Relevance & Research Question: The rise of right-wing populist movements has been met with a great deal of concern in Western societies over the past few years, even reinforced by the surprise election of Donald Trump. Whilst not as big as in the US, the right wing movement in Germany has been examined by (mainly) quantitative studies, which described populist voters as ‘left behind’, ‘worried about today’s uncertainties’ or ‘authoritarian’. Our exploratory research study aims to shed light on voters who are prone to right wing populist voting using online qualitative methodologies by examining their life circumstances, issues and attitudes towards politics. Ultimately, there will be hints for decision makers on how to reach these voters and how to win them back.

Methods & Data: The study will be conducted in 2 phases: An ethnographic mobile diary and an online community with individual and interactive elements. 30 Participants will be recruited using a screener that includes demographics, voting behavior and attitudes known to be connected to populist voting (e.g. attitudes to EU, outlook on Germany and the economy). In a first phase we explore peoples’ lives: the participants keep an ethnographic mobile diary, sharing pictures of their homes and daily habits. A particular emphasis is placed on media usage and communication channels. In the community phase we combine creative, nonverbal tasks with accompanied discussions to elaborate their views on the current state of Germany and the Germany they’d ideally prefer to live in. Finally, we are getting participants to formulate expectations towards political decision makers with regards to political culture, leadership and policies.

Results: None yet – study to be conducted in January-February 2017.

Added Value: Whilst online qualitative methodologies have been widely adopted in commercial research, this has yet rarely been the case in political research. This study aims to show that qualitative online research can be a valuable addition to traditional methodologies when it comes to understanding how peoples’ lifestyles and attitudes influence their political behavior including voting intention.