Abstract—Beginner voters are part of groups that have a right to vote in elections. They need political reference associated with the introduction of legislative candidates or political parties. Number of beginner voters in polls 2014 predicted to reach 40 percent of the overall number of voters. Political advertising spending on elections 2014 in the campaign time was very large. For beginner voters, political advertising plays an important role as a socialization media for the introduction of a political party as well as legislative candidates in the election. Political ad could be one of political references for them. The study aims to develop political advertising as socialization media for the beginner voters so it expected to increase political participation of beginner voters. This research is a qualitative research, with reception analysis methods. Data collection technique is by in depth interview and focus group discussion. The result showed that not all the audiences can understand completely the message of ads. Based on the televisual theory of Stuart Hall that the audience analysis divided in three positions recitation; predominant hegemonic, negotiations and the opposition. This research has theoretical implications for understanding political party ad(s) and election in Indonesia for beginner voters. Index Terms—Political ads, beginner voter, reception analysis, media socialization. I. INTRODUCTION 2014 is the year of politics in Indonesia. Beginner voters would need information about the election, political parties and legislative candidates before using the right to vote. According to Law No. 8 of 2012 article 19 paragraph 1 explaining that beginner voters are citizens who on polling day fulfilled aged 17 years or more or have been married have the right to choose [1]. Election Commission as election organizers noted that the number of registered voters on the 2014 election reaches 187 852 992 people with beginner voter prediction 40 percent of the total number voter [2]. Political advertising can be a socialization media on elections and political parties, especially during the campaign. The use of political advertising within political activity is commonly practiced in Indonesia. For that reason, political ads can be understood as the most persuasive political communication. Political advertising is also known as a political marketing activities. This strategy is delivered to the voter to explain the positioning of political parties and candidates on the electoral market in the interest Manuscript received September 9, 2015; revised Novermber 5, 2015. This work was supported in part by the Directorate General of Higher Education, Ministry of Education and Culture of Republic of Indonesia. The authors are with the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Pembangunan Nasional Veteran Yogyakarta, Indonesia (email: reny.triwardani@gmail.com, idawiendijarti@yahoo.co.id). of achieving the goal of political communication. Political marketing implies the usage of marketing tools, techniques and methods in political process. As an activity and method, it reflects the penetration of the political space by marketing. Maarek (1995) appears to equate a company’s consumer products with a political party’s political communications. Such a parallel cannot be drawn, as a party’s “product” does not consists of its political communications but of: a) its ideological platform and its set of policy proposals, b) the party leader, the candidates and party officials and c) party members in general [3]. Political ads play an important role in determining the political direction voter and the political ads on television have been spending the largest portion compared to other media. AC Nielsen data mentions that the growth of advertising spent reaching 2.04 trillion and television has became a prima donna for political parties to place ads in 2014 election (Selasar Economics, 2014) [4]. During the campaign in the legislative elections, political advertising spending on television reached 340 billions that was calculated starting on 16 March to 5 April 2014 [5] (see Tabl e I). TABLE I: POLITICAL PARTY ADVERTISING SPENDING 2014 Source: Sigi Kaca Pariwara, 2014 in Kompas.com Political advertising on television has advantages since it becomes the most extensive coverage area up to 90% in Indonesia. According to M. Qodari, chairman of the Indo Barometer, the direct election system in 2014 make the political parties and politician should socialize the voters to choose them, especially party with a limited network. Advertisement on television becomes effective for political parties and politicians because they will be soon well-known and popular [6]. Currently, political advertising are being more used to build brand awareness, individual awareness, and awareness party. This study aims to determine the voters experience as active audience that involved in the process of exchange Reception Analysis of Beginner Voter toward the Political Party Advertising of the Winning in the Election 2014 Reny Triwardani and Ida Wiendijarti No Political party Advertising spending (Rupiah) 1 Hanura 70,5 Billion 2 Demokrat 56,8 Billion 3 PAN 43,8 Billion 4 Golkar 39,88 Billion 5 PDIP 33,58 Billion 6 Nasdem 33,28 Billion 7 Gerindra 26,49 Billion 8 PKB 20,68 Billion 9 PPP 9,69 Billion 10 PKS 4,93 Billion 11 PKPI 3,17 Billion 12 PBB 400 Million 779 International Journal of Social Science and Humanity, Vol. 6, No. 10, October 2016 doi: 10.18178/ijssh.2016.6.10.748