Voter Concerns towards Digital Campaigning and Ethical Accountability in Contemporary Political Marketing

Volume 11, Issue 2, 2026

International Journal of Commerce and Management Studies, ISSN 2456-3684

Paper Title

Author Name and Affiliation

Mr. Karthick. RV

Ph. D Full Time Research Scholar, PG & Research Department of Commerce, Mahendra Arts & Science College, Kalipatti (PO), Tiruchengodu, Namakkal District, Affiliated to Periyar University, Salem -636011, Tamil Nadu, India, Email: karthicksonurvni@gmail.com

2. Dr. J. Josephine Daisy, Ph.D.,

Principal, Loyola College of Arts & Science,, Mettala, Namakkal District, Affiliated to Periyar University,, Salem -636011, Tamil Nadu, India, Email: josephine.daisy3@gmail.com

Abstract

Digital campaigning has grown to be an important element of contemporary political marketing because parties and candidates now reach voters through social media advertisements, search platforms, messaging applications, short video networks and data-enabled communication systems. This environment has caused voters new ethical discomfort in respect to political persuasion on the Internet given the uneasiness of personalisation without informed consent, speed without verification and persuasion without sufficient disclosure. The paper reviews concern of voters towards digital campaigning and ethics in responsible politics using a conceptual and methodological perspective. It places the issue of concern with voters at the focus areas of the democratic solution to the various risks associated with misinformation, unclear sponsorship, algorithmic targeting, the manipulation of feelings, intrusion of privacy and limited accountability in the communication of campaigns. . The study develops an integrated academic argument that ethical accountability cannot be reduced to legal compliance alone because voters also expect truthfulness, traceability, source clarity, responsible data use and visible corrective mechanisms when campaign messages become misleading. The study sets out with a conceptually focused framework that connects to the issues of digital campaign exposure, ethical risk perception, trust in the political communication sphere, perceived accountability of political campaigns and citizens’ evaluations of political campaign legitimacy. It suggests an appropriate empirical design to account for voter perception in metropolitan elections in the event of heavy exposure to digital information and multiple platforms of political communication. The study examines the need for campaign innovation and democracy as well as a balance between the two. The paper concludes that digital campaigning can support political participation only when voters are protected from concealed influence and when campaign actors are responsible for the informational consequences they create.

Keywords

Digital campaigning; ethical accountability; political marketing; voter concern; misinformation; data driven targeting; transparency

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DOI

DOI: 10.67061/ijcams.2026.vol.11.issue.02.8087

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