University of Utah

Gender Differences in Campaign Messages: The Political Advertisements of Men and Women
Candidates for U. S. Senate
Author(s): Kim Fridkin Kahn
Source: Political Research Quarterly, Vol. 46, No. 3 (Sep., 1993), pp. 481-502
Published by: Sage Publications, Inc. on behalf of the University of Utah
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/448944
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Gender Differences in
_ Campaign Messages: The
Political Advertisements of
Men and Women Candidates
for U.S. Senate
UNIVERSITY
KIM FRIDKIN KAHN, ARIZONA
STATE

In orderto see whethermen and women emphasizedifferentmessagesin

their campaigns,I examine the televised political advertisementsof 38
candidatesforthe U.S.Senatebetween 1984 and 1986. In addition,I look
at patterns of campaign coverage to determine whether the press
distinguish between male and female candidates. Since a candidate's
message will be most persuasiveif that message is echoed by the press,
gender differencesin press treatmentcan have electoralconsequences.
The resultsof this study show that male and femalesenatorialcandidates
adopt campaign strategiesthat are similar on certain dimensions and
strikinglydifferenton others. Maleand female candidatesboth preferto
focus on policy mattersin theircandidate-orientedappeals,althoughthey
rarely take specific stands on issues. Yet there are importantgender
differencesin the advertisementsof male and femalecandidatesand these
differences correspond to the candidates'stereotypicalstrengths. Men
tend to concentrateon economic issues, while women are much more
likely to discuss social issues such as educationand healthpolicy. These
differences (and others), although evident in their own campaign
communications,are not representedin mediacoverageof the candidates'
campaigns.
Women are less likely than men to run successfully for high political office.
Of the twenty-five women who ran for the U.S. Senate between 1984 and
NOTE:The authorwould like to thankJohn Geer,Rick Herrera,Pat Kenneyand Donna
Wassermanfor helpful advice on this project.The authoralso acknowledgesthe
assistanceof the PoliticalCommercialArchiveat the Universityof Oklahomaand
the editorialassistance of Pat Crittenden.An earlierversion of this paper was
delivered at the Annual Meeting of the Western PoliticalScience Association,
Seattle,Washington,March21-23, 1991.

481

PoliticalResearchQuarterly
1990, only two won. One candidate, Nancy Kassebaum of Kansas, was an
incumbent, and the other, BarbaraMikulski of Maryland,won election by
defeatinganotherwoman. Severalreasonshave been offeredto explain women's
lack of success in the electoralarena, including inadequateaccess to political
resources and sex stereotyping by voters (e.g., Bernstein 1986; Boles and
Durio 1981; Gertzog 1979; Hedlund et al. 1979). While these explanations
are important,I introduce and test anotherpotentiallyimportantexplanation:
differences in the media presentationsof men and women candidates.
In this paper I examine televised political advertisementsto see whether
men and women candidates emphasize different messages in their campaigns. If they do, these alternative messages may differ in their electoral
effectiveness. In addition, I examine patterns of campaign coverage to see
whether the press distinguish between male and female candidates in their
coverage.Since a candidate'smessage will be most persuasive if that message
is echoed by the press, gender differences in press treatmentcan have electoral consequences.
Both paid and unpaid media attentionplay a central role in today's electoralcampaigns.Candidatestry to cultivategood press duringtheir campaigns
and they devote considerableresources to campaign advertising (Clarkeand
Evans 1983; Goldenbergand Traugott1984; Joslyn 1984). Paid media, such
as televised political advertisements,are critical in campaigns because these
commercials present the candidate'smessage directly to the public. In addition, political advertisementshave the power to influence voters'perceptions
of candidates, thereby influencing the electoral fortunes of these candidates
(e.g., Joslyn 1984; Ker 1989; Pattersonand McClure 1976).
The unpaid media-the news media-are also crucial in electoral campaigns, because voters receive the bulk of their campaign informationfrom
these sources. The news media's coverageof campaigns can affect voters'recognition of candidates by conferring press attention on certain candidates
while ignoringothers(Aldrich1980; Bartels1987; Patterson1980). In addition,
the substance of news coverageoften influences evaluationsof candidates by
alteringthe criteriavoters use to judge candidates (Iyengarand Kinder 1987;
Iyengar, Peters, and Kinder 1982), while the tone of campaign coverage
sometimes alters voters' reactions to candidates (Goldenberg and Traugott
1987; Joslyn 1984; Patterson1980).
In this paper I examine gender differences in paid and unpaid media
messages in U.S. Senate campaigns. I chose Senate races because of the relative abundance of women candidates and because of the demonstrated
importance of the media in statewide campaigns (Goldenberg and Traugott
1987). First,I analyzed the candidates'politicaladvertisementsto see whether
male and female candidates adopt different media appeals. Since the sub482

GenderDifferencesin CampaignMessages
stance of spot ads is controlledby the candidate, these ads can be considered
the candidate's "presentationof self' (Kaid and Davidson 1986); a close
examinationof these ads can help determine whether men and women characterize their candidacies differently.
Another reason to look at gender differencesin campaign commercialsis
that they may lead to gender differences in the effectiveness of these ads. By
adopting different types of campaign appeals, male and female candidates
may adopt appeals that differ in their impact on voters. Recent experimental
work suggests that certaincommercials- issue ads and positive ads - are more
likely to create positive impressions of candidates (e.g., Garramore1986;
Kahn and Geer 1991; Kaid and Sander 1978). In addition, Ansolabehereand
Iyengar's (1991) experimental study of television advertising in the 1990
California gubernatorialcampaign suggests that certain appeals are more
convincing for women candidates, while others are more profitablefor male
candidates. Ansolabehere and Iyengar find, for example, that "attack"ads
were more effective for PeterWilson than for Diane Feinstein.
Along with the substance of the candidates' political advertisements, I
examine media coverage of the candidates' campaigns. Comparing the content of spot advertisementswith the coverage of the candidates in the news
can help determine whether the candidates'messages are being mirroredby
the news media. The campaign messages that the candidates present in their
ads will be most coherent if those messages are then echoed by the press. If
the agendas of the candidateand the news media do not correspond,then the
impact of the candidate's message may be blunted. A comparison between
the content of the candidates'ads and press coverage of the candidates can
show whether and to what extent the news media's emphasis is different for
male and female candidates.
IN CAMPAIGNAPPEALS
EXPECTATIONS
ABOUTGENDERDIFFERENCES

Men and women face different constraints in the electoral arena, and these
differences may influence the strategies they adopt in their U.S. Senate
campaigns. In particular,people's preconceptionsabout male and female candidates may influence the campaign appeals that candidates employ. Candidates often have a choice: they may adopt strategies that exploit voters'
stereotypes about male and female candidates, or they may try to dispel
stereotypes by acting in ways inconsistent with their traditionalstrengths.
People'sstereotypes about male and female candidates may influence the
types of issues that candidates choose to emphasize in their campaign messages. Since voters generallybelieve that men are better at dealing with foreign policy and economic issues, while women are better at handling social
issues (e.g., Gallup 1984; NationalWomen's PoliticalCaucus 1987; Rosenwas483

PoliticalResearchQuarterly
ser et al. 1987; Sapiro 1982), male and female candidates may emphasize
these alternativeissue domains in their campaign ads.
Voters'prioritiesabout issues are often responsive to the media's emphasis (e.g., Iyengarand Kinder 1987; MacKuen1981), so candidates can influence these priorities during their campaigns. Candidates who stress their
stereotypical strengths in their campaigns can make these issues salient to
voters and voters may consider these issues when evaluating the competing
candidates. Women candidates may choose to concentrate on education, a
stereotypicallystrong issue for women, thereby leading voters to believe that
education is an important issue. Voters may then think about the education
issue when evaluatingthe competing candidates.
Of course, men and women may articulatealternativeagendas for other
than strategicreasons. Morespecifically, gender differences in issue emphasis
may reflect real differences in the issue priorities of male and female candidates. Research examining the political attitudes of women candidates and
women officeholders suggests that women are more supportive of social
issues such as abortion and the ERA, even controlling for party affiliation
(Carroll 1985; Darcy, Welch, and Clark 1987; Poole and Zeigler 1985).
In addition to stressing their policy priorities during their Senate campaigns, candidates also emphasize their personal strengths.Again, voters'sex
stereotypes often influence the types of personal characteristicsthat candidates choose to highlight in their campaign appeals. Since voters consider
women candidates to be more compassionate and honest, while they consider men to be stonger leaders and more knowledgeable(Ashmore and Del
Boca 1979; Boles and Durio 1981; Gallup 1984; NationalWomen's Political
Caucus 1987), candidates may develop campaign strategies to respond to
these stereotypes.
While candidates are likely to stress their stereotypicalstrengths when
discussing issues, such may not be the case for traits. Although the public's
issue agenda is susceptible to media influence (e.g., Iyengar, Peters, and
Kinder 1982; Iyengar and Kinder 1987; MacKuen 1981), people's perceptions of importantpersonalitytraitsmay be less flexible. Researchat the presidential level suggests that voters consistently consider competence and leadership when evaluating competing candidates (e.g., Markus 1982; Miller,
Wattenberg,and Malanchuk1986). In addition, since people evaluate candidates based on prototypes of incumbent officeholders, (Kinder et al, 1980),
people's images of the prototypical senator may be masculine. Voters may
thereforebe more likely to consider masculine traits-like strength and leadership ability-when evaluating senatorial candidates. Given the importance
of these masculine traits, both male and female candidates may emphasize
these traits in their campaign appeals. Men may highlight their stereotypical
484

GenderDifferencesin CampaignMessages
strengths, while women may try to eradicate stereotypes through
"unstereotypical"
campaign appeals.
In addition to specific differencesin traitand issue agendas, a candidate's
gender often influences more generaldifferencesin campaign appeals. In particular,candidate'ssex may determine whether a candidate makes a personal
or a policy-oriented appeal to the electorate. Because people believe that
women are less competent than men (e.g., Ashmore and Del Boca 1979;
Boles and Durio 1981, Gallup 1984, NationalWomen's PoliticalCaucus 1987),
female candidates need to emphasize their policy concerns in their campaign
commercials. By talking about their issue priorities,women candidates may
dispel voters'doubts about their ability. Male candidates, on the other hand,
can be more flexible in their appeals since voters are more confident about
their candidacies.
METHODOLOGY

Sample of PoliticalAdvertisements
To explore gender differences in paid and unpaid media messages in U.S.
Senate campaigns, I examined televised political advertisements and press
coveragefor a sample of Senatecandidates.In 1984 and 1986, sixteen women
ran for the U.S. Senate. Politicalcommercials were obtained for ten of these
women, accounting for a total of 81 spot ads.' By stratifyingthe population of
male Senate candidates by status (incumbent, challenger, open-race candidate) and strengthof candidacy based on Congressional
Quarterlypre-election
assessments, I selected a sample of twenty-eight male candidates and 324
correspondingpolitical commercials.2With this sample of 405 spot ads, I can
compare the media presentations of men and women Senate candidates to
see whether there are differences in the way men and women present themselves to the electorate.3

1 Politicalcommercialswere unavailablefor the otherwomen Senatecandidates.In order

2
3

to bolster the number of women candidatesin the sample, I included New Jersey's
1982 senatorialcandidate,MillicentFenwick, in the sample. Fenwick was the only
woman candidatein 1982 forwhich advertisementswere available.Althoughthe number of femalecandidatesincludedin the sampleis necessarilysmall,the states included
do vary in size and by region.
See the appendix for a list of the Senatecandidatesincluded in the sample.
All the politicalads used in the analysis were obtainedfrom the PoliticalCommerical
Archiveat the Universityof Oklahoma.
485

PoliticalResearchQuarterly

ADS
CODING OF POLITICAL

One researchercoded all commercialsin the sample.4To ensure the reliability of the coding, two checks were performed. First, I coded a sample of
articles twice-once at the start of the coding process and once near the end.
This reliabilitycheck revealed that coding remained stable, with 98 percent
agreement on most measures. Second, I assessed intercoder reliability. A
coder unfamiliarwith the objectives of the study coded a random sample of
the political advertisements.The intercoderreliabilityagreementfor this sample of ads was 96 percent, with agreementrangingfrom 100 percent for some
coding categories to a minimum of 90 percent for other categories.
CODING OF NEWSPAPERCONTENT

In addition to the data on political advertisement,I analyzed newspaper coverage of male and female candidates for the U.S. Senate. With the addition of
the newspaper analysis, we can examine the relationship between the
candidates'own messages and the messages communicated by the press. By
comparingthese two media, we can see whether the correspondencebetween
the candidates' emphasis and the news media's emphasis is the same for
male and female candidates.
I chose to analyze newspaper coverage,instead of television coverage,for
both substantive and practicalreasons. On the substantive side, there is considerable evidence that newspapers cover state-level campaigns more extensively than local television news (Goldenberg and Traugott 1987; Westlye
1991) and that people receive more of their information about statewide
races from newspapers than from television (Clarke and Fredin 1978). FurthermoreWesdye explains that "newspaperspresent an amount of information that more closely approximates what campaigns are issuing" as compared with local broadcastnews (1991: 45). On the practicalside, newspapers
are routinely saved on microfilm, making them easily accessible for analysis.
In contrast, tapes of local television news are seldom available after a campaign, making the examination of television news more difficult.
I analyzed campaign coveragefor thirty-twoof the thirty-eightcandidates
included in the political advertisinganalysis. Given that the newspaper sample and the advertisingsample do not include all the same races, differences
in the correspondencebetween thse two media may reflect differences in the
samples. Therefore,when comparingthe two media, the analysis is limited to
those races where both news and advertisingdata are available.

A copy of the complete codesheet is available from the author upon request.

486

GenderDifferencesin CampaignMessages
The newspapers I chose for analysis were, whenever possible, those with
the largest circulationin the state, because of their potential impact on large
numbers of people in the state.5 I analyzed any item that mentioned either
candidate, including news articles, columns, editorials, and "news analysis"
articles every day from September 1 through the day of the elections.6 The
coding categories for the newspaper analysis mirrorthose categoriesused in
the content analysis of the political advertisements.This coding procedure
yielded a sample of 2,538 articles.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

GenderDifferencesin the Substanceof PoliticalCommercials

An examinationof the content of spot ads is importantbecause it will give us
clues regardingwhat voters lear during campaigns. For instance, if women
emphasize only issues in their advertisementsand virtuallyignore their personal characteristics,voters will have little opportunity to learn about the
female candidates' traits via their political commercials. Another reason that
the substance of political commercialsis so importantis that it representsthe
candidate'sown campaign message. The substance of the spot ads gives us a
sense of what candidates want to emphasize and can illustratewhether men
and women differ in how they represent their candidacies. In the analysis of
political advertisements,I treatthe candidate-not the ad-as the unit of analysis and weigh the ads accordingly. By using the candidate as the unit of
analysis, we avoid giving more weight to candidates who have more ads.
Candidateseither emphasize their own strengthsin their political ads, or
they discuss their opponent's weaknesses. Candidate-orientedcommercials
paint a positive portraitof the candidate by discussing the candidate'squalifications, personality traits, or issue positions. Opponent-oriented commercials, on the other hand, are negative or "attack"ads that emphasize negative
aspects of the opponent's candidacy.
Although experimentalresearchsuggests that candidate-orientedads will
be more effective than opponent-oriented appeals (Kahn and Geer 1991),
candidates and campaign consultants believe the negative ads "work"(Kern
5

The largestcirculatingnewspapersin Texas and Coloradocould not be obtainedso the

state papers with the second largestcirculation(the HoustonPostand the DenverPost)
were analyzed.
Intercoderreliabilitywas measuredthroughoutthe newspapercoding process. Three
researcherscoded the newspapercontent and reliabilityamong the coders was high,
never fallingbelow 85 percentagreementand reachingas high as 100 percent agreement for some contentcategories.

487

PoliticalResearchQuarterly
1989). While acknowledgingthat negative ads can create a "backlash"against
the candidate, consultants view these ads as effective tools for "long-shot"
candidates (Ker 1989). Given the advantagesand disadvantagesoutlined by
campaign strategists,challengersmay be more likely to use attackads in their
campaigns.Similarly,women candidates,who may view themselvesa perennial
"underdogs,"may be more likely to use negative appeals in their campaigns.
In this sample of ads, 65 percent of all the ads are candidate-oriented,
while 35 percent are classified as opponent-oriented. As expected, incumbents are more likely than challengersto use these positive ads in their campaigns. Incumbentsuse positive ads 67 percent of the time, while challengers
use these appeals less than half of the time (47 percent).7Similarly,men are
more likely than women to air candidate-orientedappeals: 68 percent of the
male candidates'ads and 53 percentof the femalecandidates'ads are candidateoriented (p < .05).8 This gender differencein campaign appeals is not merely
a reflection of status differences for male and female candidates. Even when
we control for status of the candidates and the competitiveness of the race,
we find that male candidates continue to use positive appeals more frequently than their female counterparts.For example, male candidates in noncompetitive races use candidate-orientedads 75 percent of the time, while
noncompetitive female candidates use these appeals 52 percent of the time
(p<.01).
IssuE DISCUSSIONIN CANDIDATE-ORIENTED
ADS

When Senate candidates promote their candidacies in their positive ads they
discuss issues more frequently than any other topic; more than half of the
7

This differenceis statisticallysignificantat p<.01. All p-values are based on the differencein proportionstest unless otherwisenoted.
8 Since women candidatestend to be
challengers(between 1984 and 1986, 67 percent
of the women who ran for the U.S. Senate were challengerswhile 39 percent of the
male candidateswere challengers),some of the differencesin campaignappeals may
reflectstatusdifferencesand not genderdifferences.I check forthis possibilitythroughout the analysisby looking at whethergenderdifferencesin campaignappealsremain
when we look within status categories(e.g., incumbents, challengers,candidates in
open races). In makingthese comparisons,we can be most confidentabout comparisons between male and femalechallengerssince the numberof cases is greatesthere.
In contrast,we need to be cautious when drawing comparisonsbetween male and
femaleincumbentssince only one femaleincumbentis included in the sample. Similarly,since women are much more likely than men to run in noncompetitivecontests
(87 percent of the women senate candidatesbetween 1984 and 1986 ran in noncompetitive races while 48 percent of the male candidates ran in noncompetitive
races),genderdifferencesin campaignappealsmay reflectdifferencesdue to the competitivenessof the race. I check for this possibilitythroughoutthe analysis.

488

GenderDifferencesin CampaignMessages
candidate-orientedcommercialsmentionthe candidates'issue concers. Women,
who may be trying to increase voters' views of their competence, are somewhat more likely to emphasize policy concerns in their commercials.Although
the differences are not statistically significant, women disucss issues in 69
percent of their ads, while male candidates talk about issues 59 percent of the
time. These differences persist when we control for the status and party of
the candidates and the competitiveness of the race.
Although issues are discussed frequently,candidates rarely take controversial policy stands in their spot ads. Instead, candidates typically talk in
general terms about the issues that they think are important. This type of
issue discussion is not trivial. On the contrary,by paying attention to campaign ads, voters can learn about a candidate'sissue agenda. Politicaladvertisements can thereby play an agenda-settingrole in Senate campaigns (Erbing, Goldenberg,and Miller 1980; Iyengarand Kinder 1987; Iyengar,Peters,
and Kinder1982). In otherwords, if certainissues are the focus of a candidate's
campaign, then voters who pay attention to these ads will come to think
these issues are importantand, consequently will think about these particular
issues when evaluating the candidates and making their selections (Iyengar
and Kinder 1987; Iyengar,Peters,and Kinder 1982).9
Even though the quantity of issue discussion does not differ significantly
for male and female candidates, male and female candidates disucss different
sorts of issues in their campaign appeals. As hypothesized, these differences
in the issue agendas correspond to commonly held sex stereotypes (e.g., Gallup 1984; NationalWomen's PoliticalCaucus 1987; Rosenwasseret al. 1987;
Sapiro 1982). As the data in Table 1 show, men are more likely to discuss
economic issues such as taxes and the federalbudget, in their spot ads, while
women spend more time talking about social issues and social policy, such
as education and health policy. These results suggest that men and women
do have distinct issue prioritiesthat they pursue in their quest for election to
the U.S. Senate.These alternativeissue agendas correspond to the candidates'
"stereotypical"
strengths.
TRAITSIN CANDIDATE-ORIENTED
ADS

Candidatesalso emphasize their personalitystrengthsin their campaign commercials.This concentrationon personal characteristicscan have electoralsignificance because voters'traitassessments often influence their overall evalu9 Of course,the
agenda-settingroleof politicalcommercialswill be most influentialif the
messagespresentedin the ads are reiteratedin other sources of politicalcommunication like the news media. I compare issue discussion in political ads to newspaper
coveragelaterin this paper.

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PoliticalResearchQuarterly

Table 1
ISSUE DISCUSSIONIN POLITICALSPOT ADS

ForeignAffairst
EconomicIssues
FarmIssues
Social Programs
Social Issues
FairSharefor the State
Other

MaleCandidates

FemaleCandidates

11%
48
4
7
11
15
4
(332:28)$

7%
27
0
33
20
7
7
(94:10)

P-Value*
n.s.
p<.01
p<.01
p<.01
p <.05
p< .05
n.s.

* P-valuesarebasedon the differencein proportionstest.

t The "foreignaffairs"categoryincludesdiscussionof the following:U.S.S.R.-U.S.
relations,
armscontrol,CentralAmerica,SouthAfrica,MiddleEastand Europe.The"economic
issues"
categoryincludesdiscussionof the following:taxes,the federalbudget,and discussionof
the economygenerally.The "farm"
issues.
categoryincludesany discussionof farm-related
The "socialissue"categoryincludesthe disucssionof gay rights,abortion,school prayer,
women'srights,civil rights,the environment,and drugs.The "socialprogram"
category
and proincludesdiscussionof education,healthprograms,
employment,welfareprograms,
gramsforthe elderly.The "FairShareforState"includesdiscussionof programsand initiatives forthe good of the state.All otherissuesareincludedin the "other"
category.
+ Entriesarethenumberofissuementionsin thespotadsfollowedby thenumberofcandidates.

ations of candidates (Abelson et al. 1982; Goldenberg, Traugott, and Kahn

1988; Markus 1982). As with issue discussion, women stress their personal
strengths in their ads somewhat more often than men (40 percent v. 30 percent), although the difference is not statistically significant.
People not only have sex stereotypes regarding issues, they also have
stereotypes regarding personality traits: those that best characterize male candidates-independent, objective, strong leader, tough-those that best describe
female candidates-compassionate,
honest, gentle-(Ashmore and Del Boca
1979; Boles and Durio 1981, Gallup 1984, National Women's Political Caucus 1987). As hypothesized, when traits are divided into "male"and "female"
traits based on the sex stereotype literature, we find that men and women
both discuss "male" traits far more extensively than "female" traits. Over 70
percent of all trait discussion is devoted to such "male" traits as competence
and leadership, while such "female"traits as compassion and honesty are discussed less than 30 percent of the time. The candidates may emphasize
"male" traits in their campaign ads for two reasons: they believe that these
traits are most relevant for selecting potential U.S. senators, and they believe
that voters will consider these traits when evaluating competing candidates.

490

GenderDifferencesin CampaignMessages
Overall,women stress "male"traits in their campaign appeals somewhat
more often than men, although the difference is not statistically significant.
Women discuss "male"traits 80 percent of the time, while men focus on
"male"traitsin 73 percent of their campaign commercials.This gender difference in trait emphasis is most dramatic for female incumbents and female
challengers.10Women challengers, for example, discuss "male"traits in 89
percent of their advertisements,while male challengersmention "male"traits
70 percent of the time (p < .05). These results suggest that women, by stressing their stereotypicalweaknesses and talkingalmost exclusively about "male"
traits,try to dispel voters'preconceptionsabout the "typical"female candidate
(e.g., women are weak leaders).
ADS
OPPONENT-ORIENTED

In campaigns for elective office, candidates try to create negative images of

their opponents as well as create favorableimages of their own candidacies.
Although recent experimentalwork suggests that "attack"ads are less effective
than candidate-oriented ads, these findings conflict with the conventional
wisdom expressed by campaign consultants (Ker 1989). Given that candidates and their consultantsbelieve that negativeads work, it is not surprising
that more than one-third (35 percent) of all ads in this sample can be characterized as "attackads."
As discussed earlier,challengersand women candidates are more likely
to use negative ads in their election campaigns. In addition, a candidates's
propensity to use negativeads may be relatedto the gender of the candidate's
opponent. Lake(1984), in her interviews with male and female congressional
candidates,finds that men feel uncomfortableabout attackingfemaleopponents
in their campaigns. Male candidates believe that if they engage in a negative
campaign, they will be perceived as "beatingup on" a woman. Although the
number of cases is small, the advertisingdata show that male candidates are
less likely to criticize female opponents in their commercials.Male candidates
use negative ads only 17 percent of the time when facing a female opponent,
as compared with 36 percent of the time when facing a male opponent
(p<.01). These results complement Lake's(1984) findings, suggesting that
men adopt different strategies depending on the gender of their opponent.
In addition to using attack ads more frequently than their male counterparts, women may emphasize different topics. Given people's stereotypes
about men and women, male and female candidates face differentconstraints
in the electoralarena,and these constraintsoften influence the type of negative
0 When we controlfor the competitivenessof the race,we continueto find that women
candidatesemphasize"male"traitssomewhatmore often than theirmale counterparts.

491

PoliticalResearchQuarterly
campaign strategyadopted by candidates. In particular,since voters consider
men to be more knowledgeablethan women (e.g., Kahn 1992; Rosenwasser
et al. 1987; Sapiro 1982), women have a greaterneed to demonstratetheir
competence in their campaign appeals. To help establish their expertise,
women often choose to emphasize policy over personal attacks in the their
negative commercials.
The data in Table 2 display the primaryemphasis of the candidates'negative commercials. These findings demonstrate that women are much more
likely than their male counterparts to focus on substantive issues in their
attackads. Malecandidates, on the other hand, are more likely to adopt more
generalappeals that include both traitand issue attacks.When we control for
the incumbency of the candidates, we continue to find that women candidates emphasize policy more frequentlythan their male counterparts.Women
challengers, for example, emphasize issues in 61 percent of their negative
advertisements,while male challengersfocus on issues 31 percent of the time
(p < .01). Similarly,female Republicansand female Democratsare more likely
than their male counterpartsto discuss policy in their opponent-orientedads
(p <.05).1

Table2
THEPRIMARY
OFNEGATIVE
EMPHASIS
SPOTADS*
MaleCandidates FemaleCandidates
Traits
Issues
Mixedt
Comparisonof Candidates

8%
20
28
43
(110:28)t

10
53
13
23
(32:10)

P-Value
n.s.
p <.01
p <.05
p<.05

* P-valuesarebasedon the differencein proportions

test.

t The "mixed"and "comparison

of candidates"advertisements
do not focus primarilyon

advertisement
eithertraitsor issues.The "mixed"
includesa discussionof the opponent's
of candidates'
advertisement
compersonaltraitsand issuepositionswhilethe"comparison
parethe opposingcandidatesalongtraitand issue dimensions.
t Entriesarethe numberof negativeads followedby the numberof candidatesforeach cell.

1 When we controlfor the

competitivenessof the race,we find that women continueto
emphasize policy more frequentlythan male candidates.In noncompetitiveraces, for
example,women emphasizeissues in 57 percentof their negativeads while men discuss issues 19 percentof the time (p<.01).

492

GenderDifferencesin CampaignMessages
The types of issues emphasized in the candidates'opponent-oreintedads
are very similar to those emphasized in candidate-oreintedads. Again, as
with candidate-orientedads, men emphasize economic issues most frequently,
while women spend most of their time discussing social issues and social
programs.
While women are likely to emphasize issues exclusively in their attack
ads, men and women do not differ in their use of personal attacks. Male
candidates mention their opponents' personality traits in 17 percent of their
ads, while women mention their opponents' traits 11 percent of the time.12
Overall, trait disucssion is less pervasive in opponent-oriented ads than in
candidate-orientedads. While men and women mention their own personality traitsin 32 percent of these ads, the opponents'personalitytraitsare mentioned in only about 16 percent of the candidates'spot ads. These findings
suggest that senatorialcandidates largely refrain from using purely personal
attacks in their campaign messages. Instead, candidates are more comfortable
with policy criticisms, attackingtheir opponents' policy stands in 31 percent
of their spot ads.
The examination of campaign commercials reveals clear differences in
the campaign strategies of male and female candidates. Female candidates
concentratemore heavily on policy issues-especially in their negative ads. In
addition, men and women emphasize different issues; women discuss social
issues more frequently, while men largely concentrate on economic policy.
These commercials represent what the candidates choose to emphasize in
their campaigns. Men and women may emphasize these alternativestrategies
because they believe that these distinct strategieswill be effective in garnering
votes. Yet these strategieswill be most influential when the candidates'messages are reinforcedand echoed by the news media. Voters are more likely to
lear about a specific campaign message if they are exposed to this message
both through controlled and uncontrolled media sources. If the candidate's
agenda is ignored by the news media, then voters are unlikely to adopt the
agenda.
THE CORRESPONDENCE
BETWEENCAMPAIGNADS AND NEWS COVERAGE
OF CANDIDATES

To examine the correspondence between the agendas adopted by male and

female candidates and the agendas discussed in the news, I analyzed cam12

Men are somewhat less willing to use personal attacks when running against women.
When facing a male opponent, male candidates use personal attacks 18 percent of the
time. Yet, when facing female opponents, negative traits are only mentioned 8 percent
of the time. This difference is statistically significant (p<.05).

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PoliticalResearchQuarterly
paign coverage for thirty-two of the thirty-eight candidates included in this
study.13With this content analysis, we can see whether the media are equally
effective in representing the candidacies of male and female candidates.14
If there are gender differences in the press coverageof candidates, this difference may (1) reflect a bias of the news media, or (2) reflect real differencesin
the campaigns of men and women candidates.
While men and women stress differentcampaignthemes, the news media
may not be equally responsive to their messages. Reporters,like voters, are
likely to hold sex stereotypes, these stereotypicalbeliefs may lead reportersto
emphasize certain traits (e.g., compassion, honesty) when covering female
candidates and other traits (competence, leadership) when covering male
candidates, regardless of the candidates' own emphases. Similarly, stereocontypes may lead reportersto consider male candidates more "legitimate";
male
echo
candidates'
rhetoric
more
sequently, reporters may
campaign
faithfully.
On the other hand, differencesin the correspondencebetween the press's
and the candidates'messages may reflect real differences in the campaigns of
men and women candidats. If male candidates, for example, are more effective campaigners than their female counterparts, then this difference can
explain differences in media coverageof their campaigns. In addition, gender
differencesin news coveragemay reflect differencesin the newsworthiness of
the campaigns. For instance, by focusing on economic issues, male candidates may be reflecting the concerns of voters more accurately than female
candidates. The press may thereforecover the male candidates'agenda more
faithfully,deeming this agenda more relevantto voters.
Yet, regardless of the cause, gender differences in the correspondence
between the press's agenda and the candidates'agendas can have important
electoralconsequences. Since voters'prioritiesare flexible and susceptible to
media influence (e.g., Iyengarand Kinder 1987; MacKuen1981), candidates
who can dominate the media's agenda will be more successful in influencing
the public's agenda. These candidates, who will presumably emphasize their
strengths in their campaign appeals, may have an easier time winning
elections.
13

14

To insure comparability,I compareadvertisingand news content for the thirty-two

candidateswhere both types of media contentare avaiable.
An earlier study examining news coverage of U.S. Senate campaigns found that
the press cover male and femalecandidatesdifferently(Kahnand Goldenberg1991).
The results of this study suggest that women candidates receive less coverageand
the coveragethey do receiveconcentratesmoreon theirviabilityand less on theirissue
positions.

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GenderDifferencesin CampaignMessages

THE DISCUSSIONOF ISSUESIN POLITICAL

ADS AND IN NEWS COVERAGE

The analysis of political advertisements shows that women are somewhat

more likely to discuss policy mattersin their political advertisements.This is
most strikingin the candidates'attack ads, where 40 percent of all attackads
by femalecandidatesmention issues, while only 26 percent of male candidates'
ads discuss issues (p < .01).5 Yet in the press coverageof Senate campaigns,
female candidates do not receive more issue attention than their male counterparts.In fact, male candidates consistently receive more issue coverage,
even controlling for the status of the candidates and the competitiveness of
the race. Each day, more than four paragraphsabout issues are published
about male candidates while only three paragraphsabout issues are published about female candidates.These results suggest that even though women
candidates are more likely than male candidates to discuss their policy views
in their campaign appeals, their issue positions receive less press attention.
Women not only spend more time than men discussing issues in their
campaign advertisements,but they also emphasize different issues in these
campaign appeals. However, these differences in policy emphasis may not be
represented in news coverage of their candidacies. By dividing policy issues
into "male"and "female"issues based on sex stereotyping research (Gallup
1984; Kahn and Goldenberg 1991; NationalWomen's PoliticalCaucus 1987;
Sapiro 1982; Rosenwasseret al. 1987), I examine the correspondencebetween
the issue emphasis in political advertisements and the press. "Male"issues
include those issues where men are viewed as more competent (e.g., foreign
policy, defense, economics, and agriculture);"female"issues are those where
women are considered more capable (e.g., minority rights,environment,abortion, school prayer,drugs, and discussions of social programs).
When we compare issue discussion in political ads with issue coverage
in the news, we find that "male"issues dominate press coverage of Senate
races. Sixty-eight percent of all issue coverage in the news is devoted to
"male"issues, while only 32 percent of issue coverage deals with "female"
issues. As the data in Table 3 show, the coverage of issues by the press does
vary with the candidate'sgender, with "female"issues covered more extensively for female candidates than for male candidates. Yet the results also
show that issue coverage in the news mirrors male candidates' agendas far
more faithfullythan those of their female counterparts.Male candidates talk
about "male"issues 73 percent of the time in their ads, and news coverageof
their candidacies reflects this devotion to "male"issues. Women candidates,
15

Here we are comparing the percentage of times that candidates mention issues in their
attack ads. In Table 2, in contrast, we are comparing the primary emphasis of the
candidates' attack ads.

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PoliticalResearchQuarterly

on the other hand, prefer "female"issues, discussing these issues almost 60

percent of the time in their campaign ads. Yet news coverage of their campaigns emphasizes "male"issues over "female"issues.16
Table3
COMPARISONOF "MALE"AND "FEMALE"ISSUEEMPHASISIN SPOT ADS
*
AND IN NEWS COVERAGE

MaleCandidates
News Coverage
Spot Ads
"Male"Issuest

"Female"
Issues

FemaleCandidates
News Coverage
Spot Ads

71%a

73%b

54%ac

41%bc

29%
(6624:25)$

27%
(283:25)

46%
(1303:7)

59%
(69:7)

* Cellssharingsuperscripts
aresignificantly
differentfromeachotherat the specifiedp-value.
P-valuesarebasedon differencein proportions
test.
t "Male"
issues includeforeignpolicy, defensespending,arms control,foreigntrade,farm
issues includeday care, helpingthe poor, education,
issues, and the economy;"female"
healthcare,women'srights,drugabuse,and the environment.
and"female"
issuementionscodedforeachcandidatetype
t Entriesarethenumberof "male"
followedby the numberof candidates.
a,b p<.01
cp<.05

The imperfectcorrespondencebetween the female candidates'own agendas and the media's coverage of the candidates' issues may have electoral
consequences. In particular, women are likely to concentrate on "female"
issues for strategicreasons. Women may emphasize such issues as education
and health in their campaigns because (1) they feel that they can deal with
these issues better than other issues, or (2) they feel they can deal with these
issues better than their male counterparts,or (3) they feel that voters, because
of the stereotypes they hold, will believe that women candidats can handle
these issues better than men. Yet because these types of issues receive less
attention in the news, people are unlikely to think about these issues when
they cast their votes (Erbring, Godenberg, and Miller 1980; Iyengar and
Kinder 1987; MacKuen 1981). Given the existence of sex stereotypes, the
emphasis on traditional"male"issues by the press may hurt women candidates'
chances of election to the U.S. Senate.'7
16

Even when we controlfor the status of the candidatesand the competitivenessof the
race, we continue to find that the correspondencebetween the media'smessage and
the candidate'smessage is greaterfor male candidates.
17 The press may concentrateon "male"issues because the public is more concernedwith
these issues. Yet, studies of agenda-settingshow that the public'sissue prioritiesare
quite malleable.The researchsuggeststhat if the press chose to emphasizeissues like

496

Gender Differences in Campaign Messages

THE DISCUSSIONOF TRAITSIN POLITICAL

ADS AND IN NEWS COVERAGE

The candidates'campaign commercialsare more likely to emphasize personality traits than the news media. Only about 14 percent of all news coverage
mentions the candidates'personalities, while traits are mentioned more than
twice as often in the candidates' own campaign ads. These results suggest
that voters who get most of their political informationfrom spot ads will be
more likely to make trait-basedjudgments of candidates, as compared with
voters who get their political informationfrom the news media (Iyengarand
Kinder 1987; Iyengar,Peters and Kinder 1982).
When reportersdo discuss the candidates' personalities, they are more
traitswhen coveringmen than when coveringwomen.
likely to emphasize"male"
As the data in Table 4 show, "male"traits are emphasized 70 percent of the
time when coveringmale candidates,while only 55 percentof femalecandidates'
trait coverage is devoted to "male"traits. These results suggest that reporters
rely on sex stereotypeswhen covering male and female candidatesand largely
ignore the candidates' own campaign emphases. Women appear "unstereotypically"in their ads, concentratingalmost exclusively on "male"traits,
but coverageof their campaignslargelyignores this focus. Just as with issues,
male candidates can expect a greater correspondence between the message
Table4
COMPARISONOF "MALE"AND "FEMALE"TRAIT EMPHASISIN SPOT ADS
AND IN NEWS COVERAGE*

MaleCandidates
News Coverage Spot Ads
"Male"Traitst

Traits
"Female"

FemaleCandidates
News Coverage
Spot Ads

70%a

71%

55%ab

78%b

30%
(1090:25)t

29%
(121:25)

45%
(277:7)

22%
(28:7)

* Cellssharingsuperscripts
aresignificantydifferentfromeachother.P-valuesarebasedon
the differencein proportions
test.
t "Male"
traitsincludethe following:independent,objective,strongleader,insensitive,aggrestraitsincludepassive,sensitive,gentle,weak leader,and
sive, ambitious,tough;"female"
honest.
compassionate,
and "female"
traitmentionscodedforeachcandidatetype
+ Entriesarethe numberof "male"
followedby the numberof candidates.
ap<.01

bp<.05

healthand educationpolicy, these issues would become more importantto the public
(e.g., Iyengar,Peters,and Kinder1982; lyengarand Kinder1987; MacKuen1981).

497

PoliticalResearchQuarterly
presented in their ads and the coverageprovided in the news.18While there
is no difference between the trait emphasis by male candidates and the trait
emphasis by the press, this is clearly not the case for women candidates.
These results suggest that the news media are more receptive to the messages sent by male candidates. When covering male candidates, reporters
emphasize the same personality traits and the same policy areas as the candidates. News coverageof female candidates is much less responsive. Women
candidates emphasize "female"issues, but the press prefer to discuss "male"
issues, such as foreign policy and economics. Similarly,even though women
candidates concentrate almost exclusively on "male"traits in their appeals,
the press largely ignore this emphasis.
CONCLUSION

Based on this sample of thirty-eight campaigns, I conclude that male and

female candidates for the U.S. Senate adopt campaign strategies that are
remarkablysimilar on certain dimensions and strikingly different on others.
First, male and female candidates both prefer to focus on policy matters in
their candidate-orientedappeals, yet they rarelytake specific stands on issues.
Similarly,men and women highlight their own personality strengths in their
ads instead of criticizingtheir opponents on personal grounds.
Yet there are importantdifferences in the campaign appeals of male and
female senatorial candidates. These differences range from the candidates'
propensity to use "attack"ads to the types of topics emphasized in ads. Men,
for example, wage negativecampaignsless frequentlythan women candidates,
especially when facing female opponents. Men and women also emphasize
differentsorts of issues in their campaignsfor the U.S. Senate.Men concentrate
on economic issues, while women are much more likely to discuss social
issues such as education and health policy.
Although men and women stress distinct agendas in their campaign
appeals, news coverage of their campaigns does not represent these differences. Women discuss issues more frequentlythan men, and they also discuss
"female"issues in the majority of their ads. Yet news coverage of women's
campaignsdoes not reflectthese concers. Similarly,women stress theirleader18

Again,when we controlfor the competitivenessof the race and the status of the candidates,we continueto find thatthe correspondencebetween the media'smessageand
the candidate'smessageis greaterfor male candidates.Forexample,femalechallengers
stress "male"traitsin 95 percent of their campaignads, yet the press discuss "male"
traitsonly 56 percentof the time when coveringwomen challengers.In contrast,male
challengerstalk about "male"traits70 percent of the time and the media largelyecho
this emphasis; the press discuss "male"traits 67 percent of the time when covering
male challengers.

498

Gender Differences in Campaign Messages

ship and competence in their campaign ads, perhaps as a way of revising

voters' images of the "typical"woman candidate. Yet reporterslargely ignore
this emphasis and choose to describe women candidates in stereotypical
terms. This unresponsiveness of the news media, by potentially muting the
effectiveness of female candidates'strategies,may hamper the electoralprospects of women candidates for the U.S. Senate.
APPENDIX:SAMPLEOF SENATECANDIDATES

MaleCandidates'9

FemaleCandidates

Incumbents
Bill Bradley(D) of New Jersey
RudyBoshwitz(R) of Minnesota
WilliamCohen (R) of Maine
Alan Cranston(D) of California
MarkHatfield(R) of Oregon
GordonHumphrey(R) of New Hampshire
RogerJepsen (R) of Iowa
CarlLevin (D) of Michigan
CharlesPercy(R) of Illinois
ArlenSpecter(R) of Pennsylvania

Incumbents
PaulaHawkins(R) of Florida

Challengers
NormanD'Amours(D) of New Hampshire
Tom Harkin(D) of Iowa
Bob Edgar(D) of Pennsylvania
Jack Lousma(R) of Michigan
PaulSimon (D) of Illinois

Challengers
Nancy Dick (D) of Colorado
Joan A. Growe(DL) of Minnesota
MargieHendriksen(D) of Oregon
Judy Koehler(R) of Illinois
ElizabethMitchell(D) of Maine
MaryMochary(R) of New Jersey
Candidatesin OpenRaces
LindaChavez(R) of Maryland
MillicentFenwick(R) of New Jersey'9
BarbaraMikulski(D) of Maryland

Candidatesin OpenRaces
VictorAsche (R) of Tennessee
ChristopherBond (R) of Missouri
LloydDoggett(D) of Texas
AlbertGore (D) of Tennessee
Phil Gramm(R) of Texas
John Kerry(D) of Massachusetts
RichardKimball(D) of Arizona
Ken Kramer(R) of Colorado
FrankLautenberg(D) of New Jerseyl9
John McCain(R) of Arizona
HarryReid (D) of Nevada
Jim Santini(R) of Nevada
RaymondShamie(R) of Massachusetts
The New Jersey Senate race from 1982 was included in the sample to bolster the
numberof races with femalecandidates.
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PoliticalResearchQuarterly
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Received:
January10, 1992
November
4, 1992
AcceptedforPublication:
502