This investigation examined the effectiveness of three distinct television news “adwatch” formats in deflecting the influence of targeted political attack ads during the 1992 North Carolina gubernatorial campaign. The study featured three treatment groups and two control conditions. Those subjects assigned to the treatment groups viewed a newscast containing one of three adwatch formats: full screen, boxed, or verbal; they then viewed the targeted attack ad, which was edited into an entertainment program that followed the newscast. Those subjects assigned as controls either viewed the newscast without the adwatch and then the entertainment program containing the attack ad, or viewed the newscast without the adwatch and then the entertainment program without the ad. The results partially supported the hypotheses (1) that use of the full-screen adwatch produces a boomerang effect, further enhancing the influence of targeted attack ads, and (2) that this effect is most pronounced among female viewers. The results also suggest that adwatches do not affect viewer ratings of sponsoring news shows.
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