HOW SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING OF CANDIDATES AFFECTS VOTERS' INTENTION TO VOTE IN THE 2024 INDONESIA GENERAL ELECTION

Abstract

Celebrity politicians are prominent individuals in the public eye who are intentionally created, portrayed, and commercialized by the media and cultural sectors, and who actively engage in politics. The objective of this study is to ascertain the intentions of potential Indonesian voters concerning their participation in the 2024 election. This study investigates the impact of social media marketing (SMM) efforts, including social media interaction, social media credibility, and word of mouth (WOM), on the perceived image of a candidate and its influence on voting intention in the context of Celebrity Politicians in Indonesian Politics. The article explores the relationship between social media interaction, word of mouth, social media credibility, and vote intention, with candidate image acting as a mediator. This analysis is based on branding literature and social identity theory. The study employed a design technique that utilized an online questionnaire survey. The survey was conducted using purposive sampling, and a total of 454 Indonesian voters were sampled for the study. The collected primary data were analyzed using the SmartPLS program. The results of this study indicate that social media interaction, word-of-mouth (WOM), and social media credibility have a beneficial impact on candidate image. However, it was shown that social media interaction and social media credibility do not have a direct relationship with vote intention. The study emphasizes the significance of social media marketing (SMM) efforts and the image of candidates in influencing prospective candidates and the general elections commission to motivate election participants to vote. The disadvantage of this study lies in the inability to collect a large sample size due to time restrictions.