Data-driven campaigns in Spain: evidence from the 2023 electoral cycle

The collection, processing and use of citizens’ massive data to conduct electoral campaigns, is still under-researched in most countries outside the Anglosphere. In this paper we will examine the introduction of digital-driven campaigns (DDC) in Spanish political parties. Our aim is to understand to what extent data is used in Spanish campaigns and how it shapes the definition and conduction of campaigning. We map DDC’s development answering the three main questions defined by the literature (Dommett, 2019; Dommett et al, 2023): who is engaged in the campaigns (experts or novices, professionals or volunteers), what are the data sources (free or purchased data, interfered or disclosed by individuals) and how is this data used (generic or specific messages, wide or narrow audiences). We also aim to capture possible variations according to the varying features of our sample, particularly the size of the party and the level of government where it performs. We conduct this research through a survey to party staff members involved in campaigning and communication at two levels: regional and national, which give us a general picture of DDC introduction and party elites’ perceptions and awareness of its main implications. Covering an intended sample of 20 organisations, this selection reflects the most relevant actors of Spanish politics at all levels, statewide and non-statewide, including the big national parties and key regional parties in government coalitions, most of them represented in the national parliament and/or in regional institutions. Our main expectations are three: i) considering the restrictive regulation of data use in Spain, parties will be limited in their use of databases and microtargeting strategies; ii) data will be preferably used to inform decisions, but no to entirely "drive" them; iii) bigger parties will make a higher use of data, but it will be constrained to high-level elections, while local campaigning will rely in traditional methods to a greater extent. By this paper, we introduce the study of data-driven campaigns to the Spanish context, paving the way for further research.