As the election campaign headed for the first of three leadership debates, there was consensus among experts, pollsters, and columnists that head-to-head contests would trigger the true campaign for an engaged electorate.
TVA debate begins in French out of action on September 2, followed by quizzes in French and English. If history is any guide, leaders’ debates rarely move votes.
Its effect may have been debatable, but high-profile televised encounters shifted campaigns to a higher speed, and nowhere was this more apparent than on the advertising front. Television, radio, print media and social media were filled with messages from political parties seeking votes by destroying opponents.
The uptick in ads was also evident on Facebook, a place National Observer of Canada You’ve been looking for trends by grouping your ads by topic, age group, gender, and targeted regions.
In the face of the debates, the Liberals spent more than their main political opponents, the Conservatives, the NDP and the Greens. The Bloc’s presence on Facebook was negligible. The same happened with the Greens, before and after the debates.
“Those who win the campaign are those who impose their agenda”, Jean-Marc Léger, president of the survey firm Legerhe said in an interview with National Observer of Canada.
What people are reading
“It is the question of the ballot box. What should the voter remember in the voting booth? What were the last messages you saw in the ads? “
The following visualizations examine how some of those messages unfolded.
Facebook ad purchases heat up
In this visualization, we can see that the activity intensifies after the TVA debate, represented by the vertical line. The Conservatives and the NDP, represented by blue and orange respectively, entered the fray in a big way.
During the final stretch of the federal elections, political parties increased their spending on advertising. Here’s how that trend developed on Facebook. # elxn44 #cdnpoli
The NDP targets younger voters
The NDP used social media platforms like TikTok to expand the reach of its popular leader Jagmeet Singh. According to many polls, the party seemed to resonate with the youngest voters between the ages of 18 and 34. That resonance is evident in the graph below, especially when compared to the ads seen by older age groups 45 and older.
The gender gap
Liberals and the NDP relied on promises like spending more on daycare to attract female voters who, according to polls, were more likely to vote for both parties rather than conservatives. The graph shows that both parties target women slightly more than men.
Delving into the regional breakdown
Although figures from national polls suggested a horse race, a closer look at the regions showed that liberals have the upper hand in Ontario and Quebec, which have many seats. Experts interviewed by National Observer of Canada They say that given this political reality, it was no surprise that those jurisdictions were key targets. The graph shows that this is the case for the three main parties.
Was there a question at the polls?
During the election, Liberal leader Justin Trudeau was beaten for failing to articulate a question at the polls during an election that his opponents characterized as unnecessary and a waste of taxpayer money.
While polls suggested that topics such as the climate crisis and healthcare were the most important to voters, the topics listed in descending order in the graph below illustrate that parties were more determined to spread messages about the elections.
Now that the elections have ended with a result that essentially maintains the status quo, parties and their supporters will continue to push forward their messages on topics such as climate change, vaccines and healthcare. Part of that activity will take place on Facebook.
One topic that promises to take a backseat is talking about another election.
We will be watching.
Reference-www.nationalobserver.com