heartharmony.com.au

Have you wondered about negative dirty tricks political campaigns? Why do political parties do them? Simply because they work.

A study reported in Political Psychology showed that people who are asked to think about candidates in terms of who they  oppose rather than who they support, are more resistant to changing their view. This means when you see negative campaign advertising opposing a candidate you are being quietly manipulated into forming a strong viewpoint and embedding your vote for a particular candidate.  You see this sort of advertising more when there are elections with a larger number of “hanging” voters or close elections than when the votes are more clearly defined.

This research has much broader applicability.  If you are shown negative results about a product or company you are more likely to form stronger and less resistant to change viewpoints about that product or service.

Negative comparison tests fall into this category of advertising, which is partially why organisations such as the ACCC caution against using comparative advertising for business (and come down heavily on people who use it in the wrong way).

So should your business adopt negative framing of your ads? While the temptation is to use it due to it’s power, it is a strategy fraught with much greater scrutiny by both your competitors and the regulators. This is one marketing technique to use with caution (and just be aware of it’s use during the next election).

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony – Freelance Copywriter