PhD Student: Xiaotong Chu

Recent years have seen a growing interest in the utilization of online targeting techniques in political campaigns. Targeting communications are reckoned to be revolutionarily accurate, novel and powerful, whereas the on-the-ground practices might show otherwise. This project focuses on the real-life use of targeting strategies in political campaigns and its persuasive impact on individual-level affective, cognitive, and behavioral responses.

By adopting various methods, such as browser tracking, longitudinal survey, mobile experience sampling method, experimentation, etc., we are able to: (a) discern the correlations between political ads and individuals’ undisclosed information; (b) gain a better understanding of the immediate and long-term effects of targeting practices on citizens; (c) extend existing research to a multi-party electoral context.

Supervisors:

  • Sanne Kruikemeier
  • Lukas Otto
  • Claes de Vreese