FLEMINGTON, N.J., Sept. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- A new national focus group among 312 women who are self-reported Democrats, Republicans and Independents, revealed that after viewing a new McCain ad where Senator Obama is on screen using the phrase "Lipstick on a Pig" there was a significant increase in the perception that Senator Obama has a gender bias.

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The study was conducted today by HCD Research and the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion (MCIPO) to obtain Americans' perceptions of a new ad by John McCain, which focuses on the "Lipstick on a Pig" comment that Barack Obama made at a rally in Virginia yesterday.

Prior to viewing the ad voters were presented with the following background:

At a rally in Lebanon, VA on September 9th, Senator Barack Obama argued that Senator John McCain's policies were similar to those of President George Bush. With the use of some controversial analogies, Obama claimed that Republican's are trying to repackage themselves as agents of change. Obama said it was like putting "lipstick on a pig," a reference that the McCain camp said was a sexist dig at GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin."

    Among the study findings:
    Before and after viewing the ad voters were asked the question:
    "Do you think that Barack Obama has a gender bias?"


                        Percent indicating Yes

                                    Prior to Viewing       After Viewing
    Democrats                                 7%                  9%
    Republicans                              44%                 66%
    Independents                             17%                 34%

Among the study findings:

The ad earned John McCain a Political Communications Impact Score (PCIS) of 10.8 and Barack Obama received a score of 4.8, resulting in a net score of 5.9 for John McCain. The scores can be compared to a mean score of 9.9 for previously tested Obama ads and 7.8 for previously tested McCain ads. To date, the total mean score for all previously tested ads is 8.8.

The PCIS is a metric scoring system designed to gauge the effectiveness of political communications by generating a score for each candidate to monitor changes in voter perceptions. The PCIS score is derived from the change in voters' support and the extent that the support shifts. To view scores and results of recent studies go to: http://www.mediacurves.com/PCIS/

The Participants were asked pre- and post-viewing questions. The participants' emotions were also measured using the Ayer Emotion Battery. To view detailed results go to: www.mediacurves.com .

The Media Curves web site provides the media and general public with a venue to view Americans' perceptions of popular and controversial media events and advertisements.

HCD Research is a communications research company headquartered in Flemington, NJ. The company's services include traditional and web-based communications research. For additional information on HCD Research, access the company's web site at www.hcdi.net or call HCD Research at 908-788-9393. Headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania, MCIPO is a respected source of public opinion data on local, state and national issues. For additional information on Muhlenberg College, go to www.muhlenberg.edu

SOURCE HCD Research