3.5.12, E-Politics and E-Campaigning, SE 1.5: Mobilizing Effects of Online Campaigning (Marianne Fraefel) #CeDEM12

1. Mobilizing Effects of Online
Campaigning – The Swiss Case
Marianne Fraefel – Cedem, Krems, 03.05.2012

2. Introduction
Party internal communication
inform / mobilize
Campaign management Voluntary enagement
Communication strategies Political enagement
Channels
Supply Demand
websites
social media
E-campaigning
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Cantonal elections 2009/2010 3 cantons 5 parties
Image: twin72.typepad.com

3. Swiss cantonal parties
Semi direct democratic political system with pronounced federal structures
Competences and right of self-determination of Swiss cantons are far-reaching
Campaigning in elections and popular votes (up to 4 times a year)
Decentralised structure of Swiss party system
Large number of small and heterogeneous party units at local level
Cantonal and local parties contribute to establishing linkage to party base
Cantonal political parties as organizations
Mainly self-financing through member fees and donations
Limited budgets & limited paid staff
Reliance on voluntary work
Approximately 4% of Swiss residents active in political parties (Freiwilligen-Monitor 2010)
Around ¼ of party members engage themselves as volunteers (Freiwilligen-Monitor 2007)
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4. Methodology
Three perspectives and methods
1. Semi-structured interviews: 25 campaign managers
2. Content analysis: party websites
- cantonal parties: 15, local parties: 27, cantonal youth sections:13
3. Survey: party base
- distributed: 9472, response: 1989, considered: 1920
- female: 31%, male: 69% / candidates: 14%, non-candidates: 86%
- age:
30%
20%
10% participants in
survey (n=1920)
0%
below 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70-79 over 80 5
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5. Functions and design of party internal communication
Functions
- content-oriented vs. activity-oriented mobilization
Communicative strategies and target groups
- Relate to parties‟ expectations of supporter base (distribution of tasks)
- Relate to assumed engagement of supporter base (necessity of mobilization)
Information Supporter base (plus electorate at large)
Mobilization Supporter base: voting for party / viral campaigning
Activists: candidature, party stands, flyers etc
Design of internal campaign communication
- Broad range of communication channels
- Target-specific communication towards younger voters
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6. Supply side of e-campaigning
Party websites
Heterogeneous use and design
Differences relate to size and type of party unit
Focus on Information
Opportunities are not fully exploited
Continuous communication on demand
Multimedia design
Participation
Generating resources (members, donations)
Information on campaign and candidates
Mobilizing volunteer campaigners
Popular votes: 36% signature lists (similar across types of party units)
Elections: 38% campaigning material (mainly cantonal parties)
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7. Supply side of e-campaigning
Social Media
Usage
Confined to Facebook and different video platforms
Presence on social networks differs across types of party units
mainly cantonal and youth parties
relates to resources (know how, staff/time)
Experimental usage and restricted interaction
Candidates‟ presence is not systematically promoted
Assessment by campaign managers
Heterogeneous and tentative
Based on assumptions and personal experience
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8. Demand side of e-campaigning
Communicative preferences of the supporter base
Traditional channels and mediated communication are highly appreciated
Acceptance of online communication diminishes with age
Differences between social media and other online communication channels
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50% -29
30-44
40%
45-59
30%
60+
20%
10%
%
social e-newsletter personal e- party stands phone calls
networks mail
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9. Demand side of e-campaigning
Sources of information on elections
Many channels are equally important for all age groups
Party websites are more important to the younger supporter base
Supporter base at large considers a “professional” Internet presence as important,
irrespective of personal usage
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50% -29
40% 30-44
30%
45-59
20%
60+
10%
%
party office party stand local web site information friends and media in other
n=1790 party event newspaper n=1788 via mail family general 10
n=1790 n=1790 n=1790 n=1790 n=1332

10. Demand side of e-campaigning
Party websites
Usage
More than half of the members and supporters use party websites at least once a year
The percentage of (regular) users is clearly bigger among the younger supporter base.
Mobilization
information on elections and popular… 81%
party information in general 68%
calendar party events 60%
contact information 45%
information on party representatives 42%
download signature lists 30%
download / disseminate campaign… 16%
order e-newsletter 11% type of usage
video- / audio party 6% n=1365
party intranet 5%
blog / discussion forum 5%
donation information 4%
order party press 4% 11
other 3%

11. Demand side of e-campaigning
Social Media
Connectivity
Parties do not necessarily pursue a social media strategy
Mismatch between demand and supply side of communication
Overall demand for contact via social media is rather small (n=245)
Supply Demand
Channel
contact via channel not at all / rather not rather / very much
no 31% 6%
Party press
yes 69% 94%
no 73% 29%
E-newsletter
yes 27% 71%
no 99% 66%
Social Media
yes 1% 34%
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12. Demand side of e-campaigning
Social Media
Usage
Many members and supporters are not & cannot be reached through this channel
23% of the surveyed persons have at least one profile in a social network
Mobilization
- Supporter base uses social networks to engage themselves in e-campaigning (44%)
- Candidates use social networks in the context of their party affiliation more actively
political persusasion - elections and 56%
popular votes 16%
exchange with other members and 32%
supporters 19% candidates
non-candidates
16%
coordination dates / events
7%
13
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

13. Relevance of e-Campaigning
Voluntary Campaigning
Active volunteers among supporter base
Relevance of e-campaigning in relation to other campaigning activities
% of candidates % of non-candidates
Campaigning activity n=259 n=1625
Campaigning committee, action group 51% 8%
Presence at party stand 76% 13%
Distributing posters, flyers 77% 24%
Discussions with family, friends 78% 57%
Online campaigning 41% 6%
Donating for campaign 52% 38%
Motivation
Parties„ general appeals to become active in campaigning work as a driver
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Personal invitations to engage in certain activies work as strong driver (including e-campaigning)

14. Relevance of e-Campaigning
Voluntary Campaigning
Potential volunteers among supporter base
1/3 of inactive members and supporters can potentially be mobilized
Motivation / Conditions
Being personally addressed by party (48%)
Activities in a limited time frame / with little efforts (49%)
activity performed from home (22%)
being provided with campaigning material (14%)
Affordances could be met by using ICT in a target and goal oriented way
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15. Mobilizing effects of e-Campaigning
Content-oriented mobilization
Exploitation of opportunities in e-campaigning relates to size and type of party units
Parties lack knowledge on communicative preferences of their supporter base
Parties and supporter base both make use of a broad range of communication channels
Communicative preferences and behaviour differ across age groups
Specific online communication channels are clearly more important to younger supporters
Activity-oriented mobilization
- Addressing volunteer campaigners adequately is important for inciting engagement
- Parties‟ support for voluntary e-campaigning is limited
- In relation to other voluntary campaign activities, e-campaigning plays a subordinate role
- There is an interest for instruments that allow supporters to become active as multipliers
- Some supporter groups engage themselves in e-campaigning more extensively
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16. Concluding remarks
Parties need to stay tuned to their supporters
Trends towards eroding party bases and increase in volatile voters
Communicative demands are diversified
Parties need to find ways to address voters and support their volunteers adequately with
limited resources
Focus on already active members and supporters
Communicative affordances may differ with view to the electorate at large
Voluntary e-campaigners may contribute to integrating new supporters communicatively
What next?
ICT may lead to reassessing prevalent concepts of membership and voluntary engagement
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17. Thanks for your attention
Contact
Marianne Fraefel
Berner Fachhochschule Wirtschaft
Morgartenstrasse 2a, Postfach 305
CH-3000 Bern 22
marianne.fraefel@bfh.ch
www.e-government.bfh.ch
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