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  • 2019
  • Working Paper
  • HBS Working Paper Series

Persuasive Propaganda During the 2015 Argentine Ballotage

By: Rafael Di Tella, Sebastian Galiani and Ernesto Schargrodsky
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:43
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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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About The Author

Rafael M. Di Tella

Business, Government and the International Economy
→More Publications

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More from the Authors
  • Does Social Media Cause Polarization? Evidence from Access to Twitter Echo Chambers during the 2019 Argentine Presidential Debate By: Rafael Di Tella, Ramiro H. Gálvez and Ernesto Schargrodsky
  • The 2012 Spanish Labor Reform: Lifting All Boats or Levelling Down? By: Vincent Pons, Rafael Di Tella, Santiago Botella and Elena Corsi
  • The Trouble with TCE By: Vincent Pons, Rafael Di Tella and Galit Goldstein
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