Making campaigns more personalised: Explaining the personalisation of election campaigns in comparative perspective

Abstract

What factors are associated with the personalisation of election campaigns? Previous research on this subject suggests that individual and contextual factors contribute to fostering the personalisation of election campaigns. Building on prior studies, I argue that two significant trends in election campaigns worldwide – namely, professionalisation and the incorporation of social media for campaigning – correlate with more personalised campaigns. I test this hypothesis using data from the second wave of the Comparative Candidate Survey (CCS) and multilevel Bayesian models. Results indicate that candidates who intensively use social media are more likely to conduct personalised campaigns. Similarly, the involvement of professional consultants is also associated with an increase in the personalisation of election campaigns. These findings shed light on how recent transformations in the campaign environment and campaign organisation may affect the degree of personalisation in election campaigns. Overall, these findings contribute to a better understanding of the personalisation of election campaigns from a comparative perspective.