Abstract
This study explores Filipinos' attitudes toward advanced commercial advertising during political campaigns before the official electoral period. Contrary to the belief in fair elections, such preemptive exposure was perceived as biased. However, the investigation sought to determine whether this viewpoint represents universal sentiment among Filipinos. To examine this, the researchers employed two distinct questionnaires—Questionnaire A (Q-A), measuring societal norms regarding advance campaigning, and Questionnaire B (Q-B), assessing personal prejudices related to these ads. With a sample size of 60 participants obtained via convenience sampling, the results revealed significant differences between those holding biased views versus unbiased perspectives. Specifically, individuals with biases tended to perceive advanced political advertisements more favorably from a moral standpoint compared to those without bias, indicating that prejudice may shape one's perception of the practice. To quantify these findings, the chi-square test yielded a value of 13.125, and the phi coefficient reached -.468. These statistics support the alternative hypothesis that prejudice influences how individuals judge the morality of advanced political advertisements. Ultimately, the data suggests that many Filipinos currently consider advanced political advertisements before the legal campaign period to be acceptable and moral acts.
