Heterogeneous and limited uses of data in French election campaigns. Analysis of the 2022 French presidential election campaign

A review of American studies on the use of data in election campaigns reveals a controversy: Some view it as essential and standardized, enabling sophisticated and effective campaigns, while others question its impact and effectiveness compared with the claims of service providers (or journalists). What, then, about the use of data in French election campaigns? By examining the 2022 French presidential election, we show that data use varied across campaign teams, with a particular emphasis on Emmanuel Macron, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, and Éric Zemmour, who even developed their own internal tools. Other candidates, however, abandoned this data-driven approach due to financial and skill constraints or power struggles between modernizers and skeptics. Data usage also depends on the types of political parties and the profiles of those managing it.