Flemington, NJ, October 16, 2008 – Results of a new national study among 313 self-reported Democrats, Republicans and Independents, revealed that after viewing two opposing ads on the issue of abortion there was equivalent impact on movement relative to “likelihood to vote” for both McCain and Obama.

The study was conducted by HCD Research and the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion (MCIPO) on October 15, to obtain Americans’ perceptions of an ad by BornAliveTruth.org, which focuses on Barack Obama’s policies on abortion, and an ad by Barack Obama, which focuses on McCain’s policies on abortion.

Glenn Kessler President and CEO of HCD Research said “These 2 ads, when shown back to back to voters, neutralized the impact of each of the ads.  He added “While not impacting the likely votes of responders to the survey there was slightly more of an impact on Independents and Democrats pre/post for the view presented in the anti Obama ad produced by BornAlive.org than the anti McCain ad released by the Obama Campaign.“

The two opposing ads earned John McCain a Political Communications Impact Score (PCIS) of 16.5 and Barack Obama received a score of 16.5, resulting in a net score of 0 for both candidates. The scores can be compared to a mean score of 7.5 for previously tested McCain ads and 8.5 for previously tested Obama ads.  To date, the total mean score for all previously tested ads is 8.0.

Which candidate do you feel has the best policies regarding abortion?

Prior to viewing the ads

After viewing the Anti-Obama ad

After viewing the Anti-McCain ad

The PCIS is a metric scoring system designed to gauge the effectiveness of political communications by generating a score for each candidate to monitor changes in voter perceptions. The PCIS score is derived from the change in voters’ support and the extent that the support shifts.  To view scores and results of recent studies go to: http://www.mediacurves.com/PCIS/

While viewing the video, participants indicated their levels of believability 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. The participants’ emotions were measured using the Ayer Emotion Battery. Participants were also asked pre- and post-viewing questions. To view believability curves and detailed results go to: www.mediacurves.com. 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 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