P vs. I Pt.2

Political Persuasion vs. Political Informational Part 2

Some political advertising is not a bad thing though. Political advertising is also used to help inform citizens of many different impactful issues. Some leaders use a TV campaign to help bring awareness to a cause. The goal with informational advertising is to bring attention and awareness to big issues that need to be noticed on a national level.

Nicholas Valentino has said, “Exposure to political advertising is generally informative and may even reduce information gaps between the most and least aware in society.” He also goes to say that it also does not produce shifts with candidate preference (Impact). That means that when more people are fully aware of situations, they can make more accurate and informed opinions based on that topic. So just by stating the facts and not causing disputes between candidates could possibly encourage Americans to vote.

You never hear much informational advertisements though, because they are often run over by the number of persuasive advertisements. And some may also mistake an informational advertisement for a persuasive by the way the agenda is set and possibly the political party outlook that is sent out with this advertisement.

Which begs the question, “Are the two the same?” My opinion is that they are two separate types of advertisements. While it is possible to see both, political campaigns mainly focus on paying for the persuasive ads. That is why non-profit organizations take the slack that political leaders have left and try to get awareness out there.

So it is very clear that both types of advertisements are different in many ways. While one tries to convince the public to vote for a certain candidate, one tries to inform of causes going on that the government is trying to bring on a national level. And even sometimes people could confuse the two or refuse to accept the information because of its political origin.

Which one do I prefer? I prefer the informational advertisements. The informational advertisements appear more impactful and useful in my eyes towards the public. I feel that persuading advertising is spending of millions of dollars in attempts to destroy the careers of future leaders. And while they feel that persuading may help sway votes, I think that using that method will actually scare voters away.

So do you think that the two can coexist? Probably not. The two are so different and they both have different agendas when attempting to grab the public’s attention. And the two would never work together because one is portrayed on a negative view, while one is viewed in a good view. So my assumption is that it is impossible the two could be used together successfully.

-Tyler