THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF POLITICAL MARKETING AND WORD-OF-MOUTH COMMUNICATION TOWARDS THE IMAGE OF THE MAYOR, TRUST, AND BEGINNING VOTERS’ JUDGEMENTS IN SELECTING A MAYOR IN INDONESIA

Abstract

Political parties experience a shift in perspective in the context of organizing political campaigns from the traditional era to a new era called political marketing. This study aims to measure the effect of political advertising and word of mouth on the image of regional heads, trust, and voters' decisions in selecting mayors. This research was conducted in Batam City, Riau Archipelago Province, Indonesia in 2021. The type of this research was survey research involving 389 12th-grade high school and vocational high school students as first-time voters. The technique of collecting data is a questionnaire technique, namely through the distribution of questionnaires. Data analysis in this study used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis, using Amos 24. The results of the study: 1) Political advertisements influence the image, beliefs, and decisions of first-time voters. 2) word of mouth has a significant effect on the image, and word of mouth has a significant effect on trust and novice voters' decisions. 3) The image of a candidate for regional head influences the trust, confidence, and decisions of first-time voters. 4) Trust in regional head candidates influences the decisions of first-time voters in Batam City, Riau Archipelago Province, Indonesia.