Party leaders’ tech-awareness matters: Examining the case of Taiwan political party Facebook utilization in the 2016 and 2020 parliamentary elections

Abstract

Centering on theories of equalization and normalization, resources are seen as an important determinant. This study highlights two theoretical drawbacks related to resources. First, the mental role of party leaders as an invisible resource has been never studied. Second, party size has been massively employed as a proxy for resources in previous studies. To address these lacunae, this study theoretically proposes tech-awareness—operationalized by ages and educational levels of party leaders —to indicate parties’ expertise in using social media in campaigns. Methodologically, this study argues that parties’ annual final accounts can be an alternative to measure their material resources. Facebook utilization by Taiwanese parties ( N total = 37) in the 2016 and 2020 national elections is analyzed. This study indicates that tech-awareness positively influences parties’ Facebook use. Nevertheless, parties’ annual final accounts reveal curvilinear relationships with parties’ Facebook use.