The study by New York-based brand consultancy Brand Keys asked Republican, Democratic and independent voters to rate the current commercials for Bush and Kerry on whether they were positively reinforcing perceptions of the candidates.
The advertising started to get dirty recently when an anti-Kerry group attacked the Democratic candidate's Vietnam war record, saying he lied about his much-vaunted time in South East Asia. The allegations were made by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth and have been denied vehemently by the Kerry camp.
Robert Passikoff, the president of Brand Keys, said: "Based upon our assessments, the TV ads are not having any effect on any of the voter segments."
He said the Democratic and Republican parties faced the same problems as many 21st century brands because the candidates are marketed in the same way as consumer products and have generally relied on TV advertising to get their messages across.
Brand Keys applied its system for gauging public reaction to product launches to politicians. It used a combination of psychological inquiry and statistical analysis to "fuse" emotional and rational responses. The system examined issues, imagery, positioning and perceived benefits to define how voters viewed the presidency, compared candidates and, ultimately, how they will vote.
"Brands and candidates benefit from clear differentiation between offerings. But nowadays it is increasingly difficult for the public to see any obvious delineation on the basis of issues," Passikoff said.
"So votes will depend upon how closely the candidates measure up to the voters' ideal. Polling becomes the actualisation of the statement, 'This candidate is for me, this person is like me. This is someone I will vote for.'"
Political scientist Dr John Aldrich of Duke University predicted the Clinton-Gore victory in 1992 with a remarkable percent-of-vote accuracy. At that time, Brand Keys measured the TV advertising for each party and found the Bush campaign lacked a message that resonated with the voters.
If you have an opinion on this or any ot00her issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the .