Sock It to 'Em Can a negative marketing campaign have positive results? Here's what to know before you strike the first blow.

Mudslinging, name-calling, accusations and counterattacks.Sounds like a bad way to run a marketing campaign-particularlyduring a presidential race-but all those negative ads may have amore positive result than you think. What many of us call"negative" or "attack" ads are termed"comparative" ads by those in the industry, and thebottom line is that they appear to work.

"They're very effective," says Rick Farmer, Ph.D.,an assistant professor of political science at the University ofAkron in Akron, Ohio, who has studied the impact of comparativeads. Farmer, other researchers and campaign consultants agree thatnegative ads are more memorable than positive ones, provided theyreinforce a belief and remain relevant to the central issues of themarketing campaign. In political campaigns, comparative ads workbecause "people have a cynical view of politics and tend tobelieve the negative very quickly," says Farmer.

Though many Americans say they don't like negative politicalads, research by faculty members at the University of Georgia foundthat not only are attack ads initially effective, but their impactincreases over time, perhaps because they produce an emotionalresponse. And positive ads used to counter them are not aseffective because they're ultimately less powerful than theopponent's attack ad.