Impact of negative political campaigns on the effectiveness of communication (cognition, emotions and voting behavior)

Negative political advertising and its effectiveness has always been the concern of not only political scientists, but also sociologists and marketing experts. This specific form of advertising is also increasingly used in the Czech political environment. The author focused on the answers to such questions as: what are the effects of this form of political advertising from the perspective of persuasive linear models, which are actually based on cognition, emotion and conative/voting behavior. Based both on international research carried out in this area and facts from Czech republic, he notes that voters perceive this form of advertising as one that offers them more information, attracts a greater degree of attention and more trust than in the case of positive advertising. Taking into account emotional effects, this form of political advertising is often followed by disgust, fear and other negative reactions. These are, however, strong incentives that subsequently bring some negative effects in voter`s conative/behavioral activities. These include in particular the reluctance to vote, negative public sentiment and escalating political cynicism. In the evaluation of the effectiveness of negative political campaigns what should also be taken into account is their cultural environment. What could be effective in the US may not be very effective in countries with different cultural values shaped their historical development and by existing cultural dimensions of these countries.