Exclusive Research Uncovers How Live Events and Social Media Drive Voters to Action in Era of "Clicktivism"

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - March 30, 2016) -

• More than 75% of political event-goers said the last event they attended made them want to take action in support of the candidate, party, or issue
• More than 8 in ten (83%) Americans said following a candidate, political party or issue on social media has made them want to vote for a specific candidate
• 56% of millennials would rather meet a candidate in person at an event than engage with them on social media; 44% say candidates don't appear authentic on social media
• Sanders wins the social media vote of millennials and women, Clinton wins with men, and Trump is favored by boomers

Eventbrite, the world's largest self-service ticketing and registration platform, today released new research that explores the impact of both live events and social media on a political campaign. Eventbrite, which has processed more than 2 million tickets to more than 10,000 political events since January 2015, partnered with research firm, Ipsos, and surveyed 3,025 American adults ages 18+ to understand how influential live events and social media are on driving people to vote, donate, and/or volunteer their time for a candidate. The report underscores the role of authentic connections at live events and on social media and how both are more important than ever this election cycle.

Political Events Inspire Action

Almost one fifth of Americans (19%) have attended a political event in the last twelve months, including townhalls, rallies, fundraisers, social gatherings, and volunteer events for a political candidate, party, or issue. A larger number of Americans -- 34% -- follow politics on social media and while the research suggests it provides breadth of reach by starting conversations and bringing issues to the forefront, live events inspire action offline and allow for depth of engagement.

More than 75% of political event-goer ¹ said the last event they attended made them want to take action in support of the candidate, party, or issue. More specifically, 77% said it made them want to vote for a specific candidate; 76% said it made them want to talk to family and friends about the candidate, party, or issue; 62% said it made them want to post about the candidate, party, or issue on social media; 60% said it made them want to donate money and 59% said it made them want to volunteer.

"Our research found the oldest form of campaigning is still incredibly powerful at driving people to action," said Chad Barth, Senior Political and Government Relations Manager for Eventbrite. "While social media allows politicians to spread their message far and wide, events offer important connection points that can only be achieved in-person. Candidates, parties, and issue-based organizations that can strike the right balance of both, will ultimately have the most successful campaigns."

People surveyed who identified as both political event-goers and political social media followers reported they are more than twice as likely than the average American to discuss politics on social media in the next twelve months (82% vs. 37% gen pop) as well as donate (69% vs. 25% gen pop); and three times more likely to volunteer (71% vs. 20% gen pop).

American Constituents are Influenced by Social Media but Seek an In-Person Connection

Social media plays an integral role in mobilizing people to action: more than 8 in ten Americans (83%) said following a candidate, political party or issue on social media has made them want to vote for a specific candidate and nearly half (46%) report platforms like Facebook and Twitter have made them want to donate. When it comes to following candidates on social media, nearly half of men are favoring Clinton (46%), followed by Trump (42%), and Sanders (40%), compared to women who are choosing Sanders (47%), Clinton (41%), and Trump (31%).

But in today's digital era, the oldest form of campaigning -- live events -- is also critical to a successful campaign: more than 50% of Americans would rather meet a candidate in person than engage with them on social media with the number increasing to more than 60% of political social media followers.

Millennials are Moving Beyond "Clicktivism"

Despite being less than a third of the total adult population, millennials comprise nearly half (45%) of the political event-goer population. This highly-experiential generation is motivated by live events: two-thirds said the last political event they attended made them want to volunteer; 65% said it made them want to donate; and 70% said it made them want to post about the candidate, party, or issue on social media.

While 6 in ten millennials are likely to engage in political conversations on social media (vs. 37% gen pop), they also seek a real-life connection with political candidates; 56% would rather meet a candidate in person at an event than engage with them on social media and nearly 1 in 2 (44%) say that candidates don't appear authentic on social media.

On social media platforms, more than half of millennials are following Sanders (51%), followed by Clinton (44%), and Trump (31%), compared to the nearly half of boomers who are favoring Trump (49%), Clinton (39%), and Sanders (34%).

For more details, please see the full report: https://www.eventbrite.com/l/2016-political-events/. To learn more about Eventbrite ticketing and registration for political events, check out https://www.eventbrite.com/l/politics/.

About the Study:

These are findings from an Ipsos poll conducted February 3-6, 2016 on behalf of Eventbrite. For the survey, a sample of 3,025 adults age 18+ from the continental U.S., Alaska and Hawaii was interviewed online in English. The sample for this study was randomly drawn using Ipsos's online sampling methodology and post-hoc weights were made to the population characteristics on gender, age, region, race/ethnicity and income based on the 2015 Census ACS. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll has a credibility interval of plus or minus 2.1 percentage points for all respondents.

About Eventbrite:

Eventbrite is the world's largest self-service ticketing and registration platform, hosting a vibrant collection of live experiences to fuel people's passions and enrich their lives. For organizers, Eventbrite provides a seamless, professional grade solution to create compelling event pages, sell tickets, promote and manage events, and analyze results - from the web or any mobile device. For attendees, Eventbrite offers access to a wide variety of live experiences, from small photography and yoga classes to large concerts and festivals with tens of thousands of people. Founded in 2006 and headquartered in San Francisco, the company has nine offices around the world. Investors include Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global and T. Rowe Price. Learn more at www.eventbrite.com.

¹ For the purposes of the study, political event-goers were defined as Americans who attended a political event in the last twelve months and social media followers as Americans who are active on social media and follow political causes, campaigns, and politicians.

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