Newswise — Whether it's out of frustration with the current administration or because they've embraced and identified with a candidate's platform, young people are voting in record numbers this primary season. With this early and significant turnout, candidates and political pundits want to know more about this demographic and their voting behavior before November's election day.
Diane M. Phillips, Ph.D., chair of marketing at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, says that America's youth look for genuineness in a candidate.
"It's an issue of niche marketing," said Phillips. "Candidates can't be everything to everyone, and young people know this. Young people favor authentic candidates--those who stick by their beliefs."
Phillips said that young adults perceive Barack Obama as an authentic candidate, citing his victories in Iowa and South Carolina where his primary wins came almost entirely from adults under 30. "Young people are very cynical of marketing ploys," said Phillips. "They want to be able to say, 'Here's someone that gets me.'"
One marketing ploy used by presidential candidates of both parties is celebrity endorsements. Whether or not endorsements are effective in wooing young voters, is a question Phillip's marketing colleague Natalie Wood, Ph.D., explored in her recent research paper: "Political Star Power and Political Parties: Does Celebrity Endorsement Win First-Time Votes?"
Published in the Journal of Political Marketing, Wood concluded that in terms of voting behavior, family and significant others are more influential than celebrities in engaging youth support for a political candidate.
"Sometimes, when young voters perceive that a celebrity is using his or her status in order to influence their voting, they will rebel against the endorsement, and vote the opposite of what they are urged to do," explained Wood. She said that the best strategy for celebrities in affecting the outcome of elections might be to urge young people to vote, but also to make their own decisions.
RSS