Amidst a nominating contest filled with bluster and ad-hominem attacks, John Kasich is presenting himself as something different. His campaign has a notably positive tone and although Mr. Kasich trails his opponents in the delegate count, he continues to campaign mainly on empowerment and experience – and there’s some evidence that people like it.
SpotCheck tested the Kasich ad, “America: Never. Give. Up.” against the Trump ad “Great Again.” The Kasich ad left people somewhat happier and hopeful – and it didn’t worry or anger them as much as the Trump ad. They rated Kasich’s ad 10-points above the “average political ad” in overall quality while placing Trump’s ad 5-points below the average ad.
In the end, however, viewers thought Trump’s relatively negative, unfair, and untrue ad (according to their own ratings) was more memorable. This was true even for viewers who saw and rated both ads together, but memorable may not be the same thing as effective. On average, people rated Kasich’s ad as making them happy and hopeful – and as being higher in overall quality – and there’s some evidence to suggest that despite saying Trump’s ad was more memorable, Kasich’s message moved people: among people who saw both ads relative to those who saw no ads at all, people increased their favorable ratings of Kasich by 11 points; Trump’s favorability, however, only increased by 3 points.
The Kasich ad’s SpotCheck score: 194.
The Trump ad’s SpotCheck score: -319