Cyphers, K. H., Hassell, H. J. G., & Ou, K. (2024). Racial and Partisan Social Information Prompts Campaign Giving: Evidence from a Field Experiment. Political Behavior, 46, 1913–1933. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-023-09902-w
The study tested whether telling people about donations made by others who share their race or political party would encourage them to donate to a political campaign. It found that people are more likely to give when they know others from their political party are donating, with racial identity having a smaller but notable effect for minority groups.
What Did They Study?
The research set out to explore how messages highlighting the donation behavior of people who share the same race or political party influence individual contributions to political campaigns. Specifically, the study tested whether these identity-based cues—either racial or partisan—would encourage more people to donate. The researchers aimed to understand whether knowing that others like you are financially supporting a campaign could act as a powerful motivator. They focused on small-dollar donors, whose contributions have become increasingly important in recent election cycles, and examined how these social information cues impacted both minority and white voters differently.
How Did They Perform The Study?
The researchers conducted a randomized field experiment with registered voters in Florida. Participants were divided into three groups: one received no identity-based information (control group), one was told how much people from their political party were donating, and the third group learned how much people from their racial group were contributing. All participants were provided the same basic details about donation frequency and amounts, but the identity cues varied by group. The researchers then tracked actual donation behavior using public campaign finance records to measure how these identity-based messages affected participants' likelihood of making a contribution.
What Did They Find?
The study revealed that messages emphasizing partisan identity significantly boosted campaign donations, especially among individuals who had donated before. Voters were more likely to contribute when told how much people from their political party were donating. In contrast, racial identity cues had a smaller overall effect, but they were particularly influential for minority voters, who responded to messages about co-racial donors as strongly as they did to partisan information. White voters, however, were much more influenced by partisan identity than by racial identity. Overall, the study highlights how targeted identity-based messages can shape political donation behavior.
- Voters who received partisan identity messages were three times more likely to donate than those in the control group (1.2% vs. 0.4%).
- Among previous donors, the effect of partisan identity messages was even stronger, with 34.6% of them donating after receiving this message compared to 3.7% in the control group.
- For racial identity messages, about 25% of minority voters donated after receiving the racial cue, compared to 0% in the control group.
Takeaways
- Target Previous Donors: Since the effects of identity-based social information (especially partisan cues) are stronger among individuals who have donated before, the authors suggest campaigns focus fundraising efforts on previous donors rather than non-donors.
- Leverage Partisan Identity Cues: Campaigns should prioritize using partisan identity descriptive norms in their fundraising appeals, as this has a stronger and more consistent effect on increasing donations across groups, especially among white donors.
- Tailor Messages for Racial Minorities: The study suggests that campaigns targeting racial minorities may benefit from including racial identity cues in addition to partisan cues. For minorities, information about co-racial donors can be as influential as co-partisan behavior.
- Be Cautious with Non-Donors: The authors recommend that campaigns exercise caution when trying to mobilize non-donors using social information, as their interventions had little effect on individuals who had not previously donated.
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