Researchers have typically defined voters’ partisanship as their belonging
to a particular party. Alternatively, however, recent researchers have
viewed voters’ partisanship as their attitudes toward a party that can range
in magnitude. Accordingly, this study examined (1) whether South
Korean college students’ attitudes toward political ads can be affected by
their attitudes toward the parties and (2) whether the relationship can be
moderated by their expectations of the election outcome for the parties
and perceived importance of the issues addressed in the ads. Several
hypotheses were proposed based on literature review and tested through
a survey in the context of the 2012 general election in South Korea. It was
found from the test that South Korean college students tended to have
positive attitudes toward the political ads of the parties toward which they
have positive attitudes as hypothesized. Different from the hypothesis,
however, such an impact was not moderated by their expectations of the
election outcome, with an exception of those who supported a
progressive party but had positive expectations of a conservative party.
Lastly, the hypothesis that the impact would be moderated by their
importance perception of the issues addressed in the political ads showed. a mixed outcome. Based on the result, suggestions were made for more effective use of
political ads and future studies.