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Flemington, NJ, March 26, 2008 – A new national study among 402 self-reported Democrats revealed that there was little movement among voters after they viewed a new ad by Senator Barack Obama.

The communications research study was conducted March 25-26, by HCD Research and the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion to obtain Americans’ perceptions of a new ad by Senator Obama.

While viewing the ad, participants indicated their levels of agreement by moving their mouse from left to right on a continuum. The responses were recorded in quarter-second intervals and reported in the form of curves. Participants were also asked pre- and post-viewing questions regarding their likelihood to vote for the candidates. To view agreement curves and detailed results, go to: www.mediacurves.com

Among the study findings:

• Little change in who respondents would vote for after viewing the ad.
• An overwhelming majority of respondents (84%) rated the ad either “believable” or “somewhat believable.”
• More than half of respondents indicated that they felt “attentive” (52%) or “hopeful” (61%) after watching the ad.
• More than one-third of respondents reported that they felt “confident” (37%) or “skeptical” (36%).
• Respondents indicated that their single, strongest emotion felt while viewing the ad was “Hopeful” (32%).
• More than half of respondents (60%) reported that the key message of the ad was criticism of either “special interests” or “lobbying/lobbyist” groups.

“While respondents indicated that they are hopeful and strongly believe in Obama’s message that he will remove the influence of special interests and lobbyists, they are also skeptical that his message will become a reality,” commented Glenn Kessler, president and CEO, HCD Research.

The Media Curves web site provides the media and general public with a venue to view Americans’ perceptions of popular and controversial media events and advertisements.

Editors/Reporters: For more information on the study, or to speak with Glenn Kessler, president and CEO, HCD Research or Chris Borick, Ph.D., director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion, please contact Vince McGourty, HCD Research, at (908) 483-9121 or (vince.mcgourty@hcdi.net).

HCD Research is a communications research company headquartered in Flemington, NJ.  The company's services include traditional and web-based marketing and communications research.  For additional information on HCD Research, access the company’s web site at www.hcdi.net or call HCD Research at 908-788-9393.  Headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania, MCIPO is a respected source of public opinion data on local, state and national issues. For additional information on Muhlenberg College, go to www.muhlenberg.edu