Transforming Political Advertising in Malaysia: Strategizing Political Advertisements towards First-Time and Young Voters in Malaysian GE 14

Abstract

Undoubtedly, the 2013 Malaysia's general election campaign marked to have significantly increased in budget, and much was contributed to advertising. The general election 2013 was noted to be among the most interesting campaign, with salient competitive campaign among the two coalition political parties. This research aims at analyzing the 2013 political advertisements rendered during the time, in order to give insights as to transform and strategize the next 2018 General Election advertising campaign. The king-makers are to be the first-time and young voters. The study approach to understand the effectiveness of political advertising during the general election campaign 2013 to the first-time voters; on how they perceived the advertisements, whether those advertisements have an impact on them, and their preferred advertisements content, elements, and style that suited the first-time voters, and, hence drew the most likeability and believability to the changes of perspectives of these first-time voters after a period of 4 years. The research employs the focus group method. This method was chosen as it allows access to socially-constructed expressed views, opinions, experiences, and attitudes as the respondents interpreted the advertisements messages and elements. Eighteen participants were identified to form three different groups representing the rural, semi-urban and urban first-time voters. The results show that there are many elements that were not acknowledged by the creators of advertisements and the political parties as to design and strategizing their campaign. There is a lack of effectiveness in persuasion and communicating through advertisement, to the first-time voters. Though political messages remain unpopular, but it plays a rather significant role in influencing the young voters' to vote in the coming election. Suggestions are made on transforming the political advertisements as to improve effectiveness in the coming Malaysian General Election.

The Roles of New Voters Towards National Elections in Malaysia

“…The new voters' motivations are reflected in their willingness to use their ballots to address these problems so that Malaysia may advance under the direction of the next prime minister. Similar to the above, Abd Rahim et al (2017) also came to an agreement that solving problems is what drives young Malaysian voters to cast ballots. They discovered that young Malaysian voters frequently assess how well political parties handle challenges or follow through on election-related pledges (Abd Rahim, et al, 2017).…”

“…Similar to the above, Abd Rahim et al (2017) also came to an agreement that solving problems is what drives young Malaysian voters to cast ballots. They discovered that young Malaysian voters frequently assess how well political parties handle challenges or follow through on election-related pledges (Abd Rahim, et al, 2017). They used qualitative research methods to conduct focus group discussions for the new voters in rural, semi-urban, and urban areas of GE14.…”

Beliefs and Attitude towards Political Advertising During Malaysia's GE14 Political Tsunami

“…During the Malaysian election campaigns, political parties target voters with both positive and negative political advertising (de Run & Ting, 2014;Kaid & Holtz-Bacha, 2006;Rahim & Mohamed, 2017). A decade ago, parties used printed materials and television (National broadcaster Radio Television Malaysia -RTM) to disseminate information election campaigns, but now online mediums such as Facebook, blogs, and Twitter take precedence (Chu, 2018;Kaid & Holtz-Bacha, 2006).…”

“…By connecting political parties with their potential voters and communicating policy agendas (McGinnis, 1969;Valentino, Hutchings & Williams, 2004), advertising can make a significant contribution. A recent study by Rahim and Mohamed (2017) revealed that people who possess a low level of participation and political knowledge are more heavily influenced by advertisements. Moreover, Internet advertising was found to have a direct influence on political participation (Weber, Loumakis & Bergman 2003).…”