Profiling youth on the basis of their motivations for social media political participation

This chapter attempts to fill the gap and has two-fold objectives. It aims to identify key motivations that influence social media political participation. The chapter aims to categorize youth into discrete segments and develop a typology of youth based on the motivations for political participation in the context of social media. Motivations are the important constructs in consumer analysis and are the primary influence that propels a user to choose a particular medium. Contemporary youth are deeply immersed in social media. Profiling youth on the basis of their motivations for social media political participation would help political marketers to target the identified segments. The knowledge of the evolving segments can be efficaciously employed for the achievement of objectives and can foster political participation. Political participation would generate trust in the political system and amplify social capital. Increased political participation has positive implications for the future of democracy.