Replication Data for: A “Terrific Symbol”: Physical Personalization of Pandemic Relief Enhances Presidential Support

COVID-19 has forced governments worldwide—many previously prioritizing austerity—to approve large relief packages. Political economy tells us politicians will try to profit electorally, but much remains unknown about precisely how pandemic relief might influence voting intentions. Then-President Donald Trump foregrounded this question early in the coronavirus pandemic by becoming the first U.S. president to physically place his name on IRS relief checks mailed to citizens. Leveraging a nationally representative survey whose timing achieves quasi-experimental variation in the receipt of payments both with and without Trump’s name literally on them, this study asks: Can a president successfully win support through physical personalization of the payments? Yes, it finds. Receiving a physically personalized check in the mail is associated with a much greater self-reported likelihood of voting for the president, with gains mainly from partisan outgroups. No clear effect is found for unpersonalized transfers. These findings withstand multiple robustness checks.