He says while it's too early to call who is winning the political spin battle, LNP ads focusing on contempt for Labor leader Anthony Albanese were designed to harden the attitudes of undecided voters.
"The Liberal Party's ads aim to make us link Albanese, and by extension, Labor, with a sense of contempt and disgust," he said.
"Contempt is an intense, powerful emotion with clear influence on voters … contempt encourages avoidance; we try to create as much distance between us and the subject of contempt as we can.
"Such a response is seldom reasoned, which can make it difficult to counter … people who believe these ads are likely less tolerant of people who vote Labor than people who have not seen the ads or do not believe their messages."
Regarding new trends in the political advertising space, Dr van Laer pointed to the United Australia Party's attention-grabbing election anthem 'Now That's My Kind of Party', a song released last month.
He also noted fringe parties continue to be "way more active" on social media, having observed 13 UAP ads on YouTube since February compared with the coalition (four) and Labor (five).
Asked whether the emerging trend of individuals approaching Scott Morrison and filming themselves critiquing his performance would impact the prime minister, Dr van Laer said it wouldn't be any different to previous campaigners being egged or pied.
