Electronic Theses and Dissertation

Perkembangan komunikasi politik digital mendorong para politisi memanfaatkan media sosial sebagai sarana pembentukan Personal Branding. Salah satu fenomena yang menonjol pada Pemilihan Presiden 2024 adalah Personal Branding "Gemoy" Prabowo Subianto yang ditampilkan melalui akun Instagram @prabowo.gibran2, yang mengubah citra tegas dan militeristik menjadi sosok yang ramah, humanis, dan dekat dengan generasi muda, termasuk mahasiswa sebagai kelompok pemilih terdidik. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui dan menganalisis pengaruh Personal Branding "Gemoy" Prabowo Subianto melalui akun Instagram @prabowo.gibran2 terhadap minat memilih mahasiswa Universitas Syiah Kuala pada Pemilihan Presiden 2024. Penelitian ini menggunakan dua variabel personal branding "Gemoy" Prabowo Subianto dengan empat indikator, yaitu keunikan, kepribadian, visibiltas dan konsistensi. Variabel Y minat memilih mahasiswa Unsyiah yang di ukur dengan tiga indikator yaitu kognitif, afektif dan konatif. Penelitian menggunakan pendekatan kuantitatif dengan metode survei dengan jumlah sampel 100 mahasiswa. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa personal branding "Gemoy" berpengaruh positif dan signifikan terhadap minat memilih mahasiswa. Nilai koefisien determinasi (R²) sebesar 0,475 menunjukkan bahwa Personal Branding menyumbang pengaruh sebesar 47,5 persen terhadap minat memilih, sedangkan 52,5 persen sisanya dipengaruhi oleh faktor lain seperti program kerja kandidat, lingkungan sosial-keluarga, literasi politik, isu ekonomi-sosial, dan identitas keagamaan. Dapat disimpulkan bahwa Personal Branding "Gemoy" berperan sebagai strategi pelengkap, bukan penentu tunggal, dalam membentuk preferensi politik mahasiswa Universitas Syiah Kuala pada Pemilihan Presiden 2024.

Kata Kunci: Personal Branding, minat memilih, media sosial, Pemilihan Presiden

The development of digital political communication has encouraged politicians to utilize social media as a platform for building personal branding. One of the most prominent phenomena in the 2024 Indonesian Presidential Election was Prabowo Subianto's "Gemoy" personal branding, which was presented through the Instagram account @prabowo.gibran2 and transformed his image from a firm and militaristic figure into one perceived as friendly, humane, and approachable, particularly among younger generations, including university students as an educated voter group. This study aims to examine and analyze the influence of Prabowo Subianto's "Gemoy" personal branding, as conveyed through the Instagram account @prabowo.gibran2, on the voting intention of students at Universitas Syiah Kuala in the 2024 Presidential Election. The study employed two variables: the independent variable, Prabowo Subianto's "Gemoy" personal branding, measured using four indicators distinctiveness, personality, visibility, and consistency and the dependent variable, students' voting intention, measured through three indicators: cognitive, affective, and conative dimensions. A quantitative approach with a survey method was employed, involving a sample of 100 university students. The findings indicate that the "Gemoy" personal branding has a positive and significant effect on students' voting intention. The coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.475 indicates that personal branding accounts for 47.5% of the variance in voting intention, while the remaining 52.5% is explained by other factors, including candidates' policy programs, social and family environments, political literacy, socio-economic issues, and religious identity. It can therefore be concluded that the "Gemoy" personal branding functioned as a complementary strategy rather than the sole determinant in shaping the political preferences of Universitas Syiah Kuala students during the 2024 Presidential Election. Keywords: Personal Branding, voting interest, social media, presidential election