HOW THE PEOPLE DECIDE THEIR VOTE? A CASE STUDY OF THE VOTER BEHAVIOR/COMO O POVO DECIDE SEU VOTO? UM ESTUDO DE CASO DO COMPORTAMENTO DO ELEITOR

This study has the objective of investigate the vote behavior when choosing candidate and party. The review of the bibliography discusses the approaches to the formation of political behavior and choices of voters, according to economic, sociological and psychological factors, from which it developed two conceptual models to analyze the weights of the factors in the choice of the voter by the candidate and party. A survey research was conducted in the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte in 2010, with 310 voters, after the election of the Governor of the State of Minas Gerais. The models showed significant weights related to the selection of the candidate in the following factors: the opinion of friends / colleagues, family, current events and assessment of the current government. The research contributes to the understanding of factors influencing the elector decision to vote and indicates points of relevance for the society, researchers and politicians in establishment of electoral strategies. It is suggested the replication of the adopted models and metrics in other elections.