Name recognition refers to the ability of the public to identify a candidate by their name. This recognition often comes from exposure to the candidate through various methods such as campaign advertising[1], public service announcements, community work, and public appearances. A candidate with high name recognition is more likely to be remembered by the voters, however, this does not necessarily mean the public understands their ideologies. Name recognition also impacts voters’ behavior, with a familiar name often influencing support due to the recognition heuristic. Online advertising[2] is a common strategy for boosting name recognition due to its ability to quickly reach a large audience at a low cost. Despite its influence, name recognition is not a guarantee of election success but it does increase the chances.
In politics, name recognition is the ability a voter has to identify a candidate's name due to a certain amount of previous exposure through various campaigning methods. It can be described as the awareness voters have about specific candidates resulting from various forms of campaign advertising. Some of the advertising methods to raise public awareness used by candidates running for various offices include: creating professional personal and ideological advertising, public service announcements, community work with target voter demographics and public appearances through mass media exposure. Though candidates can achieve high name recognition and exposure, this does not necessarily mean that the average voter has a good understanding of their ideology, positions and stances on political issues.