Research Brief Issue Ads and the Health Reform Debate

Abstract The public debate over health care reform in 2009 was carried out partly through issue advertisements aired online and on television. Did these advertisements alter the course of the debate over health care reform? While millions of dollars are spent each year on issue ads, little is known about their effects. Results from a natu-ralistic online experiment on the effects of issue ads suggest that they can influence the perceived importance of an issue and perceptions of politicians associated with the featured policy while influencing policy support only among those low in politi-cal awareness. Issue advertising is a common strategy for groups seeking to influence mass and elite opinion on public policy. A recent survey of print and television advertisements in the Washington, DC, area estimated that in 2003 – 2004, citizen groups spent $58.2 million on print and television issue ads in the DC area alone (Falk, Grizard, and McDonald 2006).1 Corporate sponsors spent another $320.1 million. In the DC market, six out of ten top issue advertising sponsors spent more on advertising than on lobbying (ibid.: 160). Groups spend particularly large amounts on ads when major public policies are being considered; for example, the Health Insurance Association of America spent $14 million to air its “Harry an