Predictors of voting behavior & support towards Malaysian leaders: A study among factory workers in Malaysia

Tengku Mohd Azzman, Tengku Siti Aisha and A Manaf, Aini Maznina and Ahmad, Zeti Azreen and Yusoh, Mohd Helmi (2019) Predictors of voting behavior & support towards Malaysian leaders: A study among factory workers in Malaysia. In: Communication Research Seminar (CORENA) 2019, 25th July 2019, Gombak, Kuala Lumpur. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

Factory workers are a relatively understudied and marginalized population, although they are one of the biggest contributors to the Malaysian labor force. This study aimed to focus on factory workers, and factors that influenced their voting behavior and support towards Malaysian leaders, such as age, gender, education level and income. A cross-sectional survey was carried out among factory workers in Malaysia, mainly in the industrial areas in Klang Valleys (N = 475). Generally, Malaysian factory workers are politically active; majority reported that they have registered as voters (88%) and did vote in the previous General Election in 2018 (82%). Findings also indicate that due to the recent General Election in 2018, support for political parties did reflect the changes seen recently in the Malaysian political landscape, where almost half of the factory workers were seen to choose Pakatan Harapan (42%) as their party of choice. More interesting was the fact that the votes among Malay workers were split almost evenly between three parties: PH, UMNO and PAS. Factory workers also mainly had positive perception towards the top Malaysian leaders (i.e. PM and DPM), although they were more ambivalent towards other leaders. Overall, it is found that while gender did not influence voting behavior, age group, income group, and education level did influence whether factory workers chose to vote or not. Thus, in order to increase support for political parties and to ensure factory workers vote, communication strategies should be tailored to attract voters from this demographic group.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Slide Presentation)
Additional Information:	4622/75950
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Factory workers, Malaysia, media usage, political parties, voting behavior
Subjects:	P Language and Literature > P Philology. Linguistics > P87 Communication. Mass media
Kulliyyahs/Centres/Divisions/Institutes (Can select more than one option. Press CONTROL button):	Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences > Department of Communication
Depositing User:	Dr Tengku Siti Aisha Tengku Mohd Azzman Shariffadeen
Date Deposited:	04 Dec 2019 10:41
Last Modified:	04 Dec 2019 10:42
URI:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/id/eprint/75950

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• Predictors of voting behavior & support towards Malaysian leaders: A study among factory workers in Malaysia. (deposited UNSPECIFIED)
  • Predictors of voting behavior & support towards Malaysian leaders: A study among factory workers in Malaysia. (deposited 04 Dec 2019 10:41) [Currently Displayed]

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