Exploring the Efficacy of Psychographic Marketing in Political Campaigns: An Examination of Authoritarianism, Motivated Numeracy and Targeting in Relation to Support for Electronic Communication Surveillance.
In five related studies we examined the efficacy of psychographic targeting and marketing in the context of ideologically motivated campaigns. The studies examined authoritarianism, threat perception, personality-targeted advertising and biases in relation to support for communication surveillance as a counter-terrorism strategy.
The results showed that people with an authoritarian disposition were more likely to be supportive of communication surveillance, but that those who are less authoritarian became increasingly supportive of such surveillance the greater they perceived the threat of terrorism. Using psychographic targeting we reached Facebook audiences with significantly different views on surveillance and demonstrated how tailoring pro and anti-surveillance ads based on authoritarianism affected return on marketing investment. Finally, we demonstrated how debunking propaganda faces big challenges as biases severely limit a person’s ability to interpret evidence which runs contrary to their beliefs.
Preliminary findings from this research were presented at the DEF CON conference in Las Vegas on Friday, July 28th 2017. The talk was titled “Rage Against the Weaponized AI Propaganda Machine” and the abstract is available at the DEF CON website here.
Presentation Slides and Video:
“Rage Against the Weaponized A.I. Propaganda Machine” presented at DEF CON 25, July 28th 2017, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Slides | Video
Selected Media Coverage:
How to turn Facebook into a weaponised AI propaganda machine
(Previously titled “First proof that Facebook dark ads could swing an election”)
“Could Facebook really tip the balance in an election? Over the past year firms like AggregateIQ and Cambridge Analytica have been credited with using AI-targeted ads on social media to help swing the Brexit referendum and the US presidential election respectively. But a lack of evidence meant we have never known whether the technology exists to make this possible.
Now the first study detailing the process from start to finish is finally shedding some light. “This is the first time that I’ve seen all the dots connected,” says Joanna Bryson, an artificial intelligence researcher at the University of Bath, UK.”
Facebook ‘dark ads’ can swing political opinions, research shows
“Ads targeted using profiles generated from individual voters’ stated interests are more successful in shifting attitudes according to Online Privacy Foundation
Using “psychographic” profiles of individual voters generated from publicly stated interests really does work, according to new research presented at the Def Con hacking conference in Las Vegas, Nevada.”