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Kamala Harris’ Online Campaign Videos More Trustworthy, Less Confusing And Attract More Attention Than Those Posted By Election Rival Donald Trump, Says New Study

New research from creative effectiveness platform DAIVID also reveals political content posted on TikTok generates most intense negative emotions and is least trusted

Barney Worfolk-Smith

Barney Worfolk-Smith

8 Aug 2024

LONDON, SEATTLE – August 8, 2024 – Online videos supporting Kamala Harris’ Presidential campaign are more trusted, less confusing and more likely to generate strong positive feelings of hope and excitement than those for her political rival Donald Trump.

That’s according to new research by creative effectiveness platform DAIVID, which found that content created by the Democratic nominee across digital platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, X and Instagram also generated more overall attention.

With online platforms such as TikTok becoming a key battleground in the race for the White House, DAIVID – which helps advertisers improve the effectiveness of their content at scale – used its advanced creative testing technology to measure the emotional responses and attention levels of US viewers to content created in support of the two candidates to become the next American president. 

Key findings include: 

> Kamala Harris’ campaign videos were overall more likely to attract more intense positive emotions from viewers. This includes strong feelings of trust (+3.7%), admiration (+18.7%), amusement (10%) and hope (+20.5%). The videos also generated 3% more attention on average and 5% less confusion. All seven of the top 7 most trusted videos came from the Democrats. Meanwhile, Trump’s campaign content was more likely to make viewers feel sad (+17%), scared (+11%) and bored (+4%). Viewers were also slightly less likely to share or recommend the videos.

> While Harris’ campaign videos are so far generating a more positive response, overall both campaigns are well below the US norm. Viewers were on average more than twice as likely to feel anger (+135%) and disgust (+130%) than they would watching the average US ad, and 37% more likely to feel anxious and 44% more likely to feel scared. They were also 22% more likely to make viewers sad, 4% less trustworthy and generated 6.4% less attention, while viewers were also less inclined to recommend, share or find out more.

> The ad that generated the most intense negative emotions was “I Don’t Understand”, posted on the Trump campaign’s YouTube channel. More than half (50.7%) who watched the video had an intense negative response to the content – 85% higher than the average US ad. This includes the highest levels of fear, anger, anxiety, disgust and sadness of any video tested. Harris’ TikTok video “Project 25 Is A Threat” elicited the second highest levels of anger. “A Feminomenon”, posted on the Harris campaign’s TikTok channel, was the funniest campaign video, generating 13.8% more amusement than the average US ad.

> Political content posted on TikTok generated the most intense negative emotions (27% higher than US norm) and the lowest levels of positivity (-7% vs norm). This included the most intense feelings of confusion (+18%), anxiety (+43%), contempt (+20%), disgust (+176%), fear (+48%), sadness (+27%) and anger (+207%). It also attracted the least trust and – despite the shortened format – the lowest levels of attention. It’s not all negative though, with TikTok videos most likely to make people laugh. YouTube was the most trusted channel.

> Ads on Instagram/ Facebook were the ones most likely to inspire action, with the percentage of people willing to find out more, recommend the video and share it with their social networks the highest of any other channel. 

DAIVID CEO and founder Ian Forrester said: “The gloves are certainly off in this US Presidential Election, with most of the digital content created for either candidate devoted to attacking their political rival. This is not exactly surprising; negative emotions can be hugely influential in motivating people to act and could make all the difference come Election Day. However, what’s interesting is that so much negativity can also turn people off and disconnect from the democratic process altogether. 

“There are signs of this in our results, which show that viewers are much less engaged than the US norm, particularly towards the content supporting President Trump. Of course, it’s early days, but people seem to be paying a bit more attention to Kamala’s slightly more positive, upbeat tone, which could make all the difference in a tight race. TikTok, in particular, is a key battleground in this year’s election, and with users bombarded with misinformation and fake content almost daily, it’s important that candidates at least try to give some kind of vision of positive change in their messaging.”    

DAIVID uses a suite of technologies – including facial coding, eye tracking and computer vision – to help advertisers optimise the business and emotional impact of their ad campaigns. In today’s content-saturated, always-on world, DAIVID’s suite of solutions helps marketers cut through the noise, enabling them to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of their creative at scale. The platform empowers brands, agencies and influencers to ditch the guesswork and measure the effectiveness of their content quickly and accurately across a range of different platforms, formats and channels.

Conclusion

Methodology

DAIVID’s analysis of digital content for the 2024 US Presidential Election was created using the company’s suite of content testing solutions, which uses facial coding, machine learning and survey responses to measure people’s emotions while watching ads. They are then categorised through the company’s proprietary DAIVID 39 framework – created using the world’s most advanced academic studies on emotions. Altogether, 1,006 nationally representative US adult respondents took part in the study, looking at 38 videos posted on X, YouTube, TikTok and Insta/ Facebook.

To find out more about DAIVID, click here

 

About DAIVID

DAIVID is a global tech platform that enables advertisers to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of their creative at scale.In today’s content-saturated, always-on world, DAIVID helps marketers cut through the noise. The UK-based company empowers brands, agencies and influencers to ditch the guesswork and measure the effectiveness of their content quickly and accurately across a range of different platforms, formats and channels.  Clients include EssenceMediacom, Omnicom and Snapchat.