TV Has Strongest Influence on Voters, CAB Study Says

By Vlada Gelman

Most voters credit television as the most likely source through which they would first learn about a political candidate, according to a study commissioned by the Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau.

Survey respondents also pointed to the Internet, newspapers and word-of-mouth as sources, while 51% agreed that political ads on TV prompted them to go online for more information about a specific candidate.

Television was also the strongest influence on respondents when making their final decision on a national candidate at 71%, with Internet (38%), newspapers (34%) and word-of-mouth (33%) following behind.

Eighty-one percent of respondents said they “typically noticed political advertising on TV” and 71% claimed “political ads help me understand what a candidate stands for,” while 82% felt “cable networks were a good source for political information.”

The study also revealed that swing voters rely more heavily on TV for first learning about national candidates at more than 2:1 over any other medium. Female voters and African American voters stated a similar propensity for TV as their primary media source. Women were less likely to use the Internet to get information on candidates compared with other voting groups.