The Returns to Viral Media: The Case of US Campaign Contributions

Johannes Boken, Draca. Mirko, Nicola Mastrorocco and Arianna Ornaghi
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Johannes Boken: University of Warwick
Draca. Mirko: University of Warwick
Arianna Ornaghi: Hertie School

The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) from University of Warwick, Department of Economics

Abstract: Social media has changed the structure of mass communication. In this paper we explore its role in influencing political donations. Using a daily dataset of campaign contributions and Twitter activity for US Members of Congress 2019-2020, we find that attention on Twitter (as measured by likes) is positively correlated with the amount of daily small donations received. However, this is not true for everybody : the impact on campaign donations is highly skewed, indicating very concentrated returns to attention that are in line with a ‘winner-takes-all’ market. Our results are confirmed in a geography-based causal design linking member’s donations across states.

Keywords: Social Media; Twitter; Campaign Contributions JEL Codes: D72; P00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-big, nep-ger, nep-pay and nep-pol
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https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/research/w ... erp_1472_-_draca.pdf

Related works:
Working Paper: The Returns to Viral Media: The Case of US Campaign Contributions (2023)
Working Paper: The Returns to Viral Media: The Case of US Campaign Contributions (2023)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wrk:warwec:1472

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