Emotion, Economics, and the Voter: A Behavioral Finance Perspective on Economic Perception during Electoral Campaigns

Abstract

This paper explores how behavioral finance provides critical insights into the psychological mechanisms that shape voter behavior during electoral campaigns—particularly when economic narratives are central to political messaging. While economic decision-making is often assumed to be rational, behavioral finance reveals that emotions, framing effects, and mental shortcuts (heuristics) significantly influence how individuals perceive financial reality.
Focusing on Albania’s 2025 electoral cycle as a case context, the paper examines how campaign strategies—such as symbolic financial gestures, emotionally resonant public events, and curated representations of authenticity—interact with cognitive biases to influence voter sentiment. The research highlights the use of emotional branding, symbolic capital, and culturally embedded figures as tools that shape political messaging and perception of economic well-being.
The study also considers the role of social media and generative technologies in amplifying affective communication, noting their capacity to personalize and emotionally calibrate campaign narratives. Without issuing political judgment, the paper underscores the behavioral logic behind modern campaigns and the need for greater voter awareness, emotional literacy, and critical thinking in democratic processes.
Using Albania’s 2025 electoral context as a case lens, the study applies a behavioral finance framework to explore voter perception. By bridging insights from finance, psychology, and political communication, this paper contributes to the growing academic dialogue on the emotional dynamics of electoral behavior and the evolving landscape of democracy in a digital age.
These developments demand a multidisciplinary lens—particularly one informed by behavioral finance—to interpret how voters engage with economic narratives emotionally.