Americans love their Super Bowl. But what they like about it can vary significantly, like so much else, depending on political party affiliation. We reported last year (based on the 2020 Telecast[1]) that Republicans are more likely than Democrats to identify the game itself as their favorite part of the broadcast while Democrats are more likely than Republicans to identify the half-time show as their favorite part of the broadcast. In addition, Republicans are more likely to feel there were too many commercials telecast during the Super Bowl while Democrats are more likely to say that the Super Bowl had some of the best advertising they had seen. Moreover, Republicans have higher self-efficacy than Democrats in that they are more likely to feel that people can overcome any obstacle if they want.
Additionally, we learned this year (based on the 2021 Telecast[2]) that members of each party rank different commercials above others[3]. As shown below, advertising for Rocket Mortgage, Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband, and Jeep were ranked at least 10 points higher by Republicans than by Democrats. Advertising for The Disney Bundle (Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+), “Coming 2 America,” (Amazon Original Movie), Amazon Alexa, and “Yellowstone” (Paramount+ Original Series), were ranked at least 10 points higher by Democrats than by Republicans. And, advertising for M&M’s, MtnDew Major Melon, Doritos 3D Crunch, and Bud Light were ranked similarly by both political parties.
Generalizing the above results loosely, Republicans rate Considered Goods advertising more favorably than Democrats, while Democrats rate Entertainment Related advertising more favorably than Republicans. There is little difference when the advertising is for Fast Moving Package Goods. Of course, a commercial’s appeal is a function of many variables, including its content and its execution.
This year’s finding about individual commercial appeals seems consistent with last year’s findings about Republicans being more game-oriented and Democrats being more show-oriented, and Republican viewers have higher self-efficacy than Democrat viewers. It also further supports the notion we introduced last year that Republicans’ judgments tend to be more about the individual (higher in Agency) and Democrats’ judgments tend to be more about the community (higher in Communion) in Social Judgment Theory. (As explained last year, Social Judgment Theory attempts to explain why if everyone hears the same thing, we can all still take a different meaning from it.[4])
According to G&R President, Scott Purvis, “From a communications perspective, the idea that the increasing divide between Republicans and Democrats, or other groups for than matter, is a function of social media echo chambers is an important insight. But the implications of the idea that the gulf may also be a consequence of how different people process the same information is also worthy of consideration.”
Republican and Democrats have distinct profiles that go beyond traditional demographics, psychographics, and hot button descriptors about abortion, law and order, and governmental power. Our Super Bowl study shows that these distinctions can even arise in how we consume identical and universally liked programming like the Super Bowl. Establishing distinguishing markers that go beyond gives us a fuller understanding of how consequential those differences are and solutions for how they might be bridged.
About G&R:
G&R is an advertising and marketing research company based in Pennington, New Jersey. Founded in 1948 by George Gallup and Claude Robinson, two of the pioneers in public opinion research, G&R helps leading companies understand the effectiveness of their advertising and improve its contribution to their business. For each of the last 25 years, the company has tracked the quality of Super Bowl advertising by polling viewers on the day after the game about commercials they remember, their reactions to them, and attitudes towards the viewing experience.
Press Contact:
Stefanie Dursin
(609) 730-1550
stefanie.dursin@gandrllc.com
[1] Conducted on February 3, 2020, the day after Super Bowl LIV, among a rep online panel sample of 200 Super Bowl viewers.
[2] Conducted on February 8, 2021, the day after Super Bowl LV, among a rep online panel sample of 200 Super Bowl viewers.
[3] Ad Ranking is based on the combined weighted performance across Recall, Liking, and Purchase Interest.
[4] According to Social Judgment Theory, Agency refers to goal achievement and task functioning, and it is related to self-oriented motivation. Examples of agentic traits include being ambitious, hardworking, focused, efficient, and so on. The agency dimension tends to be particularly important in self-perception. Communion refers to maintenance of relationships and social functioning, and it is related to other-oriented motivation. Examples of communal traits include being broad-minded, empathic, kind, fun-loving, and so on. The community dimension tends to be particularly important in perception of others. (See Abele and Wojciszke.)
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