Identifying first-time voter preferences : a conjoint experiment among high school students in East Jakarta Indonesia

Abstract

What attributes do first-time voters prefer in a legislative candidate? This study aims to demonstrate the characteristics first-time voters prefer from a legislative candidate. Through a conjoint experiment that allows researchers to identify and nonparametrically estimate the causal effects of many components simultaneously, this study found show that first-time voters’ preferences. Factors that are significant in influencing the predicted results are educational attainment, political party identity, residency, experience, age, and blusukan (impromptu visits). In contrast, this study’s findings did not find any correlation between a candidate’s success and their campaign strategy in terms of the number of billboards they used, how often they appeared on social media, or their interactions on social media. The results of this study do, however, reflect on how first-time voters consider the many attributes of a candidate and make their decisions when casting their ballots.