Publications
Publications
- 2019
- HBS Working Paper Series
Persuasive Propaganda During the 2015 Argentine Ballotage
By: Rafael Di Tella, Sebastian Galiani and Ernesto Schargrodsky
Abstract
We study a propaganda campaign sponsored by the government against the main political challenger in the days preceding the 2015 Argentine runoff presidential election. Subjects in the treatment group watched an “ad” initially aired during soccer transmissions that was part of this campaign and were then asked about their political views. Relative to subjects in the control group, their declared preference for the challenger drops by 6.5 percentage points. We find no effects of the three types of defenses employed by the challenger (a positive message unrelated to the “ad”, an answer to the accusations in the “ad”, and a counter-attack). The propaganda effect is driven by women.
Keywords
Propaganda; Persuasion; Voting; Political Elections; Government and Politics; Communication Strategy; Power and Influence; Public Opinion; Argentina
Citation
Di Tella, Rafael, Sebastian Galiani, and Ernesto Schargrodsky. "Persuasive Propaganda During the 2015 Argentine Ballotage." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 20-030, September 2019. (Revised November 2019.)
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