How Campaign Ads and the Internet Shape Participation

Watch video of a Sept. 30,2009 talk by Dhavan V. Shah, an expert on the social psychology of media influence on political judgment.

Modern political campaigns involve, and increasingly rely on, advertising and digital media. President Obamas recent campaign was a prime example of how effective use of the Internet can influence voters.

Shah is the Louis A. & Mary E. Maier-Bascom Professor of Journalism and Mass Communication and Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He received his doctorate in mass communication in 1999 from the University of Minnesota, where he also minored in political psychology.

His research concerns the social psychology of media influence, especially communication effects on political judgment, public opinion, lifestyle politics and civic participation. Shah has authored more than 60 articles and chapters and is currently working on three books.