無論基於候選人的經費支出或是選民的媒介使用，電視廣告均為當代選舉中最重要的候選人訊息。不過考量電視廣告可能對民主社會產生的負面影響，各國對於是否限制電視廣告也出現不同的立法例。為了提供相關討論的依據，本研究對2008 年台灣總統大選電視廣告進行內容分析，並整合國內外相關研究成果進行比較。本研究的主要發現包括三方面。第一，台灣2008 年大選電視廣告的功能大致呈現三分之二自誇（正面訊息）、三分之一攻擊（負面訊息）與極少數防禦（明確回應）的比例。對比美國2008 年大選電視廣告，台灣的電視廣告明顯較為正面。就個別候選人而言，民調領先者馬英九的的自誇訊息明顯多於落後者謝長廷。第二，台灣2008 年大選電視廣告的論題大致呈現四分政策、六分人格的比例。此種「政策少、人格多」的模式相似於文獻中台灣2000 年大選廣告的發現（三分政策、七分人格），而與美國2008 年大選電視廣告六分政策、四分人格的比例恰好相反。第三，對比同為電視訊息的電視辯論，2008 年大選電視廣告較為正面、較偏重人格而不重政策；相對地，電視辯論比電視廣告重政策，並且含有較高比例的防禦訊息。

Based on the expenditure of candidates and the media use of voters, TV
ads are the most important candidate message in the contemporary elections.Considering possible negative impacts of television ads on democratic society, major democratic countries take different positions on the issue of restricting campaign ads. To provide data for related discussion, this study content-analyzed the 2008 Taiwanese presidential ads. The primary findings can be summarized in three aspects. First, the functions of the TV ads in 2008 Taiwanese election included 66% of acclaims, 32% of attacks, and 2% of defenses. Compared with the U.S. counterparts in 2008, Taiwanese ads were more positive. Regarding the individual candidates, the leading candidate Ma had more acclaims than the trailing candidate Hsieh. Second,the topics of 2008 Taiwanese presidential a ds contained approximately 40% of policy messages, and 60% of character messages. This pattern is similar to the ads used in the 2000 Taiwanese election, while contrary to the U.S. counterparts. Third, compared to the 2008 Taiwanese presidential debates,TV ads stressed character more than televised debates. In addition, televised debates contained more defenses than TV ads.