BUDDHIST COMMUNICATION FOR CREATING POLITICAL POPULARITY OF LOCAL POLITICIANS IN UDONTHANI PROVINCE

Abstract

This research aims to 1. Political popularity of local politicians in Udon Thani Province, 2. Factors affecting political popularity of local politicians in Udon Thani Province, and 3. Buddhist communication to create political popularity of local politicians in Udon Thani Province. The researcher has set a mixed-method research model. The qualitative research used in-depth interviews with key informants and focus group discussions, and the quantitative research used a questionnaire with a reliability of 0.959. Data were collected from a sample group of 399 eligible voters in Udon Thani Province. Data was analyzed by finding frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and multiple regression analysis.

The research results found that 1. Political popularity of local politicians in Udon Thani Province was found to include the vision of candidates’ important policies; support from networks by having clear networks; public relations by using interesting advertising media; and frequent assessment of feedback by polling. 2. Factors affecting communication to create political popularity of local politicians in Udon Thani Province were found to include: Communication can jointly predict the political popularity of local politicians in Udon Thani Province at 63.1 percent, and the four principles of Sanghavatthu can jointly predict at 57.0 percent. 3. Buddhist communication to create political popularity of local politicians in Udon Thani Province found that in the aspect of giving, there should be sacrifice for the public good; in the aspect of kindness, there should be humility and sincerity; in the aspect of atthachariya, there should be beneficial and participatory behavior; in the aspect of unity, there should be non-discrimination.