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Political Advertising Online and Offline

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  • FOWLER, ERIKA FRANKLIN
  • FRANZ, MICHAEL M.
  • MARTIN, GREGORY J.
  • PESKOWITZ, ZACHARY
  • RIDOUT, TRAVIS N.

Abstract

Despite the rapid growth of online political advertising, the vast majority of scholarship on political advertising relies exclusively on evidence from candidates’ television advertisements. The relatively low cost of creating and deploying online advertisements and the ability to target online advertisements more precisely may broaden the set of candidates who advertise and allow candidates to craft messages to more narrow audiences than on television. Drawing on data from the newly released Facebook Ad Library API and television data from the Wesleyan Media Project, we find that a much broader set of candidates advertises on Facebook than television, particularly in down-ballot races. We then examine within-candidate variation in the strategic use and content of advertising on television relative to Facebook for all federal, statewide, and state legislative candidates in the 2018 election. Among candidates who use both advertising media, Facebook advertising occurs earlier in the campaign, is less negative, less issue focused, and more partisan than television advertising.

Suggested Citation

  • Fowler, Erika Franklin & Franz, Michael M. & Martin, Gregory J. & Peskowitz, Zachary & Ridout, Travis N., 2021. "Political Advertising Online and Offline," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 115(1), pages 130-149, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:apsrev:v:115:y:2021:i:1:p:130-149_10
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    Cited by:

    1. Aridor, Guy & Jiménez-Durán, Rafael & Levy, Ro'ee & Song, Lena, 2024. "The Economics of Social Media," CEPR Discussion Papers 18821, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Michaela Fischer & Fabrizio Gilardi, 2023. "Level Playing Field or Politics as Usual? Equalization–Normalization in Direct Democratic Online Campaigns," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 11(1), pages 43-55.
    3. Beknazar-Yuzbashev, George & Stalinski, Mateusz, 2022. "Do social media ads matter for political behavior? A field experiment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 214(C).
    4. Taewoo Kang, 2024. "Political Campaigns’ Use of E-mail vs. Television Advertising," Studies in Media and Communication, Redfame publishing, vol. 12(2), pages 337-345, June.
    5. Aridor, Guy & Jiménez-Durán, Rafael & Levy, Ro'ee & Song, Lena, 2024. "The Economics of Social Media," CEPR Discussion Papers 18821, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.

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