “most important” in terms of generating awareness; more than all other media, combined. 
• 67 and 71 percent of voters in Arizona and Florida, respectively, ranked TV as “most important” in motivating them to “get out and vote.” The next highest was social media at 26 percent and 29 percent, respectively.

The 2018 Voter Funnel data also shows that local broadcast television remains one of the most trusted sources of information for voters. Only seven percent of voters in Arizona and Florida stated that they find “the problem of ‘fake news’ to be most prevalent” on local broadcast TV, as opposed to 57 percent and 55 percent of voters in Arizona and Florida, respectively, who identified ‘fake news’ as most prevalent on social media.

TVB’s Voter Funnel reveals voter sentiment, motivations and trends from the 2018 election; a full report will follow as more voters weigh in. This latest study follows last week’s announcement that over $3 billion was spent on local broadcast television in the midterms, exceeding previous records. This new research helps to shed light on why campaigns continue to return to local broadcast TV: it works. “This data and this year’s record-breaking spending continue to prove that TV advertising is the most influential and persuasive,” continued Lanzano, “It’s time pundits address the facts and listen to what campaigns clearly know, voters trust local broadcast TV.”

TVB commissioned Research Now SSI to conduct the 2018 Voter Funnel. Over 10,000 interviews were collected via an opt-in survey in 10 competitive states (a goal of 1,000 in each state) including Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio and Wisconsin. To qualify, respondents needed to be 18 or over, a registered voter in that particular state and have seen or heard an advertisement for any candidate and/or ballot issue in any of over 20 media platforms, both traditional and digital, in the past 2 months. The survey began 11/7/18, right after the 2018 election, and met the goal for Florida and Arizona 11/11/18.