The Promise of America

In the beginning of this ad Mitt Romney talks about “hopes and dreams diminished by false promises and weak leadership.” This statement itself is very vivid and pulls on America’s heart, but what really is going to persuade viewers is the imagery accompanying this statement.  There are worn down buildings proudly displaying the American flag.  Through this Mitt Romney is trying to show how fatigued and depleted America is right now and he will be the one to come to save the day. He shows this at the end of the ad when the flag is not simply hung on some sad, dilapidated building, but instead billowing in the breeze with the sunset in the background.  The ad also shows a dad with his son on his lap playing on an iPad which symbolizes family and an advancement of technology, both of which are important to Americans.   This ad does not attempt to logically persuade viewers by using numbers or statistics, but instead uses something stronger.  He emotionally attracts the viewers by talking about raising the standard of living, building a stronger middle class, helping the fatigued America and of course, showing him playing with a baby.

                Vivid imagery is used strongly throughout this ad to show Mitt Romney as no more than an average guy, who can relate to America.  He show visiting people working, many at manual labor jobs, but everyone is smiling with him.  One way he is persuading Americans in this ad is by fatigue.  A study by Galliot et. al. studied the effects of blood glucose on self-control.  One way self- control is defined is emotion regulation.  The study found that when a person has low blood glucose and is fatigued that they have lower self-control, or emotional regulation.  In this ad Mitt Romney is persuading America through their fatigue. He talks about Americans “being tired of being tired.”  This is accompanied by the sad imagery of the worn down buildings, and is going to make viewers feel that yes they are tired and worn down.  When viewers are feeling this fatigue he then jumps in to persuade them by making the music more upbeat and showing them how much better they will be with him.  There are smiling faces, kids, and his speech is uplifting, so they start to feel persuaded to vote for him. 

                A major persuasive technique that is used is power.  This ad talks about what a triumph Mitt Romney is and how he is winning.  In fact a reference to him winning is made six times throughout this ad.  A pronounced part of American culture is competition. We are extremely competitive and do not like to lose.  Mitt Romney uses this fact to say to America that if you don’t want to lose, you better get behind him because he is going to win and you want to be a winner.  By the end of this ad, the aim is to make the viewer find new found energy from their fatigue, feel uplifted about the future of America, feel like a winner and most importantly, feel like voting for Mitt Romney.  He did all that without quoting one statistic or reliable data, and without giving any of plans of how he is going to make all of this happen.

Lizzy Trumble

trumb404@regis.edu

Gailliot, M. T., Baumeister, R. F., DeWall, C., Maner, J. K., Plant, E., Tice, D. M., & ... Schmeichel, B. J. (2007). Self-control relies on glucose as a limited energy source: Willpower is more than a metaphor. Journal Of Personality And Social Psychology, 92(2), 325-336. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.92.2.325

Aronson, E. (2012). The social animal. (11 ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publisher

Vote For Central Rather Than Peripheral

During our country’s elections, what factors influence us to side with a certain candidate? Is it the promises that they make, the investment in our country, or innovative thinking? Are our votes based on factual evidence? In my opinion, the majority of the votes are influenced by mere persuasion techniques. Aronson (2012) divides persuasion into two routes. The central route to persuasion involves weighing arguments in a systematic manner to reach a conclusion. The opposing route is the peripheral route of persuasion, which is when a person responds to simple and often irrelevant stimuli without giving it much thought (Aronson, 2012). I understand the importance and meaning behind a vote, and I am motivated to make my decision concentrating on the central route to persuasion rather than the peripheral route to persuasion. Here are some examples of peripheral persuasion techniques used in Todd Akin’s advertisement for US Senate.

            Todd Akin's advertisement first proposes that “our liberty is under attack, our freedom is being undermined, our future is uncertain, and the American Dream is slipping away.” He claims that President Obama takes freedoms and the foundation of our country away. This persuasion technique relies on the fact that when our freedom is taken away, people want to get it back! Laurin et al. did a study on reactance, and found that “when there is a chance…that the restriction will not come into effect, people respond negatively to it and exaggerate the importance they attach to the restricted freedom” (Laurin, Kay & Fitzsimons, 2012). The restriction of our freedom is not yet certain because we are able to make a change with our votes. Therefore, according to Laurin et al., we cling to the importance of the freedom that is being taken away. Akin uses this reactance technique to persuade us to vote for him in order to get our freedom back.

            According to this political advertisement, our freedom and our values have been undermined, and our economy has been ransacked. The American people are purposefully instilled with fear because “the more frightened a person is by communication the more likely he or she is to take positive preventive action” (Aronson, 2012). Akin uses this advertisement to steer us away from our fear by offering direction. Akin proposes he will help us reclaim our God given rights of life and liberty. The use of the Fear + Direction persuasion technique influences us to run away from the fears enforced by President Obama, and instead follow Akin’s direction by voting for him.

            Conditioning has been used for centuries to control human behavior. This technique pairs stimuli with either a positive or negative conditioned stimulus that eventually elicits a changed behavioral response without the unconditioned stimulus. Pavlov used conditioning to make his dogs salivate whenever they heard the ringing of a bell. In this commercial, Akin uses Pavlov’s technique and hopes to elicit a negative response when pairing President Obama’s name with negative stimuli. Negative words and actions like “tyranny,” “looted the treasury,” “spent us into poverty,” and “crushed us with debt” are examples of this negative paired stimulus. In contrast, Akin hopes to elicit a positive response when pairing his name with positive words and actions such as “leading the fight for our freedom,” “successful businessman,” “protecting hard working families,” and “rebuilding the American dream.” After this commercial, people are persuaded to have negative feeling towards President Obama, and positive feelings towards Akin.

             Identification is another persuasive technique that is used in this commercial. Identification is when a person can relate and identify with another individual or party, and they are persuaded to do what pleases them. Rigio (2008) examined the relationships between political parts, the strength of a person’s party identification, and accurate knowledge of the candidates. The findings suggested that when the social meaning of a group is clear and indisputably positive, individuals that are strongly identified with that group ignore well-argued and high quality messages about the opposing candidate. In Akin’s commercial, he greatly separates the liberals from the conservatives, and focuses on his conservative beliefs. This creates a focused and clear social meaning in the advertisement for people to identify with.

            When Akin was referencing President Obama, he had vivid image of a foreclosure sign that is paralleled to the American dream slipping away. Aronson describes this persuasive technique; “the more vivid examples are, the greater their persuasive power” (2012). These vivid images far surpass statistical data and influence you to vote for Akin.

            Finally, Akin ends his advertisement with a catchy rhyming phrase, “liberty and prosperity.” People can be influenced by the way things are phrased when evaluating the quality of an argument (Aronson, 2012). During the O.J. Simpson trial in 1995, the attorney Johnnie Cochran repeatedly said, “if it doesn’t fit, you must acquit” (Aronson, 2012). This was a persuasive statement, not because of the logic (a person with a tight-fitted glove can still commit murder), but because of the rhyming and persuasive peripheral cue. Similarly, Akin uses this catchy phrase to persuade people to vote for him.

            There are so many ways in which someone can be persuaded. We are encompassed by all of these persuasive techniques, especially during the election period. I have learned that although these persuasive techniques are useful, knowledge and education is more purposeful. As a young voter, I am not going to make my decision based on reactance, conditioning, or meaningless rhyming phrases. Rather I am going to concentrate on what the candidates personally promise. I understand that we cannot escape the peripheral persuasion route, but I am determined to make my vote count by relying on truth and reason to guide my decision. 

Genevieve Miller

gfaithem@yahoo.com

References

Aronson, E., & Aronson, J. ). (2012). The social animal. (11 ed.). Worth Pub.

Kristin Laurin. , Aaron Kay, , & Gavan Fitsimons, (2012). Psychological science. Reactance versus socialization; Divergent responses to policies that constrain freedom, 23(2), doi: 10.1177/0956797611429468

Heidi Rigio. (2008). Journal of applied social psychology. Political Party, Strength of Identification, and Knowledge and Evaluation of Bush v. Gore, 38(1), 234-279. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.dml.regis.edu/doi/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2008.00304.x/abstract;jsessionid=6539AE81A5EE6943F6A7BBC0A08E06B5.d03t04

Donahoe, J. W., & Vegas, R. (2011). Respondent (Pavlovian) conditioning. In W. W. Fisher, C. C. Piazza, H. S. Roane (Eds.) , Handbook of applied behavior analysis (pp. 17-33). New York, NY US: Guilford Press.

Listen to the Music!!

Joel Johnston (john774@regis.edu)

Political blog post

10/7/12

Link to view Video: http://youtu.be/IGm47IIRQhc

    

     I wanted to wait until I watched the debate to write this political blog post. For me personally I have no place in the upcoming election, because it is simply something I feel I cannot control. However, I do feel I may be able to instruct you and everyone else who reads this on what political ads are trying to get you to perceive. They all may not seem as straight forward as you may think. Here is taking a critical look at this particular ad, and the persuasion techniques they are using to try and collect your vote.

     Reading chapter 3 of the book “The Social Animal,” by Elliot Aronson has showed me a variety of persuasion techniques that are used in ads that you should be aware of. I will use the ad above to demonstrate a few of them. One tool being used is familiarity, the more you see it the more you tend to like it. For this ad you see and hear Romney throughout its entirety. It’s being presented to you over and over again to try and get you to like him. Another tool used in this ad is conditioning. This is a big one used in this ad. Romney’s face is being paired with smiles and optimistic music, while Obama’s name is being paired with frowns and depressing music. Basically just by using the pairings you are being conditioned or trained into thinking Romney brings smiles, joy and prosperity while Obama brings depression, sadness and guilt. Neither may be true, but that is how this ad is using that tool. The biggest tool I see being used in this particular ad is Fear + Direction. This technique for persuasion is used to scare you into feeling one way so you will do another. This ad specifically points out poor employment rates and military cuts. To the unaware person they may be thinking something along these lines. “OMG if Obama is reelected I will never find a job and terrorists are going to kill me.” Of course this may or may not be true, but just know the people who created this ad want you to think you will become a millionaire and the U.S. will become a military powerhouse striking fear into the hearts of its’ enemies.

     By doing research, and by research I mean watching many ads from both candidates, I have noticed one major similarity that the book by Aronson may not discuss. They have BIG BOLD LETTERS and theme music. I may be the only person who feels this stands out the most, but that’s simply due to the fact I do not care what the ad is saying. According to Whan Park and Mark Young (1986), music in ads can be used in two ways. The first way is perceived attitude. For instance in this video the music was somber at first then gradually became uplifting. This is something the viewer may not be entirely aware of, but this particular ad uses music as an added effect to make you “feel” like choosing Romney is the more optimistic approach. The article by Young and Park also talks about music being a cognitive distracter. When people are made consciously aware of the music in ads, the message interpreted became less clear to the individual. So basically just the type of music selection can be a persuasive tool in ads. The particular ad I used does not use many words to read until the end, but be aware those big words are just trying to focus your attention. The facts in commercials may not be the reason you feel one way or another, it may just be the music!!!

     So basically I hope from reading this you can tune out the cues or simply be more aware of what the ad is trying to get you to perceive. Look for these tools in some other ads and see how they are being used to make you feel.

Works Cited

    

Aronson, E. (2011). The social animal. (eleventh ed.). New York: Worth Publishers.

Park. W., Young, M (1986) Journal of Marketing Research, Consumer response to television commercials the impact of involvement and background music on brand attitude.

     

Our Vision of America

In today’s word, we are bombarded with constant messages on what to buy, what to look like, and messages created to change our point of view. Political ads are created to persuade us to change our views and to vote for a certain candidate. With the election coming up, it seems that we are surrounded with constant messages from those ads.  The persuasion techniques used by these ads can be difficult to identify if a person does not know what to look out for. The techniques shown in the ad presented here are Fear +Direction=Action, rational thought, credibility, inoculation, reactance, and the auditory and visual presentation of the ad.

This ad shows a very common persuasive technique found in political ads. This technique is known as Fear + Direction= Action. As viewers, we are listening and reading how Davenport, Iowa’s economy did under Obama. The audience, which includes not only people from Iowa but also those who worry about the economy, begin to fear that the economy did not do better under Obama and that it will not improve if he is elected again. By creating fear, the ad can cause individuals to change their political choice Brader, T. (2005). We are then provide with a direction to take from Romney as he declares to the audience that it is time for change and  that Obama needs to steps aside. This leads to an action, which in this case is voting for Romney. Connecting to this is a second technique called rational thought.  Rational thought has two routes of persuasion. To take the central route of persuasion means to persuade someone based on facts that are presented.  The peripheral route of persuasion is based on emotion. In the ad, we see that there is a mix of both routes. Romney presents facts about the state that Iowa is in and he also presents everyday people holding those facts. Aronson (2011) writes that when people are worried, just presenting facts will not persuade them, it is important to connect to the emotional side of the audience because by doing so, they are more likely to act on it. Persuasion also depends on the level of fear that is placed on the individual (Aronson, 2011). This ad creates fear by using statistics and claiming that the situation in Davenport, and America, will not change if Obama is reelected.

The next technique is credibility, and this ad uses statistics to discredit Obama and to ad credibility to Romney. By reading the facts and comparing them to the clips of Obama speaking, the audience gets the impression that Obama broke his promise of creating a better future. Also, since the statistics were taken from credible sources such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Romney’s argument becomes stronger. This also ties in with the technique of inoculation because in the ad we have Obama talking about the future. Then we are suddenly cut off from hearing Obama and a statistic is presented to us about the economy in Davenport. The audience now has facts that help them ward off Obama’s argument that he can help create an America for everyone. This in turn can lead the listeners to ward off the bigger arguments that Obama might present now that the audience is armed with statistics. In other words, by becoming exposed to a message that can be disproven, an individual can become “immunized” against a bigger message that is similar to the first (Aronson, 2011).

The fourth technique used is reactance and when an individual feels that their freedom is being taken away, they will try to regain it (Meirick & Nisbett, 2011). Near the end of the ad, Romney begins to talk about how Obama has had “his moment” and that it is time for America to have their moment. Romney’s use of words implies that Obama was making all the decision and that the audience will finally be given back their freedom to create a better vision of how America should be.     

Another important technique used to persuade people is through the use of music and through the visual presentation of what the audience sees. In the beginning of the ad, the music is slow, sad, and seems to create fear. Fear causes individuals to rely less on previous beliefs and more on processing the incoming data to form a new opinion (Brader,2005). Obama is also presented in a small box the middle of the screen. He shows up blurry and with a dark background which makes the viewer see him as less important. The mood changes dramatically when Romney is heard. Brader (2005)  found that ads having a positive message and presenting that message with uplifting music and images changed their influence on voters. When Romney appears, the music becomes more uplifting. He takes up the entire screen and has a huge American flag in the background.

             Understating that these persuasion techniques are not only in political ads, but also in advertisements can help show people how their opinions are influenced by what they see and hear. Becoming informed can contribute to individuals making decision without constantly falling prey to what an ad wants to persuade people with. It’s often a good idea just to step back and really look at how an ad is trying to persuade us. Hopefully, the techniques mentioned above will get individuals on their way to seeing the sneaky ways that political ads try to sway our opinions.

                                                           Adaivet Martinez

                                                         marti116@regis.edu

References:

Aronson, E. (2011). The Social Animal. (11 ed). New York:Worth Publishers

Brader, T. (2005). Stricking a Responsive Chord: How Political Ads Motivate and Persuade Voters by Appealing to Emotions. American Journal of Political Science. 49(2). DOI: 10.1111/j.0092-5853.2005.00130.x

Meirick, P.C., Nisbett.G.S., (2011). I Approve This Message:Effects of Sponsorship, Ad Tone, and Reactance in 2008 Presidential Advertising. Mass Communications and Society.14(5). DOI: 10.1080/15205436.2010.530381

Politically Correct?

Really another political ad! Do you ever feel that way when you tune into the radio, when there is a commercial break during your television show, or more recently when you try to watch a YouTube video! Like come on people I want to watch the hilarious "Asking All Them Questions" video not another political ad.

        

Well I guess that is the bombardment of political ads we have to put up with during campaigning season for the upcoming elections. After watching I can’t even tell you how many political ads I have watched, but after watching my fair share of them, all I can help but notice is that all the advertisements are blatantly just trying to persuade you anyway they can using different tactics and techniques to get your vote for that candidate! Take a look for your self! 

Now that I pointed it out let me guess it totally sticks out to you more. Well if it did not stand out for you let me outline a few:

            During the video you probably noticed the main speaker is Bill Clinton. He represents a figure of credibility. This campaign ad uses a credibility persuasive technique because he speaking for both political parties and he is also an expert on making hard decisions because he is an ex-president. When a highly credible source supports an argument or belief people are more likely to agree with the credible source (Jacks & Cameron, 2003). So by using Bill Clinton the ad is trying to persuade people that as president you are faced with making decisions that can have many consequences. So during this ad it reminds everyone of how President Obama was faced with the hard decision of how to go about capturing Bin Laden during his term and in the end he made the correct decision. Then at the end they challenge how Romney would have handled the situation, which leads me into my next point.

            When the campaign ad said that Obama made the right decision and then stated the question of how would Romney have handled the situation uses an emotional persuasive technique. By using a credible source to explain a problem or threat then having that credible source pose a resolution to this problem or threat by giving us the people instructions of what we should act upon next (Aronson, 91). This tactic is a formula of fear + direction = action. This advertisement shows us frightening decisions that deal with life and death missions for our soldiers in the war. Then by challenging the idea that Romney would have not made the right decision and that since President Obama is capable of making hard decisions he is more dependable to make these hard decisions so therefore people have a better sense of security. This technique shows us a problem and then gives us a solution to that problem and in this specific advertisement we are being persuaded to vote for President Obama because he will keep us safe.

            Then since President Obama is keeping us, the people, safe we should reciprocate by voting for him back into Presidency for the next term. According to Robert Cialdini, he says that it is a societal norm that as human beings we feel obliged to reciprocate when we receive anything (Cialdini, 2004). This persuasive technique is known as reciprocity. Cialdini gives an example of when the Disabled American Veterans organization mails a survey and includes free personalized mailing labels people are more likely to fill out that survey when given the labels and then when they are just given the survey (Cialdini, 2004). So in this advertisement we are shown that President Obama has given us the sense of trust in President Obama and the respect of a well thought through decision so in turn we should reciprocate this act by voting for him.

            These techniques have shown that they work for advertisements because they are able to persuade us into believing or changing our minds into what they are feeding us. I personally feel that this advertisement does a good job for the most part subtly using the persuasive techniques, but be weary to trust what you are being told because you never know who is speaking the truth. So when you are listening to the radio, watching a commercial during your favorite television shows break, or watching that entertaining YouTube video just think back to this blog and keep a critical eye open when you are exposed to these advertisements.

                                         Always,

                                            Terese Cabanting

                                            caban465@regis.edu

                                                                   References:

Aronson, E. (2011). The social animal. (eleventh ed.). New York: Worth Publishers.

Cialdini, R. B., & R. B., C. C. (2004). the SCIENCE of Persuasion. Scientific American Special             Edition, 14(1), 70-77.

Zuwerink Jacks, J., & Cameron, K. A. (2003). Strategies for Resisting Persuasion. Basic &             Applied Social Psychology, 25(2), 145-161.

Political Bias

Every presidential campaign includes ads with strategies to try and persuade us, the people, to vote for the “right” person. After watching this ad Obama promotes registering to vote, you may look past it thinking well its just another ad where one candidate attacks the other, but it’s more than that. There are many techniques that are used to subliminally have your mind think about what is really being said. These techniques are not only persuasive, but they have proven time and time again to be affective in political advertisements.

This voting ad supporting Obama uses several techniques. The first is conformity, which basically means that everybody wants to belong to one group. In the article by Bruce F. Roberson, he states,

 “The higher the energization, the greater should be the subjective desirability of a positive outcome and the subjective aversiveness of a negative outcome. Energization itself is thought to be determined — at least in part —by task engagement (i.e., effort), which in turn is believed to be a function of the difficulty of instrumental behavior" (Pg. 374) (Roberson & Wright, 1994).

 In the ad, Obama makes it clear that it is not that hard to go and register. This means the difficulty is easy which will lead to a more positive outcome just like the article says.

Another strategy used is fear + direction = action. This means that there is some sort of reliable evidence that shows effective warnings and instructions presented by a credible source (Aronson, 91).  In this ad, it informs the person watching that voting is important. It brings fear by saying if you do not vote then Romney will ban gay marriage, he opposed ending the don’t ask don’t tell law, and will end funding for planned parenthood. So by not voting, you are at risk of losing all of what is mentioned in the ad. This fear should make people want to go vote against Romney in order to keep these rights.

Finally, the last and most important strategy used was vivid example. This is when you can use images that will stick in a person’s head, in order to get the message across. For example, in this ad the words say that “Romney would ban gay marriage” and there is a male couple holding hands in the background. This image will stick in the voter’s head and will lead them to remember that Romney will get rid of this right if he is voted into power. This should help skew the votes towards Obama and away from Romney. In the article, by Ji-Woong Kim, she summarizes,

“Our findings indicate an important role of the amygdala in the processing of unpleasant emotion or self-relevance of information in the real world may also be expanded to the processing of self-directedness of unpleasant emotion in the imagined world, and thereby contribute to human higher social cognitive process. This study also suggests that deactivation of ACC may enable us to enact vivid affective responses, and thereby contribute to an effective simulation of social interaction (Kim, 2008).”

 This shows that it is a cognitive effect and that the images becomes implanted in our brain so therefore it will be easier to remember who’s better to vote for when the time comes.

As you can see, political advertisements use strategies to target as many people as possible and persuade them. Even the smallest advertisement can sway a person’s thought process and what they previously chose to believe in. It may seem like they have all the power, but at the end of the day we are the deciding factor and we must make the proper choices by not listening to everything we hear in every ad.

You stay classy San Diego,

Andre Gonzalez

lgonzalez@regis.edu

References

Aronson, E. (2011). The social animal. (eleventh ed.). New York: Worth Publishers.

Roberson, B. F., & Wright, R. A. (1994). Difficulty as a Determinant of Interpersonal Appeal: A Social-Motivational Application of Energization Theory. Basic & Applied Social Psychology, 15(3), 373-388.

Kim, J. (2008). The role of amygdala during auditory verbal imagery of derogatory appraisals by others. (Master's thesis), Available from 

Shall we too be ashamed?

It’s that time of the year again, where we see a multitude of political campaigns trying to sway our vote from one candidate to another. We’re not only bombarded with presidential campaigns, but also with senate campaigns, like this one: 

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/politics/political-ad-tracker/video/813781/texas-conservatives-fund-ted-cruz-should-be-ashamed

 According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) politicians are now spending more and more on advertising, as much as $2.6 billion for local TV ads. They’ve come to realize that most Americans don’t have the time or resources to become fully educated about the issues and the candidates’ stance on them. So instead they try to sway as many voters as they can in a 30-second spot, often relying on the voters’ emotions more than factual arguments. As in the ad above, they play on voters’ emotions through a number of techniques.  

One of the first things noticed in the ad, is the use of a personal connection. Sandy Fonzo looks like someone we might run into on the streets or even have as a neighbor. As she tells her story, we notice that she is distraught and we empathize with her. We can relate to her story and know that we do not want the same thing to happen to our children. Leventhal describes this as fear plus direction equals action. We do not want Ted Cruz to put a price on our children so we need to keep Cruz out of office for our children to be safe.  

Another technique used is conditioning. Makosky says that it’s not always what is being said, but how it’s being said. Sandy Fonzo’s words are paired with music that elicits sadness. In a study by Yahui Kang and Joseph N. Cappella, they found that “one’s emotional responses are in fact determined by how the event is verbally described and thus determined by the content of the message.” Fonzo’s distraught face paired with sad music reinforces the empathy we feel for what she is saying. We too think that Ted Cruz should be ashamed for putting a price on a human being.

A last technique used is that of vivid example versus statistics. We are shown an emotional testimonial of what Ted Cruz’s actions did to these children and what the effect was for Fonzo’s child in particular, but we don’t see any statistics to back this claim. Even if statistics were presented, it’s unlikely they’d have much impact alone, as we tend to remember the vivid example much more than the numbers.  

These examples demonstrate just a few of the many techniques used in political advertisements to win over voters. Facts alone don’t persuade people to vote for a candidate, so candidates must appeal to emotions such as patriotism, love of family, hope, fear, and as in the case of this anti-Ted Cruz ad- disgust. 

Rosie Mata
mata910@regis.edu

Kang, Yahui., & Cappella, Joseph. N. (2008). Emotional reactions to and perceived effectiveness of media messages: Appraisal and message sensation value. 27(1), 40-61.

Goldberg, Laura. (2012, October 02). IAB Research Shows Digital Media on the Upswing for Election 2012, Political Strategies Predict Bigger Spends in Future National Elections. Retrieved from http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2012/oct/02/iab-research-shows-digital-media-on-the-upswing/