A Political Marketing Perspective on Social Media Adoption by us Congressional Campaigns
Using a marketing perspective, this study investigates why candidates adopted Facebook and Twitter in the 2010 elections to the U.S. Congress. Our content analysis of 62 interviews with candidates and campaign staff members provides a richer explanation f
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IOR RESEARCH ON CAMPAIGN TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION The constituency attributes most often selected to explain campaign Web site adoption are those that have been shown to correlate with citizen access to and use of the Internet: education, income, ethnicity, age, and urbanization (Chadwick 2006; Klotz 2004; Mossberger et al. 2003). Other studies have examined the precursors to adoption in terms of assessments of the external political environment. For example, Adler, et al. (1998) found that Republicans, younger legislators and representatives from electorally marginal districts were more likely to become early adopters by creating homepages on the World Wide Web when they first became available to members of the U.S. House of Representatives between June and August 1997. Jackson (2003), on the other hand, did not find marginality to be a predictor of early adoption by MPs in the U.K. Research on website adoption by campaigns shows that in the early days, incumbents were less likely than challengers to campaign on the Web, but a competitive race increased its use by incumbents and challengers alike (Kamarck 2002; Xenos and Foot 2005; Foot and Schneider 2006; Hernnson et al. 2007). Electoral attributes are less important today in differentiating which campaigns have a Web site, but remain important determinants of the degree to which they provide more sophisticated content and use their Web site to engage and mobilize supporters (Gulati and Williams 2007). With respect to social media, (Gulati and Williams 2010) found that incumbents were significantly more likely to have adopted Facebook, but incumbents were significantly less likely than both challengers and open seat candidates to be early adopters of Twitter; competitiveness of the race did not matter. Internal assessment factors typically involve resources. For example, diffusion of innovation studies often relate adoption decisions to the size and age of the business, its IT support and budget, and technology experience (e.g., Goode and Stevens 2000). With respect to campaigns, financially disadvantaged candidates were less likely to have a campaign Web site in the early days of Internet campaigning (Gibson et al. 2003), although this has proved less of a barrier subsequently. Financial resources and major party (as distinct from minor or third party status, which in the U.S. renders them inconsequential) still differentiate which campaigns incorporate the latest technology and features, however (Foot and Schneider 2006). In the case of Facebook and Twitter adoption, candidates who raised the most money were the most likely to have adopted (Gulati and Williams 2011). Experience also figures in campaigns’ internal assessments. Familiarity with technology and earlier generations of online media increased the likelihood of adoption. Candidates who also had a campaign Web site were more likely to have adopted Facebook than those candidates without a Web site. In addition, candidates who had a Web site and a Facebook profile were more likely to have adopted Twitter (Gulati
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