Effects of data-driven campaigning: an integrative framework, literature review, and research agenda

The positive and negative consequences of data-driven campaigning (DDC) in the digital era have been hotly debated among policymakers and scholars. This article applies a top–down approach by first introducing a framework to conceptualize the potential individual-level effects of DDC. Based on the framework, we then conducted a literature review to evaluate existing findings. A research agenda is proposed to call for more attention to: (a) DDC with less-sophisticated data use and more communication strategies like message tailoring, (b) the effects of beneficial uses of DDC, including its potential to inform and enlighten voters, (c) how voters process DDC in terms of awareness and attention, (d) context-level characteristics with comparative research designs across countries, and (e) the temporal and reciprocal effects.