When David and Goliath campaign online: The effects of digital media use during electoral campaigns on vote for small parties

Challenger parties might have an advantage online compared to mainstream parties, since digital technologies increase their visibility at a low cost and connect them with niche audiences. Previous research has examined this phenomenon focusing on parties’ use of the Internet, yet we need to focus on voters’ behavior to quantify the effect. To this end, we use data covering 21 national and regional elections from four countries. Our results confirm that digital media use during the campaign boosts uncertainty about one’s own vote choice and, ultimately, increases the chances to change one’s voting intention from mainstream to small parties.