Determinants of social media use for political marketing in Kenya

Abstract

This study sought to establish the determinants of social media use for political marketing in Kenya. The study investigated whether demographic characteristics, technological factors, representation factors and voting outcome, have an effect on politicians’ choice of media platform for political marketing. The study was guided by the diffusion of innovations theory, the network society theory and the social marketing theory. These theories are conceptualised in interaction with each other to explain a socially produced space within which political marketing is possible through use of social media platforms. The study utilised the mixed methods sequential explanatory design. This design consists of the quantitative phase, which is then followed by the qualitative phase. Politicians who contested at the presidential, gubernatorial, senatorial, women representative and parliamentary levels in the 2013 general elections in Kenya comprised the study population. A sample size of 338 respondents was drawn from a total population of 2807 political candidates. The sampling frame was obtained from a list published by the Independent Elections and Boundaries Commission in 2013. Data was collected using questionnaires and interview guides. Piloting of the research tools was conducted and the sample obtained subjected to the Cronbach’s alpha. The quantitative data obtained from the administration of questionnaires was analysed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics to answer the quantitative research questions. Qualitative data obtained from interviews with key informants was transcribed and divided into meaningful analytical units which were coded for content analysis. Findings show that there was a rapid adoption of social media among the political candidates with Facebook diffusing more rapidly than Twitter. However, some political candidates were at the implementation stage of social media adoption and consequently did not extensively implement the technology. Although there was little variation of social media message forms, its content was diverse. Regression analysis showed that familiarity with technology, political party influence, party affiliation, years of Internet use, and social media awareness, were significant determinants of social media adoption. The study concludes that social media need to be utilised together with other media to supplement campaigns in complementarity and mutual dependency. The study recommends the use of social media as alternative platforms for political marketing to mitigate the rising costs of election campaigns for developing countries. The study further recommends training political actors for effective implementation of the social media campaign and a subsequent establishment of a policy framework to guide social media use for political marketing