The Integration of Social Media to the Theory of Planned Behavior: A Case Study in Indonesia

Leader and leadership are one of the important aspects in the life of a country. This study aims to predict the intention of young voters to vote for state leader elections by expanding the theory of planned behavior to the Indonesian context. Apart from the importance of the presidential election, research rarely uses the theory of planned behavior, and to the best of researchers’ knowledge, there are no studies that have applied the theory of planned behavior to predict the intention to vote for the president. Therefore, this study is an attempt to fill that gap. Two hundred questionnaires were distributed using non-probability purposive sampling. Data analysis was carried out using the structural equation modeling (SEM) approach. The results showed that attitude and behavior control were positively related to voters’ intention to elect presidential candidates. Furthermore, information from social media also has a positive relationship with the attitude of choosing presidential candidates. However, the results also show that subjective norms do not have a significant relationship with voters’ intention. This study contributes knowledge to researchers, practitioners, and policymakers about the factors that influence youth intention to vote in Indonesia, namely, attitudes, perceived behavior control, and information from social media.