Student’s attitude towards campaign communication (on the example of 2018 Russian presidential election

Abstract

The subject of this research is the attitude of student youth towards particular instruments of campaign communication. Among most commonly used techniques of influencing the citizens’ electoral behavior are the political advertising, mass media materials, debates, announcements of the leaders of public opinion. However, the factors important for making electoral decisions differ one age group to another. In this context, of special interest is the student youth that is more perceptive to modern methods of communication via mobile apps and other Internet technologies. The presented results are based on the data of focus groups studying in Saint Petersburg State University, acquired in the course of research “The factors of formation of absenteeism of student youth in the Russian megalopolis (on the example Saint Petersburg)” conducted in 2018 with technical support of the Resource Center of Sociological and Internet surveys of Saint Petersburg State University. The authors determine the following specificities of political communication prevalent in daily practices of student youth: distrust in such classical methods of campaign communication as debates; more trust in the online mass media rather than traditional; ambivalent stance of media leaders of public opinion; significance of the institution of family in formation of political views and decision-making. The impact of social networks creates a request for a renewed format of communication among students. The information must be easy accessible, appear as the first ling in search request, and presented in a form of standard post with a vivid visual component.