Chapter 29 Quiz: Voter Targeting and Microtargeting

Multiple Choice

1. The GOTV universe consists of voters who are: - A) Certain to vote for the candidate and certain to vote - B) Expected to support the candidate but at elevated risk of not voting - C) Genuinely undecided about their candidate preference - D) Strongly opposed to the candidate but open to persuasion

2. Why is building a persuadability score harder than building a support score? - A) There is less historical data on voter partisanship than on persuadability - B) Persuadability is not directly observable — you can see vote choice outcomes but not whether contact changed them - C) Voter files do not contain information relevant to persuadability - D) Persuadable voters do not participate in surveys

3. The concept of "identity-based targeting" in digital advertising refers to: - A) Targeting voters based on their demographic identity categories - B) Reaching specific, individually identified voters by matching voter file records to platform accounts - C) Targeting by political party identity - D) Ads that emphasize the candidate's personal identity

4. Facebook's Custom Audiences feature was significant for campaign targeting because it: - A) Provided campaigns with access to private message data - B) Allowed campaigns to reach specific individuals matched from voter file records, enabling precise identity-based targeting - C) Created a public database of all political advertising - D) Required political ads to be reviewed by a neutral third party

5. Which of the following is the strongest predictor of a voter's turnout propensity? - A) Party registration - B) Household income - C) Past voting history - D) Consumer data lifestyle category

6. Third-party consumer data used in campaign microtargeting is primarily gathered from: - A) Government census records and administrative data - B) Social media platforms' public post data - C) Credit card transactions, retail loyalty programs, property records, and other commercial sources - D) Direct voter surveys conducted by the data vendors

7. The "voter suppression" concern about microtargeting refers specifically to: - A) Using data to identify and contact low-turnout voters and discourage them from voting - B) Spending so much on targeted advertising that opponents cannot afford to advertise - C) Using targeting to identify voters who have been illegally removed from the rolls - D) The suppression of data transparency by campaign analytics teams

8. Issue affinity models are typically trained primarily on: - A) Precinct-level election returns - B) Survey data in which respondents identify their primary issue concerns - C) Consumer purchase data alone - D) Voter registration records

9. According to the chapter, the evidence on digital microtargeting effectiveness is best characterized as: - A) Strongly positive — large, consistent effects across multiple studies - B) Strongly negative — digital advertising consistently fails to influence voters - C) Mixed and contested — platform studies find large effects, academic studies often find much smaller ones - D) Not studied — there is almost no academic research on digital political advertising

10. The transparency problem with microtargeted digital advertising is that: - A) Digital ads cannot be made available to fact-checkers - B) Campaigns can deliver different messages to different audiences, and no external observer has a comprehensive view of all campaign claims - C) Digital ads are regulated more strictly than broadcast ads - D) Campaigns must disclose their targeting criteria to voters in each targeted group

True/False

11. A voter with a support score of 80 is certain to vote for the campaign's candidate.

12. Personal canvassing is typically more expensive per contact than direct mail, which is why it is reserved for the highest-priority targets.

13. The persuasion universe and the GOTV universe typically contain the same voters.

14. Nadia Osei's targeting strategy for the Garza campaign focuses primarily on base mobilization in rural areas.

15. The 2004 Bush campaign is credited with popularizing the term "microtargeting" in American political practice.

Short Answer

16. Explain the "match rate confusion" problem in third-party consumer data and why it leads campaigns to overestimate the accuracy of their enriched voter files.

17. What is the difference between a "persuasion target" and a "mobilization target," and why does this distinction matter for how the campaign should communicate with each group?

18. Describe one way that microtargeting can improve democratic communication and one way it can undermine democratic accountability. Use specific examples.

19. Why does the chapter argue that canvass data should generally be weighted more heavily than consumer data-based predictions in targeting decisions?

20. What does it mean to say that the efficiency of targeting has "distributional consequences" for democratic participation?

Essay Questions

21. "Microtargeting is either the most respectful form of political communication — treating voters as individuals with distinct concerns — or the most manipulative — using data to exploit psychological vulnerabilities. It cannot be both." Evaluate this claim, drawing on the ethical analysis in the chapter.

22. Compare and contrast Nadia Osei's suburban persuasion strategy and Jake Rourke's exurban mobilization strategy as competing theories of how the Garza-Whitfield race will be decided. What does each strategy assume about the current electorate? What evidence would confirm or disconfirm each theory? Which strategy would you recommend, and why?