Political Advertising Exposure on Social Media and Political Behavior among University Students: Evidence from the University of La Salette

This study examined the relationship between exposure to political advertisements on social media and the political behavior of college students at the University of La Salette, Inc., Santiago City, Isabela. A quantitative descriptive-correlational design was used, with a one-shot survey administered through Google Forms to 363 students selected through proportionate stratified random sampling across the university’s ten colleges. The questionnaire, adopted from Stach (2015), measured political behavior in terms of political self-efficacy, situational political involvement, perception of political advertisements on social media, and political influence, together with social media utilization and exposure to political advertisements. Results showed strongly favorable political self-efficacy (M = 8.71) and situational political involvement (M = 8.84), an overall “Agree” perception of political advertisements (M = 7.80), and the lowest rating for political influence (M = 6.29, “Slightly Agree”). Students visited social media, interacted with it, and encountered political advertisements on it about one to two times a day on average, with TikTok the most frequently used platform and Twitter/X the least. Pearson correlation showed significant, low-to-moderate relationships between exposure to political advertisements and political self-efficacy, situational political involvement, and perception of political advertisements, but no significant relationship with political influence. These results indicate that political advertising on social media is associated, modestly and selectively, with students’ political self-efficacy, involvement, and perceptions, while peer and family influence appears to operate through more interpersonal channels. The study recommends media and information literacy initiatives and platform-targeted voter education for the university community.