Len Metson

@lenmetson.com

519 Followers 894 Following

PhD candidate @LSEGovernment 📚 Interested in campaigns, applied data science and field experiments đŸ’» he/him 🌐 lenmetson.com

Screenshot of the Wikipedia page for Southampton Test
Screenshot of text reading: "Nevertheless, experimental results can always be questioned on their generalizability, and framing effects are no exception. The major worry in this respect is that framing experiments—like experiments in mass communication generally—typiïżŸcally obliterate the distinction between the supply of information, on the one hand, and its consumption, on the other. That is, experiments are normally carried out in such a way that virtually everyone receives the message. The typical experiment thereby avoids a major obstacle standing in the way of communication effects, namely, an inattentive audience, lost in the affairs of private life. By ensuring that frames reach their intended audiences, experiments may exaggerate their power. A more balanced reading of frame effects requires methodological diversification, experiments and studies oriented to the world outside."
Screenshot of linked paper
Two men wearing the same shirt, reading the same book
Stand with posters
Paper, with abstract: "Social democratic parties across Europe have increasingly adopted restrictive immigration rhetoric in response to radical right challengers’ electoral successes. The consequences of accommodation remain contested. This paper leverages a pre-registered quasi-experimental design exploiting within-individual variation from as-good-as-random exposure to UK Labour leader Keir Starmer’s “Island of Strangers” speech – a major rhetorical turn toward anti-immigration positions. We find that exposure significantly altered perceptions of Labour, making it appear more anti-immigration and right-leaning. Crucially, these shifts carried electoral costs: support for Labour declined within individuals following the speech. While we detect no corresponding gains for the radical right Reform UK party, there is also no evidence that Labour’s adoption of nativist rhetoric diminished Reform’s appeal. Our findings highlight the risks of strategic convergence, showing that accommodation of exclusionary rhetoric by social democratic parties is electorally costly for them rather than for their radical right competitors"
Paper abstract: "Political campaigns are adopting increasingly sophisticated software to automate highly tailored communication with supporters and potential supporters. This allows campaigns to adapt messages using a wider range of individual-level information, such as individuals’ preferences, previous communications, or issue priorities. Despite a growing literature on micro-targeting by campaigns, previous literature mostly focuses on messages tailored to demographic characteristics. Less is known about the effects of tailoring using individual-level information, which is an increasingly viable option for campaigns. Furthermore, existing literature is reliant upon survey experiments, meaning there is limited understanding of the behavioural effects of targeted political communication in real-world settings. This paper presents the results of a large-scale field experiment (N=11,743) conducted collaboratively with a British pressure group during a real petition campaign. The campaign organisation’s mailing list was randomly assigned to a pure control group or to one of three emails: (1) untailored; (2) tailored; and (3) tailored with explicit reference to the tailoring. The findings reveal that whilst both tailored emails mobilise petition signatures, the effect is substantially larger when emails are explicitly tailored. Notably, no significant difference was observed between plain tailored and untailored conditions. These results provide two theoretical contributions. Firstly, despite theoretical fears of backlash to over-tailored communication in previous literature, individuals respond positively when they are explicitly told that content is individually tailored to them. Additionally, in line with organisational theories of activism, the results provide evidence that tailoring at the individual level acts as a signal of a campaign organisation’s responsiveness."
The Behavioural Effects of Individual-Level Message Tailoring l.m.metson@lse.ac.uk Political campaigns are adopting increasingly sophisticated software to automate highly tailored communication with supporters and potential supporters. This allows campaigns to adapt messages using a wider range of individual-level information, such as individuals’ preferences, previous communications, or issue priorities. Despite a growing literature on micro-targeting by campaigns, previous literature mostly focuses on messages tailored to demographic characteristics. Less is known about the effects of tailoring using individual-level information, which is an increasingly viable option for campaigns. Furthermore, existing literature is reliant upon survey experiments, meaning there is limited understanding of the behavioural effects of targeted political communication in real-world settings. This paper presents the results of a large-scale field experiment (N=11,743) conducted collaboratively with a British pressure group during a real petition campaign. The campaign organisation’s mailing list was randomly assigned to a pure control group or to one of three emails: (1) untailored; (2) tailored; and (3) tailored with explicit reference to the tailoring. The findings reveal that whilst both tailored emails mobilise petition signatures, the effect is substantially larger when emails are explicitly tailored. Notably, no significant difference was observed between plain tailored and untailored conditions. These results provide two theoretical contributions. Firstly, despite theoretical fears of backlash to over-tailored communication in previous literature, individuals respond positively when they are explicitly told that content is individually tailored to them. Additionally, in line with organisational theories of activism, the results provide evidence that tailoring at the individual level acts as a signal of a campaign organisation’s responsiveness.
WhatsApp message replying to a message saying "Please remember to vote" with "Thanks for sending this, I will now decide not to vote. I had planned to vote before #defier"