Made to measure: interest group message customization in a multi-party system

Research has demonstrated that interest groups frequently align themselves with a specific party and its ideological stance. Still, other studies have underlined that interest groups engage with undecided and opposing factions. In other words, they target friends as well as foes. This raises the question of whether their communication is based on the same type of arguments across the political spectrum of targets or if they customize their messages. Furthermore, what working principles do they use if they adapt their arguments? This exploratory study illuminates how customization is commonplace by leveraging and extending issue ownership theory and empirical data from interviews with 45 lobbyists. Typically, different aspects of a policy issue are highlighted to align with the policy priorities of different political parties. Additionally, the study indicates that organizational type and resource capacity impact the extent and manner of message customization. The research advances our understanding of lobbying strategies, offering new insights into the strategic interactions between interest groups and political parties.