Psychological Impact of Political Advertising in the Context of Information Warfare

Relevance. The issue of the psychological impact of political advertising is particularly important, as it is aimed at changing mass and individual consciousness, which affects the ability of citizens to make free choices. In the context of information warfare, advertising often serves as a means of imposing ideologies and decisions that are beneficial to the social customer. Modern political advertising functions not only during election campaigns, but constantly, forming stable ideas and guidelines in public opinion. The purpose of the article is to analyze the psychological impact of political advertising in the context of information warfare, with an emphasis on the mechanisms of influence, types of communication channels, functional purposes and levels of effectiveness. Results. The article reveals the main functions of political advertising during information warfare - informational, communicative, socially oriented and ideological. It analyzes how advertising through emotional and rational channels forms the necessary value orientations, encourages certain political actions and constructs ideological reality. The “German” and “American” traditions of interpreting the impact of advertising are distinguished, where the first focuses on suggestion and emotions, and the second on marketing stimulation of needs. The main channels of distribution of political advertising (audiovisual, print, external, personal contacts, etc.) are described and their role in shaping public opinion is characterized. Methods for assessing the psychological effectiveness of political advertising are also outlined and the complexity of measuring its impact in the conditions of information warfare is emphasized. Conclusions. Political advertising in the conditions of information warfare acts as a powerful means of psychological influence that forms political consciousness, behavioral models and social orientations of citizens. Its effectiveness is due to the ability to adapt to the target audience, use both rational and emotional techniques of influence, and integrate into various communication channels - from traditional media to social networks. Advertising that broadcasts manipulative or disinformation messages that are imposed as objective reality is of particular danger. In this context, important tasks are the development of citizens' media literacy, critical thinking, as well as strengthening scientific analysis of the mechanisms of influence of political advertising by specialists in the fields of psychology, sociology and political science. Further research should focus on empirical testing of the effectiveness of various models of influence and analysis of audience resistance to manipulative influence in the conditions of hybrid warfare.