Targeting

This section shows spending per targeting criteria used by political parties to reach citizens in the run-up to the 2023 New Zealand general election for the latest available data. It only includes targeting on Meta platforms (Facebook and Instagram), which offers the most detailed targeting options to political advertisers.

Spending per Targeting Criteria

How much did campaigns spend on different targeting methods? The graphs below show spending overall across all parties and by party.

Note: targeting criteria can overlap so the percentages do not sum up to 100%.

Detailed Audiences

Top Targeted (Detailed) Audiences

Here, we show the top targeted audiences for each party for the “detailed” targeting that Meta offers (ranked by amount of Euro spend). Most (but not all) of these audiences are “interest” audiences, i.e. the parties targeted people interested in “Books” or “Politics”.

Top Excluded (Detailed) Audiences

Here, we show the top excluded audiences for each party for the “detailed” targeting that Meta offers (ranked by amount of Euro spend). Most (but not all) of these audiences are “interest” audiences, i.e. the parties excluded people interested in “Books” or “Politics”.

Top Contested Audiences

Here, we show the top most contested audiences, i.e. where all parties have spent considerable amounts of money competing to reach voters with the same interests.

Location

Geographical Targeting

The graphs below show various kinds of location targeting that parties engaged in on Meta platforms. The bigger the area the more money was spend by the party on targeting this location.

Geographical Exclusion

On Meta, political parties can also exclude certain geographical units. The graphs below show which locations were excluded from seeing political advertisements and how much money the parties spend on these ads. The bigger the area the more money was spend on ads excluding this location.

Demographics

Age Targeting

The graphs below show targeting by age groups and how much percentage of party budgets were spent on them.

Note: targeting criteria can overlap so the percentages do not sum up to 100%.

Gender Targeting

The graphs below show targeting by gender and how much percentage of party budgets were spent on them.

Note: targeting criteria can overlap so the percentages do not sum up to 100%.

Education Targeting

The graphs below show targeting by education levels and how much percentage of party budgets were spent on them.

Job Targeting

The graphs below show targeting by job (sectors) and how much percentage of party budgets were spent on them.

Note: targeting criteria can overlap so the percentages do not sum up to 100%.