Online Political Advertising and Youths’ Perceptions of Political Candidates: Evidence from the 2023 Kogi State Governorship Election

Abstract

The increasing use of social media for electoral campaigns has transformed political advertising and the ways young voters encounter, evaluate and develop impressions of political candidates. This study examined online political advertising and youths’ perceptions of political candidates during the 2023 Kogi State governorship election. Specifically, the study determined the effect of exposure to online political advertising on youths’ perceptions of candidates, examined the effect of perceived credibility of online political advertisements on candidate perceptions, and assessed the effect of negative online political advertising on youths’ perceptions of candidates. The study adopted a quantitative cross-sectional survey design and collected primary data through a structured questionnaire administered to 400 purposively selected youths who were eligible voters and had been exposed to online political campaign content during the election. Data were analysed using frequencies, percentages, Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modelling with robust maximum-likelihood estimation. The analytical results showed that exposure to online political advertising positively influenced youths’ perceptions of political candidates, while perceived advertising credibility produced a stronger positive effect on evaluations of candidates’ competence, integrity and leadership capacity. Conversely, negative online political advertising significantly weakened favourable perceptions of political candidates. The study concluded that online political advertising is an important component of contemporary candidate image formation among young voters, although its influence depends substantially on message credibility and advertising content. The study recommended credible issue-based digital campaigns, transparent verification of political advertising claims and stronger mechanisms for limiting deceptive and inflammatory negative advertising during elections.