Flemington, NJ, June 26, 2009 – A new national media study among 614 self-reported Democrats, Republicans and Independents revealed that a majority of all parties indicated that South Carolina Governor, Mark Sanford should resign from office after viewing his apology in which he admitted that he was unfaithful to his wife.

The study was conducted by HCD Research using its MediaCurves.com® website on June 25, to obtain viewers’ perceptions of South Carolina Governor, Mark Sanford’s recent apology and his admission to an extramarital affair.

“After viewing the automated response curves, we noticed that there was a significant increase in sincerity levels across all parties when Sanford talks about his wife sticking by his side through the years and all his campaigns,” explained Glenn Kessler, president and CEO, HCD Research. “However, there was a similar drop in sincerity levels when he apologizes to his staff,” commented Kessler.

A recent study conducted by HCD Research measured David Letterman’s sincerity level during his apology for remarks he made about Governor Palin’s daughter on his show.  Compared to Governor Sanford, Letterman received a significantly higher sincerity rating by their respective viewers. The sincerity levels were measured on a scale of 1-7, with 1 representing ‘not at all sincere’ and 7 representing ‘extremely sincere.’  David Letterman received a score of 4.2 for his apology, while Governor Sanford received a score of  3.2.

Governor Sanford’s apology was viewed as insincere across all parties, yet Republicans and Independents reported that the apology was slightly more sincere compared to Democrats.

Among the study findings:

“Do you think South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford should resign?

 “Please indicate how sincere you think Governor Mark Sanford’s apology was on a scale of 1-7 where 1 represents ‘Not at all sincere’ and 7 represents ‘Extremely sincere.’”

While viewing the video, participants indicated their levels of sincerity 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 were also asked to respond to post-viewing questions.

About MediaCurves.com
MediaCurves.com® (www.mediacurves.com) is a media measurement website that provides the media and general public with a venue to view Americans’ perceptions of popular and controversial media events and advertisements. MediaCurves.com is a service of HCD Research, a marketing and communications research company headquartered in Flemington, NJ.  The company's services include traditional and web-based 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.

Editors/Reporters: For more information on the study, or to speak with Glenn Kessler, president and CEO, HCD Research, please contact Vince McGourty, HCD Research, at (908) 483-9121 or (vince.mcgourty@hcdi.net).  You can also receive updates from MediaCurves.com by following us on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/mediacurves and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Flemington-NJ/MediaCurves/86691908820?ref=nf