Gender Differences in Reactions to TV Political Advertising: An Empirical Study of the 2015 Presidential Election in Poland

Many studies on TV political advertising suggest the gender differences in the reactions to advertising in the affective aspect, both at the level of liking and evaluation of the candidates. The article follows this trend, presenting an empirical study carried out in Poland during the 2015 presidential electoral campaign. The results show gender differences in the evaluation of candidates. We found out that women are more susceptible to changing the perception of candidates' images as a result of the influence of TV electoral ads. Interestingly, watching advertisements resulted in a statistically significant decrease in the evaluation of most candidates. Women's susceptibility to political advertising is also proved by changes in the emotional attitude to the candidates after watching the spots. In addition, the research showed that TV electoral ads cannot change the perception of candidates whose images are consolidated in public discourse.