Obama, Romney campaigns target young Hispanics with cellphones - KansasCity.com

Obama, Romney campaigns target young Hispanics with cellphones - KansasCity.com

Young voters and Hispanic voters are far more likely to use their phones to go online than older generations are, so campaigns that use mobile technology are most likely to reach young Hispanics, according to Peter Levine, the director of the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement.

That’s because a mobile phone and an app are personalized and engaging – a far cry from a robocall or a TV ad. Young voters are deeply skeptical of one-for-all marketing and respond best to one-on-one, Hispanic-to-Hispanic marketing, according to research by Levine’s group.

It’s “particularly effective in overcoming issues of trust and motivation that would otherwise be in the way of voting,” Levine said.

Alex Velasco, a 26-year-old first-generation Mexican-American, said Levine’s assessments were right on.

“It’s really easy to reach me on my phone because I have it with me all the time – when I’m on the train, when I’m walking,” Velasco said. “If you send me something political (on my phone), I would be way more likely to read it because it is so easy.”

According to Levine, promoting civic engagement via mobile phones is a technique that’s especially well-suited to the Hispanic community. Hispanic voters have a greater barrier to enter the political system, he said. Many don’t have proper identification or have never voted, so a mobile app gives a much-needed push to the polls. Other experts say mobile phones fit the lifestyles of Hispanic voters more than they do those of the general population.

Democratic President Barack Obama’s campaign is ahead of Republican Mitt Romney’s in using the mobile platform. While both have mobile-optimized websites, the president also has launched the Latinos for Obama website optimized for mobile devices.

“The promise and power of digital is to reach people in the places where they already are, and get them using social tools to spread the word about the president to their own networks,” said Gabriela Domenzain, the Obama campaign’s director of Hispanic media.

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