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Missing the Target? Using Surveys to Validate Social Media Ad Targeting

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  • Sances, Michael W.

Abstract

Facebook ads are increasingly used by political scientists as a method of survey recruitment. A key advantage is said to be the ability to recruit targeted audiences defined by demographics, political beliefs, location, and numerous other attributes. The same feature has been decried by non-researchers concerned about potential racial discrimination and foreign influence in elections. The extent to which these ads actually reach their targets, however, is unknown. Using a series of six surveys and 20 targeted ads, I show these ads regularly fail to reach their targets. The success rate ranges from 23 to 99 percent, and ads targeted toward groups defined by self-reported data and broader geographic locations are generally more successful.

Suggested Citation

  • Sances, Michael W., 2021. "Missing the Target? Using Surveys to Validate Social Media Ad Targeting," Political Science Research and Methods, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9(1), pages 215-222, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:pscirm:v:9:y:2021:i:1:p:215-222_16
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    Cited by:

    1. Robert Kubinec & Haillie Na‐Kyung Lee & Andrey Tomashevskiy, 2021. "Politically connected companies are less likely to shutdown due to COVID‐19 restrictions," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 102(5), pages 2155-2169, September.
    2. André Grow & Daniela Perrotta & Emanuele Del Fava & Jorge Cimentada & Francesco Rampazzo & Sofia Gil‐Clavel & Emilio Zagheni & René D. Flores & Ilana Ventura & Ingmar Weber, 2022. "Is Facebook's advertising data accurate enough for use in social science research? Insights from a cross‐national online survey," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 185(S2), pages 343-363, December.
    3. André Grow & Daniela Perrotta & Emanuele Del Fava & Jorge Cimentada & Francesco Rampazzo & B. Sofia Gil-Clavel & Emilio Zagheni & René D. Flores & Ilana Ventura & Ingmar G. Weber, 2021. "How reliable is Facebook’s advertising data for use in social science research? Insights from a cross-national online survey," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2021-006, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    4. 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).

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