Faces of Authenticity : A Comparative Analysis of Personalization Strategies in Shaping an Authentic Image of the Politician

Sammanfattning: The objective of this study is to investigate what type of personalization is more successful in shaping an authentic image of the politician. Two politicians; Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have been chosen for the study. Hence, the questions that the study seeks to address are; What type of personalization is most successful in shaping an authentic image of Hillary Clinton? and What type of personalization is most successful in shaping an authentic image of Bernie Sanders? The method employed for this study is a survey experiment designed to compare perceived authenticity between the respondents for two different personalization types; privatization and emotionalization. The survey experiment, conducted during November and December 2023, had a total of 102 valid respondents. The data with perceived authenticity for the two personalization types were presented in a bivariate regression analysis. Results reveal that privatization is more successful in shaping an authentic image of Hillary Clinton, particularly among female respondents, indicating gender-based variations. For Bernie Sanders, the study finds no clear preference between privatization and emotionalization overall, but a gender-specific analysis suggests that privatization is more successful among female respondents.