1. Campaign E-Mails By Alyssa Ray

2. Forms of Interactivity 1. One way communication (e.g. web pages). 2. Two way communication (e.g. private e-mails). 1. One to many communication (e.g. e-mails, list servers, discussion groups, computer conferences). 2. Many to many communication (e.g. group projects submitted to a computer conference). *Doherty, A. (1998) "The Internet: Destined to Become a Passive Surfing Technology?", Educational Technology, Vol. 38 (Sept-Oct), No. 5, p61-63

3. Benefits Delivers information directly to user Easy to forward Source credibility Targets specific demographics (age, location, education, etc)* Low cost Quick and easy to produce Enhances user perceptions of trustworthiness, responsiveness, sensitivity. Fundraising interactivity *Yi, Zhixian. (2007). E-Mail Use Patterns in the United States. Chinese Librarianship: an International Electronic Journal, 24. URL: http://www.iclc.us/cliej/cl24yi.htmhttp://www.iclc.us/cliej/cl24yi.htm

4. Detriments Effectiveness? Information Overload Wasted time/effort

5. E-Mails from “McCain” directly and personally communicating with more than 43,000 supporters during the 2000 election cycle.* HOWEVER… McCain’s Computer Literacy *Andrew Williams and Kaye Trammell, “Candidate Campaign E-Mail Messages in the Presidential Election 2004”

6. E-Mails from “Obama” High Quantity Multiple Authors Messages and Information Interactivity VP Announcement

7. 2004 Election E-mails Quantity Direct Address Self-Promotion vs. Attack Messages Issues vs. Character Interactivity Trammell, Kaye and Paul Williams, “Candidate Campaign E-Mail Messages in the Presidential Election 2004”. American Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 49, No. 4, 560-574 (2005)

8. E-Mail Quantity 2004 Overall increase in quantity closer to election However…

9. …Huge Increase for 2008 Election Obama: (since 5/16)-111 (9/15-10/4)-26 McCain: (9/15-10/4): 13 Obama roughly doubling McCain in quantity Frequency attributed to variety of authors, donation requests, and interactivity with events/supporters

10. Direct Address Bush: direct address in 82.1% of messages Kerry: direct address in 92.0% of messages

11. Self-Promotion Vs. Opponent Attack Kerry: promotion (44.6%), attack (24.4%) and combination (31.1%). Bush: promotion (51.9%), attack (7.4%) and combination (40.7%).

12. Interactivity Bush’s e-mail messages contained twice the interactivity features of Kerry’s

13. Issues 38.5% of the e-mail messages. Bush’s campaign focused on issues (66.7%) at a greater rate than Kerry’s (33.3%)

14. Messages Most frequent : 1) invitation of participation 2) emphasizing hope for the future

15. 2004 E-Mail Trends INTERACTIVITY INCREASE… Hyperlinks- “get involved,” “send this message to a friend,” or even contact the campaign with feedback. Graphics- banner at the top of the e-mail message (97.4%), photographs (17.9%) and special event icons (6.4%) Multimedia- flash movies (1.3%) or video (5.1%), including ads (1.3%) …BUT STILL LIMITED Used 3/12 possible interactivity variables (1/4 of possibilities) AUTHORSHIP Campaign staff- 60.3%, candidates (14.1%), other politicians (6.4%), family members of the candidates (2.6%), and celebrities (1.3%)

16. E-Mail Substance Issues (12.8%) Personality or attributes of the candidate (10.3%). Kerry: focused on horserace (84.0%), issue coverage (8.0%), and personality (8%). Bush: focused on horserace (64.3%), issue coverage (21.4%) and personality (14.3%).

17. Another Election 2002 Florida Gubernatorial Jeb Bush (R-I) and Bill McBride (D) Characteristics of E-mails: Personal qualities (24.7%) Candidates omitted mention of their opponent in the e-mail messages. Addressed the reader directly (62.1%) Increase of candidate campaign e-mail messages being sent during key campaign dates. Trammell, Kaye and Paul Williams, “Beyond Direct Mail: Evaluating Candidate E-Mail Messages in the 2002 Florida Gubernatorial Campaign”. Journal of E- Government Vol 1, Issue 1: November 10, 2004.

18. Effectiveness 2004 Bush: 1. Substance: candidate as voice of people, standing for hope, emphasizing political accomplishments. 2. Issue focused 3. Twice the interactivity 4. More promotion, less attack 5. Consistent (increased) quantity over last half of campaign

19. Do these trends lead towards Obama Victory? …We’ll just have to wait and see