Business Case Studies & Business Publications

AI in Political Campaign Marketing

Cian, Luca;Fortune...

Technical Note

AI in Political Campaign Marketing

Cian, Luca; Fortune, Mickey; Goldenberg, Rachael; Hunter, Phillip

M-1092 | Published September 25, 2026 | 18 Pages Technical Note

Collection: Darden School of Business

Product Details

Generative AI tools have reshaped how people work, learn, communicate, and gather information, prompting widespread debates about appropriate—and responsible—AI use. Among discussions about AI’s impact on society, questions have arisen about the role of AI in politics. What is the appropriate use of AI in political messaging? When—if ever—should politicians use AI? This note provides a framework for the use of AI in political campaigns. The analysis proceeds in three movements. First, it reframes a political campaign as a marketing organization operating under a peculiar measurement constraint, and it unbundles AI in that organization into four use cases with distinct evidence bases. It then presents the primary research from 2018 through 2025 on political persuasion, AI persuasion, and the resistance mechanisms that bound both. Finally, it closes with decision tools that link evidence to a specific deployment choice: an outcome ladder, the Scientist-Artist-Judge framework proposed by Lillien Ellis and Matthew Cronin, and a five-dimension decision framework that connects evidence, governance, and organizational fit.