As Election Day draws near, the Video Advertising Bureau has released a report that shows that undecided voters in the last days before going to the polling place are influenced more by TV than by other media.
Televised debates and political TV shows were cited by 65% of respondents as their primary source for political information about national races, according to a survey of undecided voters.
More than 40% of undecided voters have gone online to research a candidate or issue following seeing a political commercial on TV. Only 21% researched a candidate after viewing an ad on social media, and 17% followed up after someone they knew “liked” a candidate on Facebook.
In the survey, 79% of respondents said TV was the medium where a political ad was most likely to get their attention, in both national and local races.
In national races, TV is followed by the internet, word of mouth and newspapers.
In local elections, TV ranks first, followed by newspaper, word of mouth and the internet.
“The final stretch of this election will be televised like no other, and undecideds will rely on TV to influence their final decisions,” said Evelyn Skurkovich, VP for strategic insights at the VAB. “While other media matter, TV captures attention and influences action for undecided voters more than any other medium.”
