Using Media for Voting Decision among First-time Voter College Students in West Java, Indonesia

Abstract

This study aims to highlights the interactive effect between two different media in making voting decisions. Interaction between traditional and social media as the primary knowledge outlets adopted by students in decision making becomes the focus of the research. The study was conducted with the social context of the 2019 Indonesian General Election. The survey method used data from 1066 first-time voter college students at six public colleges in West Java, Indonesia. The results showed that social media that interact with television, radio, and newspapers significantly influenced voting decisions. The growing trend in online political talks significantly influenced the voting decision. It is worth noticing that the influence of the interaction used between social media and newspapers on voting decisions had a negative impact, thereby signifying that there was a decrease in the opportunity to vote using social media. This study shows the importance of interaction between social media as the primary political information source and traditional media to complement students' decision-making.

Received: 28 October 2020 / Accepted: 11 December 2020 / Published: 17 January 2021