Analysis of Emotional Responses in Political Communication: An Experimental Case of Interactive Advertising

Abstract

The emotional reactions to interactive advertisements are a relatively new study object, attending the synchronous evolution of the natural interactive platforms. Interactivity has increased thanks to Internet usage, and it can be also attractive for political communication. In television’s case, it is a growing phenomenon whose main launcher is the implementation of the Hybrid broadcast broadband Television (HbbTV) standard. Key players of the sector (networks, media agencies, and advertisers) try to take profit from the options generated by the interaction with the audience. We have developed an experimental methodology that consists of viewing an advertising block that includes conventional and interactive advertisements in order to observe the emotions that those generate in the audience. The experiment included the view of a nine advertisement block and the analysis of face reactions linked to emotions. It is concluded that surprise emotion via humor does not make it easier to capture attention during the broadcast of a sequence of advertisements and identify the advertisement, and humor increases relatively interest in interactive advertisements.