The Influence of Political Advertising on Voter Behavior: A Study on How Targeted Ads Shape Voter Preferences and Engagement.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.56830/IJHMPS12202408Keywords:
Political Advertising, Targeted Ads, Voter Behavior, Voter Engagement, Political CampaignsAbstract
Political advertising has evolved dramatically in recent decades, particularly with the advent of digital media and data analytics. Targeted political advertising has become a key tool in shaping voter behavior by delivering personalized messages based on demographic, psychological, and behavioral data. These ads and digital campaigns are designed to influence voter preferences, sway undecided voters, and boost engagement, fundamentally transforming modern electoral campaigns. This paper aims to analyze practical aspects of political advertising that target voters and the effectiveness of the different ad types to elicit greater political participation. The current state of affairs is described within the context of the American presidential election of 2016, which was notable for its unconventional aspects. In particular, the paper illustrates how Trump’s campaign deployed strategically micro-targeted advertisements to specific demographics of American voters.
The research integrates the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) which is a psychological theory of persuasion with the statistics of the voting and advertisement. The research as well points to some ethical problems, like risk for the voters being deceived, misuse of data, and the increase of the scope of political partisanship.
By examining both the benefits and drawbacks of targeted advertising, this paper contributes to the broader understanding of its role in democratic processes. From the findings, there is a problem of how the positive aspects of voter’s participation can be obtained without the chances of negative manipulation.
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