Out of the living room and into the voting booth - An analysis of corporate public affairs advertising under the third-person effect

Past third-person effect (TPE) research indicates that individuals perceive that the media are more influential on others than on oneself. However, recent studies find a reverse effect, where individuals perceive a greater effect on oneself than on others when media messages are positive and desirable to be influenced by. This study sought to examine the reverse of the TPE, or the first-person effect, from corporate commercial advertisements. Brand awareness advertisements and public affairs advertisements were used to measure both the perceptual and the behavioral components of TPE theory. Findings indicate that corporate commercial public affairs advertisements are found to be socially desirable to be influenced by and that individuals are likely to act on that perception in the form of legislative support of the issues that corporations promote.