AI meets politics: Examining the effects of different targeting strategies across 15 countries
- Sanne Kruikemeier
- Svenja Schäfer
- Alice Hamilton
- Puck Guldemond
- Jade Vrielink
- Carmen Dymanus
- Annelien van Remoortere
- Sanne Tamboer
- Rens Vliegenthart
- Susan Vermeer
- Sophie C. Boerman
2026-06-05
This study investigates the persuasive effects of messages generated with artificial intelligence in online political targeting, focusing on three distinct strategies: targeting based on political orientation, age, and personality traits. Through an experimental design conducted across 15 countries ( N = 7118), we uncovered that political targeting based on voters’ pre-existing political orientation, receiving messages from a party that is already favored by the receiver, had a persuasive impact on voters. These effects included higher likability of the ad and heightened issue importance. Contrary to popular belief, targeting based on age or a combination of multiple categories does not affect persuasive outcomes. Taken together, by building upon a cross-national analysis, this research provided a robust analysis of how multiple targeting strategies influence the electorate in an EU election context.