The attitudes of the voters to the positive/negative advertisements and the source of the advertisements, with respect to political participation levels and the status (Ruling party/opposition party) of the candidate

The main problem that this study tackles with is the effects of the discourse in politics on the voters. What underlies this problem is the focus on how negative and positive message strategies used in politics affect the voters in terms of political persuasion. In this context, this study aims to reveal the effects of persuasion strategies, formed by using negative/positive political advertisements, on the voters. In this study, the method scientifically adopted is the mixed-method approach and the data collection tools of quantitative and qualitative research traditions are used together. This approach, in which triangulation is adopted, involves the combination of qualitative and quantitative methods and data. In the first stage of the study, a focus group survey was designed in order to form the hypotheses and research questions more deeply and establish the grounds of the experiment more firmly. In line with the focus group results, an experiment with a factorial pattern was designed from the experimental research models. Four different political ads produced were shown to the participants and the attitudes toward the advertisement and the source were measured. When the results of the experiment within the scope of the study were studied, it has been established that negative political advertisements are more effective than the positive political advertisements. However, the nature of this effect depends on the present status of the candidate. This study has found that the question of whether a candidate is in the ruling party status or in the opposition party status is vital in making decisions regarding the message strategies. The ad with the most positive attitudes is the negative ad made by the candidate in the opposition position whereas the ad with the most negative attitude is the negative ad made by the candidate in the position of power. Moreover, it could be advised that in opposition strategies and in points which targets the women, the youth, and the unemployed population, negative political advertisements should be chosen. Keywords: Political Communication, Negative Political Advertisements, Political Participation