Electronic Theses and Dissertation

Pada penyelenggaraan pilkada serentak 2024, menurunnya perolehan suara aminullah usman secara signifikan dibandingkan pilkada 2017 menunjukkan adanya pergeseran preferensi pemilih serta melemahnya posisi politik petahana. kondisi ini menarik untuk dikaji karena terjadi pada kandidat yang sebelumnya memiliki basis dukungan yang cukup kuat di masyarakat. penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengidentifikasi faktor-faktor kekalahan serta menganalisis penerapan strategi political marketing yang digunakan oleh aminullah usman selama kontestasi pilkada. penelitian ini menggunakan teori political marketing yang meliputi empat indikator, yaitu produk politik, promosi politik, harga politik, dan penempatan politik, dengan pendekatan kualitatif deskriptif. hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa kekalahan aminullah usman dipengaruhi oleh menurunnya kepercayaan masyarakat akibat ketidakpuasan terhadap kinerja, munculnya isu negatif terkait integritas, lemahnya koordinasi dan soliditas tim pemenangan, serta meningkatnya kekuatan dan strategi kompetitor. selain itu, ditemukan adanya kesenjangan komunikasi antara kandidat dan masyarakat yang berdampak pada rendahnya kedekatan emosional pemilih. penerapan political marketing, produk politik dinilai kurang mampu merepresentasikan kebutuhan aktual masyarakat, promosi politik belum optimal dalam memanfaatkan media dan segmentasi pemilih, harga politik cenderung tinggi tanpa diimbangi loyalitas pemilih, serta penempatan politik kurang efektif dalam menjangkau wilayah strategis dan kelompok pemilih potensial. penelitian ini menyarankan perlunya perumusan produk politik yang lebih kontekstual, penguatan strategi komunikasi berbasis media dan kedekatan langsung dengan masyarakat, peningkatan profesionalitas tim pemenangan, serta pemetaan wilayah dan segmentasi pemilih yang lebih tepat agar strategi politik lebih adaptif dan responsif terhadap dinamika sosial-politik. selain itu, komisi independen pemilihan (kip) diharapkan memperkuat pendidikan politik dan tata kelola penyelenggaraan pilkada guna meningkatkan kualitas partisipasi masyarakat dan demokrasi lokal. kata kunci: marketing politik; kekalahan kandidat; pilkada; kepercayaan masyarakat; strategi politik

The 2024 Simultaneous Regional Head Elections witnessed a significant decline in Aminullah Usman's vote share compared to the 2017 election, indicating a shift in voter preferences and a weakening of the incumbent's political position. This phenomenon is noteworthy because it occurred despite the candidate previously having a relatively strong support base within the community. This study aims to identify the factors contributing to Aminullah Usman's electoral defeat and to analyze the implementation of the political marketing strategy employed during the 2024 Banda Aceh mayoral election. The study adopts the political marketing theory, which consists of four indicators: political product, political promotion, political price, and political placement, using a descriptive qualitative approach. The findings reveal that Aminullah Usman's defeat was influenced by declining public trust resulting from dissatisfaction with his performance, the emergence of negative issues related to integrity, weak coordination and cohesion within the campaign team, and the increasing strength and strategic advantage of competing candidates. In addition, a communication gap between the candidate and the public reduced voters' emotional attachment. The implementation of political marketing also indicates that the political product was considered insufficient in addressing the actual needs of the community, political promotion was not optimally carried out through media utilization and voter segmentation, political price was relatively high without being supported by strong voter loyalty, and political placement was ineffective in reaching strategic areas and potential voter groups. The study recommends the development of a more contextual political product, strengthening communication strategies through media and direct engagement with the community, improving the professionalism of the campaign team, and enhancing electoral mapping and voter segmentation to ensure that political strategies are more adaptive and responsive to socio-political dynamics. Furthermore, the Independent Election Commission (KIP) is expected to strengthen political education and improve the governance of regional election administration in order to enhance the quality of public participation and local democracy. Keywords: political marketing; candidate defeat; local election; public trust; political strategy