ABSTRACT
Research in the field of political advertising has advanced considerably since one of us wrote a review on the topic over a decade ago (Goldstein & Ridout, 2004). Those who study ads are still interested in their persuasive power, but instead of asking “do ads matter?” the field has moved on to more interesting questions, such as “for how long do ads matter?” and “how does the content of the ad influence its effectiveness?” The question that scholars grappled with a decade ago, “do ads demobilize?” now has a much more nuanced answer: on average, no, but certain types of ads in certain circumstances may demobilize certain people. And scholars who study ad effects have situated the study of advertising into larger contexts, examining, for instance, the impact of advertising not just on individuals but on media coverage.
