More Than Meets the Eye: Understanding Political Microtargeting Processing with Gaze-Cued Retrospective Think-Aloud Methodology

Abstract

Political microtargeting (PMT) is a popular campaign tool in elections worldwide. However, it is associated with democratic risks. Foremost, scholars and policymakers are concerned that citizens cannot cope with PMT and, thus, stand vulnerable to persuasion. To assess this risk, an in-depth understanding of how citizens make sense of and cope with PMT is required. However, empirical studies are scarce, partially inconclusive, and provide global rather than nuanced insights. This study contributes to this research by employing an innovative, qualitative gaze-cued retrospective think-aloud design to distinguish types of citizens who differ in their coping and, based on that, assess their vulnerability to persuasion via PMT (N = 25). The results reveal similarities regarding conceptual persuasion knowledge activation (i.e., advertising and targeting awareness) but differences in attitudinal and behavioral coping, illustrated along five coping types. Only "the neutral observer" seems vulnerable to PMT. For "the partisan", PMT might strengthen existing ties but backlash when employed by a non-preferred party. Other types seem less receptive to PMT ("the political nerd", "the ad connoisseur") and/or political advertising ("the avoider"). This study informs educators and policymakers about citizens' coping mechanisms with PMT and their potential vulnerability, which may guide intervention and regulation decisions.