Introduction -- 1. Approaching Persuasion -- 2. Subjective rationality -- 3. Source credibility -- 4. From belief to behaviour -- 5. Voter relevance and campaign phases -- 6. Psychometrics, model generation, and data -- 7. Micro-target campaign management -- 8. Negative campaigning and attack ads -- 9. Modelling complex systems -- 10. From analytic to dynamic micro-target models -- 11. State of play.

This book examines the psychology behind micro-targeted tactics used in election campaigning and the advent of increasingly sophisticated dynamic Agent-Based Models (ABMs). It discusses individual profiling, how data and modelling are deployed to enhance the effectiveness of persuasion and mobilization efforts in campaigns, and the potential limitations of these approaches. Madsen particularly explores how psychological insight and personal data are used to generate individualised models of voters and how these in turn are applied to optimise persuasion strategies tailored to a specific person. Finally, the book considers the broader democratic dilemmas raised by the introduction of these tactics into politics and the critical civic importance of understanding how these campaigns function.This timely work offers fresh insights for students and scholars of political psychology, philosophy, political marketing, media, and communications. Jens Koed Madsen is a senior research assistant at the University of Oxford, UK and a fellow of the Oxford Martin School, The Institute of New Economic Thinking, and St. Catherine's College. His work focuses on the psychology of persuasion, belief revision, decision-making, and models of complex human-environment models.