ATLANTA — Attack ads are all over your TVs, phones and social media pages. It seems like you can't get away from them.
However, as much as we love to hate them, Emory Goizueta Business Marketing Professor David Schweidel said we keep seeing them because they keep working.
"The reason that campaigns are using so much money on these ads is because they move the needle," Schweidel said. "We've seen this in research, that the negative campaign ads, specifically the ads that are from the candidates themselves, not some 'anonymous org,' those are the ads that we tend to remember, those are the ones that move the needles."
The positive ads -- and there are some positive ads out there -- happen to just not be that effective in moving the vote share for the candidates.
Researchers have found that anger motivates people to engage more than any other emotion, and candidates have found over the years that if they're willing to sling mud in ads, their supporters are more willing to show up at the polls.
"More candidates are using social media now because it's cheaper, but also because they can target voters specifically and use data that's already online to show ads that matter to that particular voter," Schweidel said.
He added the research is also as specific as the advertising. What tends to motivate people to vote are targeted ads on social media that speak to the exact issues they care about.
"Based on the people you're friends with, based on your other activities, we can identify, 'What are you most likely to engage with? Is this someone who has made up their mind, or is that someone red or blue?'" Schweidel asked.
He said Facebook's own research and algorithm prove it.
"In terms of the content that you're served, anger responses, that little angry face, is weighted five times more than a 'Like.' And the reason Facebook weights it like that is because that's the content people choose to engage with," Schweidel concluded.