Lecture Notes: Alexander Nix on Big Data and Psychographics in Elections

Introduction

Speaker: Alexander Nix, CEO of Cambridge Analytica
Topic: Use of big data and psychographics in electoral processes, with a focus on Ted Cruz's presidential primary campaign.

Initial Challenges:
- Low popularity and name recognition (only 40% awareness compared to Jeb Bush’s 80%+).
- Competitive Republican primary field.
Outcome: By May 2016, Cruz became the primary contender against Donald Trump.

Behavioral Science
- Example: Different approaches to prevent people from swimming (informational vs. behavioral communication).
- Critique of demographic-based audience segmentation.
- Importance of psychographics in understanding personality to influence behavior and voting.
The OCEAN Model
- OCEAN: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism.
- Objective: Predict personality traits of every adult in the USA using survey data.
- Application: Tailor messaging to resonate with different personality-based audience segments.
Data Analytics
- Transition from top-down to data-driven communication.
- Definition of Big Data: Aggregation of demographic, geographic, psychographic data, and consumer habits.
- Example: Data dashboard for Cruz’s Iowa caucus campaign used to identify target segments for persuasion.
Addressable Advertising Technology
- Transition from blanket advertising to highly targeted, personalized communication.
- Utilizes offline data and set-top box viewing data.
- Enhances effectiveness and ROI of advertising.

Cruz used data insights for various campaign strategies: TV, digital marketing, fundraising, etc.
Results:
- Increased support from <5% to >35%.
- Became the second most significant contender.

While Cruz’s campaign ended, similar technologies are being used by one of the remaining candidates.
The impact of these technologies on future elections is anticipated to be significant.