Microtargeting and Electoral Segmentation in Advertising and Political Communication Through Social Networks: Case Study

Abstract

Western political debate, like other areas, has entered the digital world. Political actors have had to adapt to new communication strategies linked to technology in general and to social networks in particular. A new debate has opened that has provoked changes in the traditional system of political communication with its different audiences. Thus, the configuration of negotiation and dominance in democratic systems is linked to technological change. This research aims to provide a descriptive interpretation of the role of social networks, specifically Facebook, by the Popular Party to win the elections of June 26, 2016 in Spain. How the strategies of microtargeting, data mining and geolocation were hollowed out in order to capture the indecisive vote and thus obtain the seats necessary to expand the electoral advantage. To this end, a comparison will be made with Barack Obama’s campaigns in 2008 and especially 2012, which were also carried out by The Messina Group (TMG) and whose results were a great success. The results show that Facebook is one of the social networks more successfully used in the campaigns.

Communication, Social Networks and Sustainable Development Goals: A Reflection From the Perspective of Social Marketing and Happiness Management in the General Elections in Spain

“…Political communication has been transformed thanks to this multiplication and dissemination of messages through social networks, with efficiency and economic profitability rates that were unthinkable until now (Elías Zambrano et al, 2019 ). In this sense, a space for information, communication and propaganda opens up thanks to which political parties gain access to an online audience by invading their personal spaces (Bernhardt et al, 2012 ).…”

Between a Burden and Green Technology: Rishi Sunak’s Framing of Climate Change Discourse on Facebook and X (Twitter)

“…Given that framing is (i) amply used in a substantial number of studies on climate change discourse in the UK (see the preceding part of the article) and (ii) extensively utilised in research on political discourse on SNSs (Araújo & Prior, 2021;Elías-Zambrano et al, 2019;Ophir et al, 2023), the present study looks into the framing of climate change discourse on Facebook and X by the current British prime minister, Rishi Sunak. In addition to the RQs, which are provided in the introductory part of the article, the study involves the following research tasks: (i) to collect a corpus of Rishi Sunak's discourse on the issue of climate change on the SNSs Facebook and X, respectively; (ii) to analyse the corpus qualitatively in order to establish the type of frames associated with his climate change discourse; (iii) to quantify Rishi Sunak's frames in order to establish the most frequently used ones; (iv) to juxtapose the-to-be-identified frames with the prior studies on framing in political discourse; and (v) to identify the types of multimedia (e.g., photos) that are employed in Rishi Sunak's framing of climate change on Facebook and X.…”

“…Subsequently, it seems of uttermost importance to take stock of what British political actors, for instance, the prime minister, say about climate change and how they say it (Boykoff, 2008). In this regard, it is crucial to note that political discourse in general and politicians' discourse on climate change in particular have increasingly been communicated on Social Networking Sites (SNSs), such as Facebook and X, which is formerly known as Twitter (Elías-Zambrano et al, 2019). The contention is further emphasised by the literature that points to the pervasive nature of SNSs in climate change discourse by political actors in the UK as well as on the international arena (Pielke Jr & Ritchie, 2021).…”

“…Informed by (i) Entman's (2010a) definition of framing and (ii) the critical role of SNSs in political discourse (Araújo & Prior, 2021;Elías-Zambrano et al, 2019), the study attempts to provide answers to the following research questions (RQs): Whilst the RQs focus on the UK political discourse on climate change, they, nevertheless, may offer an invaluable insight into the research problem that is relevant not only to British scholars and lay public, but to the international readership. The novelty of the study consists in generating new knowledge about Rishi Sunak's framing of climate change.…”