The leading perception of young voters in Malatya: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's leadership a study on its image

Young voters' perception of political party and leader image varies depending on many factors. However, in general, the political preferences of young voters differ from the political preferences of the society in general. Therefore, young voters' perception of political parties and leaders is more flexible and variable compared to other segments of the society. Among the factors affecting young voters' perception of political parties and leaders, there are many factors such as education level, lifestyle, media use, social and cultural factors. Moreover, young voters' political preferences and perceptions may also be shaped by the personalities of leaders. Young voters evaluate leaders' charisma, vision, sincerity, openness to youth and innovation. At the same time, the realism and consistency of leaders' political promises are also important for young voters. In this study, a survey was conducted to determine the perception of the leader of the young voters of the parties in the province of Malatya and the perception of the leader image of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. As a result of the analyzes, it was found that 49.3% of the young voters, who are the majority, see Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as the leader. In addition, it is seen that the image perceptions of the political party leaders of the participants differ according to the demographic characteristics examined. Keywords: Leader Image Perception, Young Voters, Political Party.