Wednesday, October 9, 2013

94% of web-savvy urbanites plan to vote: Google survey

NEW DELHI: A survey conducted in 65 urban constituencies across the country has found almost 94% of Indian voters who are active online plan to vote in the 2014 general elections.

The survey was carried out in 59 cities — including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Patna — in July and August by market-research firm TNS on behalf of Google India. It covered 7,042 registered voters who are also active on the web (almost 37% of total urban voters surveyed) and attempted to assess the role the internet can play in the elections.

Of the respondents, 85% said they had voted earlier. In the 18-25 age group, the corresponding figure was 64%. The survey found 42% of web-savvy urban voters were undecided.

It indicated how political parties could engage voters on the web. About 45% of respondents said it would become easier for political parties to take the right decision if they started providing information on the web. Fifty-seven per cent wanted political parties to discuss local issues on the web, 48% wanted updates on development and 43% wanted information about candidates and party manifestos.

Highlighting the role the internet can play in politics, the survey found over 60% respondents believed politicians with an online presence were more progressive. Over 50% also considered web-savvy politicians to be more transparent, involved with people, approachable and concerned about the problems common people face. Nearly 50% respondents said they would engage with politicians online if a leader had a website or a social-media page that allowed comments from readers and if he or she used video conferencing.

While some of the findings were along expected lines, a few were surprising. For example, contrary to popular belief that emphasizes a greater role for iconic leaders, most urban voters said they made their voting choice on the basis of the local candidate and party. The party was the most important criterion for 36% of respondents, while 35% said they would vote on the basis of the local leader. Only 11% said the PM candidate was an important factor for them.

"A significant population of registered urban Indian voters is now online," said Rajan Anandan, vice-president and managing director, Google India. "The findings reveal the internet will play an important role in influencing the large undecided urban Indian population in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. There's an opportunity for political parties and candidates to engage the urban Indian youth on the internet."

Anandan said ahead of the 2014 elections Google was already seeing an increase in search queries related to politics and elections. For example, a large number of voters want to know how they could register for voting, making "how to get election card" the top election-related search query from India.

"Election-related search queries on Google start peaking three-to-four months in advance and there was 500% growth in the overall query volumes during the last Lok Sabha elections," said a Google spokesperson. "This year though, with growing internet penetration, there's 800% growth in the query volume already. Mobile is becoming an important source of accessing the internet, with 25% election-related queries coming from mobile phones."

Google has over 90% market share in the online search market in India.

In terms of search queries related to politicians, Gujarat chief minister and BJP prime-ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is on top of the list, followed by Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi.

In countries such as the US, the internet already plays an important role during elections. During the 2012 election campaign, the campaign managers of US President Barack Obama used the web to mobilize support, especially among urban and young voters. Recently, social-networking service Facebook launched its "register for votes" campaign in India to encourage more people to vote.

Netizens and polls

— Survey covered 7,042 registered voters who are also active online

— 94% of respondents plan to vote in 2014 elections

— 85% have voted earlier

— 42% are still undecided

— Party and local candidate are the most important factors

— Only 11% will vote on the basis of PM candidate

— 45% voters want political parties to share information on the web

— 50% will engage with political parties online if right platform is provided

— Politicians with online presence are considered more progressive, transparent and approachable

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