Chart of the Month April 2024

Questions (translated from German): “How important was … of the [party voted for] in your decision to vote for the [party voted for]?” The item “... that the party does not form a coalition with the AfD” was only presented to voters who did not vote for the AfD. Figures in per cent. Missing values to 100 per cent: to some extent, not very important, not at all important, don’t know/no answer. Population: Voters in the 2025 federal election. Survey 1057 conducted on behalf of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung 2025.

Many factors play a role in the final voting decision. Typical questions focus on issues, candidates, competence, party affiliation and coalitions. However, emotional factors also play a part. In our studies, we therefore always ask about feelings and emotions as well. In fact, two-thirds of voters state that their gut feeling played a very (35 percent) or somewhat important (31 percent) role in their decision.

Feelings – that is, the emotional aspect of the voting decision – are therefore a decisive factor for a large majority of voters. This applies to an above-average extent to voters for the AfD (74 percent), Die Linke (72 percent) and the SPD (69 percent).

You can read about which other voting motives and influencing factors were decisive in the study “Voting Motives in the 2025 Federal Election” (only in German).