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Flemington, NJ, August 21, 2008 – Results of a national focus group among 204 self- reported independent voters revealed that they believe Barack Obama has a better economic plan than John McCain based on viewing 2 commercials.
 
The study was conducted during August 20-21, by HCD Research and the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion (MCIPO) to obtain Americans’ perceptions of two new ads by Barack Obama and John McCain that focus on the country’s economic issues.

Among the study findings:

The new Obama ad received a Political Communications Impact Score of 22.2, and the McCain ad received a score of 12.3, indicating that the Obama ad was more effective than McCain’s ad in moving voters. The scores can be compared to a mean of 11.1 for previously tested Obama ads and an 8.3 for previously tested McCain ads.  The total mean score for all previously tested ads is 9.6.

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/

The PCIS Calculation for this study was based on the results below:

If respondent indicated they will vote for Obama:
"Which of the following best describes your likelihood to vote for Barack Obama in the 2008 Presidential Election"

If respondent indicated they will vote for McCain:
"Which of the following best describes your likelihood to vote for John McCain in the 2008 Presidential Election"

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