Minute to Win It: The Face-to-Face Campaign Strategies of Selected Senatorial Candidates of the 2013 Senatorial Elections
MINUTE TO WIN IT: THE FACE-TO-FACE CAMPAIGN STRATEGIES OF SELECTED SENATORIAL CANDIDATES OF THE 2013 PHILIPPINE ELECTIONS
Espiritu, A. & Medina, P. (2013) Minute to Win It: The Face-to-face Campaign Strategies of Selected Senatorial Candidates of the 2013 Philippine Elections, Unpublished Undergraduate Thesis, University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication.
This study focuses on the different types of face-to-face campaign strategies used in the 2013 Midterm Election. It describes how the campaign teams of winning senatorial candidates (n=12) and some Metro Manila voters (n=200) perceived face-to-face campaigns according to the types of communication strategies identified in the Voter Mobilization Theory. It also explores the persuasion effectiveness of face-to-face campaign vs. mass media and social media campaigns.
The study reveals that the voters favored the personalistic strategy of handshakes and entertainment shows because of its ability to appeal to their emotions; whereas, the campaign teams said that they preferred emphasizing the track records of the candidates through the performance strategy. The study also supports the Uncertainty Reduction Theory and Media Richness Theory which recognize the importance of face-to-face communication in establishing connections between individuals. However, despite the voters’ claim that face-to-face campaigns are more effective than mass media and social media campaigns in persuading them, meeting a candidate personally does not automatically convert to a vote. Based on the statistical analysis of the study, there is only a 38.94% likelihood that a voter would vote for a candidate after seeing him in person.
Keywords: campaign strategies, elections, face-to-face campaigns