Showing papers in "Journal of Political Marketing in 2010"

Microtargeting and Electorate Segmentation: Data Mining the American National Election Studies

Abstract: Business marketers widely use data mining for segmenting and targeting markets. To assess data mining for use by political marketers, we mined the 1948 to 2004 American National Elections Studies data file to identify a small number of variables and rules that can be used to predict individual voting behavior, including abstention, with the intent of segmenting the electorate in useful and meaningful ways. The resulting decision tree correctly predicts vote choice with 66 percent accuracy, a success rate that compares favorably with other predictive methods. More importantly, the process provides rules that identify segments of voters based on their predicted vote choice, with the vote choice of some segments predictable with up to 87 percent success. These results suggest that the data mining methodology may increase efficiency for political campaigns, but they also suggest that, from a democratic theory perspective, overall participation may be improved by communicating more effective messages that bett...

Bridging Two Schools of Thought: Applications of Public Relations Theory to Political Marketing

Abstract: The use of public relations strategies and tactics are ubiquitous in many areas of political communication. This is especially evident when considering the emerging field of political marketing. However, little application of public relations theory and research has been integrated into the study of political marketing processes. Thus, this work seeks to bridge two schools of thought and to identify some of the major conceptual perspectives from public relations theory that can be used to better understand and analyze the dynamics of political marketing processes. Specifically, the perspectives include relationship theory, contingency theory, situational theory of publics, and agenda-building theory.

The Branding of States: The Uneasy Marriage of Marketing to Politics

Abstract: This article reviews the growing literature on state branding and argues that any attempt to understand the impact of advertising and marketing on politics cannot be divorced from the larger phenomenon of privatization of the state. The article examines the way in which states have marketed themselves drawing on examples from Canada, the US, the UK, and other nations. It argues that the practice of state marketing is a pernicious one, and the ability of states to change their public perception through branding exercises is called into question.

Feeling the Issue: How Citizens' Affective Reactions and Leadership Perceptions Shape Policy Evaluations

Abstract: This article examines how general feelings toward political actors shape the way citizens process information about policy issues. Images of political actors are prevalent shortcuts on which we rely during political decision making. A few studies go beyond the cognitive nature of these person-oriented heuristics and demonstrate that affective reactions toward a story protagonist generate swings in the evaluations of policy issues. This research borrows from the literature on persuasion, information processing, affective intelligence, and motivated reasoning to measure how affective responses to the image of a politician determine the way citizens evaluate policy proposals. In this study, an experiment is conducted wherein the name of a politician supporting two actual policy proposals is varied and the corresponding subjects' reactions to the policy content is measured. Findings suggest that the images projected by political candidates function as “gut-level” affective (emotional) shortcuts, such that whe...

Who Influences Whom? The Agenda-Building Relationship Between Political Candidates and the Media in the 2002 Michigan Governor's Race

Abstract: Building on previous research in the field of agenda-building by examining the relationships between candidates and the media, this study used content analysis to examine how the 2002 Michigan candidates for governor presented election issues in press releases, and the subsequent media coverage of the issues in Michigan newspapers. The analysis revealed positive cross-lagged correlations between candidate and media issue agendas at certain times of the campaign. While the current study suggests that certain news sources can have an influence on the subsequent media agenda, results indicated a reciprocal effect, indicating that candidates also run the risk of being influenced by the same media they are attempting to influence.

The Emergence of the “Accidental Citizen”: Implications for Political Marketing

Abstract: The central argument developed in this paper is premised on the belief that, in the life experiences of individuals, we find a messy interface between politics and consumption, where, often unintentionally, we take on citizenly roles and have civic experiences in market spaces as consumers. Flowing from this is the emergence of what the author calls the “accidental citizen,” where consumer actions increasingly contain political qualities and, just as importantly, these experiences are acknowledged and reflected on as such. The paper presents an argument that rejects the dominant discourse that contrasts notions of consumer and citizen. This position of contrast is the established position taken in the political science literature that considers citizenship predominantly in terms of legalistically based relations between individuals and the state (Offe, 1999), and, given that political marketing developed as an addendum to this body of work, the view of consumer contrasting with citizen underpins much poli...

Strategic Political Postures and Political Market Orientation: Toward an Integrated Concept of Political Marketing Strategy

Abstract: Recently, the areas of strategic political marketing and political market orientation have been the subject of several conceptual articles that have provided the theoretical foundations for further empirical work. However, despite the close conceptual relatedness of the proposed concepts, they have yet to be integrated to provide a more nuanced framework that both researchers and political marketing practitioners can utilize in the development of strategies and offerings with which to achieve their organizational goals. The aim of this conceptual article is to address this deficit by developing an integrated concept of political marketing strategy using two complementary frameworks, namely strategic political postures and political market orientation (PMO). The authors introduce the two main concepts and derive for each of the strategic posture-specific PMO profiles as well as interconstruct relationships.

Political Culture and Perception of Political Marketing Tools: A Cross-Generational Comparison

Abstract: This study explores differences in political culture and perceptions of political marketing between generations. Growing educational level is significant in transforming individuals' political culture. Changes are assumed to affect younger more than older generations. The authors use a random sample of 301 respondents. Statistical techniques are employed for the data analysis. In order for political marketing to play a leading role in the political education of the younger generation, it has to be trusted and ahead of the emerging political culture. The results do not support the hypothesis about the cross-generational differences in perceptions of political marketing. This means that we have to reconsider the way political marketing has been employed so far in Greece.

Web Sponsorship and Campaign Effects: Assessing the Difference Between Positive and Negative Web Sites

Abstract: This 2 × 3 experiment investigated the impact of Web-based political campaigns on viewers. Three distinct sites were created as stimuli: the first is positive about the feature candidate, the second is negative toward his or her opponent, and the third contains both positive and negative messages. Subjects viewed identical Web sites sponsored by the feature candidate and by an interest group. Researchers then tested for potential differences in liking, voting intention, credibility, and apathy. Results show that positive messages lead to higher liking and voting intention. Site sponsorship only makes a difference to credibility of negative information. Additionally, viewers' apathy plays a significant role in political information processing.

The Relationship of Verbal and Nonverbal Behavior to Political Stature: The Political Interviews of Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon

Abstract: The study presents an innovative model for examining both the relationship between the verbal and nonverbal behavior of a political figure in political interviews and the effects of his/her political stature on his/her performance. The uniqueness of the model lies in the simultaneous examination of the two channels of communication, the verbal and nonverbal and the definition of their relationship, e.g., discrepancy when there is a contradiction and inconsistency between the channels, and non-discrepancy when they are consistent and do not contradict each other. The model characterizes patterns of discrepancy and non-discrepancy both in the behavior of the interviewer and in that of the interviewee and relates them to the political standing of the interviewee. The study examined the behavior of Israel's former prime minister Ariel Sharon in television appearances over the past 20 years, in which he had both periods of strong political standing as well as periods of low political status. Findings significa...

An Investigation into the Discourse of Political Marketing Communications in Turkey: The Use of Rhetorical Figures in Political Party Slogans

Abstract: This study explores the use of rhetorical figures in political party slogans in Turkey. In the first stage of the research, a content analysis establishes that the use of rhetorical figures in political party slogans is limited. Irony and metaphor appear to be the two most commonly used rhetorical devices in political party slogans. The Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi, or AKP), which came to power in November 2002, 1 year after its establishment, tended to avoid rhetorical figures in its political campaigns in line with its positioning. It is established that the avoidance of the use of rhetorical figures in their slogans has helped the AKP emphasize the image and its positioning—a party of action without demagoguery and gossiping—it wanted to create in the minds of the voters.

Linkages Between Public Relations Models and Communication Managers' Roles in Spanish Political Parties

Abstract: Studies of political and electoral communication usually focus on the strategic dimension of campaigns from a marketing approach. In these studies, public relations and communications are viewed as a set of techniques that serve political parties and other actors of the political scene, concentrated on media relations. This instrumental perspective is not in keeping with the structural dimension of organizational communication in the activity of political actors: political parties, pressure groups, and political leaders. From this point of view, during managing periods of governance and during electoral campaigns, the most applied communication form by political parties is structured in accordance with the major communication models founded by public relations theorist James E. Grunig: the press agent model, the public information model, the two-way asymmetrical model, and the two-way symmetrical model. This research shows the applicability of these models and its links with the roles of in-house politica...

Methods of Political Marketing in (Trans)Formation of Innovation Culture

Abstract: This paper examines the possibility to use political marketing concepts and methods in the promotion of one of the main targets of a national innovation policy, that is, the development of an innovation culture among private firms. Cyprus, a small peripheral country, is used as a case study. The current methods of promotion and the communication activities of public innovation policy makers in Cyprus and their deficiencies are outlined. Then, a specific framework for developing a relevant marketing strategy is proposed. Newer trends in political marketing theory are also examined for possible application in the improvement of marketing strategy and its implementation.

Toward a System Dynamics Modeling Framework for Effective Political Organization Management Strategies

Abstract: In the face of the high complexity and uncertainty in the political market landscape, developing effective strategies becomes the greatest challenge for political organization managers. Traditional tools for strategy analysis become obsolete in front of the dynamic complexity that governs political organizations and their environments. Drawing knowledge from a literature review on political marketing strategies and models, this paper employs systems thinking and system dynamics principles in order to develop a political marketing modeling framework, whereby the systemic effects of various strategies and policies may be analyzed dynamically. The developed framework gives the opportunity to the researcher or political practitioner to model and simulate the feedback structure of the political marketing problem situation. The framework model draws the interrelationships of the political offer, the adoption rates, and the political market growth and the main influences, such as the sources of attractiveness fo...

The Role of a Psychographic Approach in Segmenting Electorates' Voting Behavior and Party Identification

Abstract: Generally speaking, demographics explain two-thirds of everything. This study demonstrated how personal values may be associated with demographic characteristics to create a better market segmentation tool for investigating differences and similarities in both party identification and voting behavior. It supplied confirmation of the interrelationships among demographic characteristics, party identification, and voting behavior, as well as theoretical concept and empirical evidence of personal values in marketing research. Results indicated that personal values are far more likely than demographic characteristics to predict party identification and voting behavior.

A Comparative Analysis of British Elections in 2001 and 2005: Same Outcome, Different Recipe? The Labour Strategy

Abstract: This paper examines the campaign strategies of the Labour Party in Great Britain during the elections of 2001 and 2005. Using comparative analysis, this research investigates the factors that contributed to the election results. Beginning with the issues that the party raised in both campaigns, evaluating the polls before the elections, and counting the leadership of Tony Blair, the author will try to come to a conclusion by comparing the two elections.

Political Public Opinion Capital

Abstract: This special issue is intended as an analytical approach to the wide-ranging process of political public opinion capital. Since it may be read as an increasingly sophisticated concept, the reasons for analyzing such a process at all need to be signaled clearly from the outset of political marketing. For the scope of conceptual precision, it is necessary to consider the term capital separately from political public opinion—at least initially—in order to reflect upon varied genres of their actual and potential combination. ‘‘Public opinion’’ is much more commonly used in political marketing discourse, not with any great precision but nearly always with pragmatic connotations. Nevertheless, public opinion has been defined with rationality or the sureties of empiricism, and it has been studied extensively in political disciplines. Lippmann’s (2004) lengthy defense of affective factors that so frequently distort and determine perception has served as a point of departure to the study of ‘‘opinion’’ in the broadly sociological sense normally deployed in political science, communication, marketing, and media studies. In the political marketing context discussed here, the term political public opinion capital is further distinguishable from two closely connected practices: one, a practice of primary media production of perceptions and, two, systematic public opinion surveys. However, this special issue pays more attention to the mechanisms of transition in the realm of political marketing. As such, it examines the rise of political consumerism, with more and more changes being introduced by political organizations to maximize the ‘‘capital’’ of public opinion, aiming at the positive relationship between branches of the political apparatus and the citizens=consumers. This consumptionist position is called into study from the perspective of political marketing. Newman, in his model of voter behavior, developed the

A Review of: “Johnson, Dennis W., Editor. (2009). Campaigning for President 2008: Strategies and Tactics, New Voices and New Techniques.”

Abstract: Dennis Johnson has assembled a distinguished group of practitioners and political scientists to review the 2008 U.S. presidential election and has provided an insightful analysis of this remarkable election. This is an essential read for students of politics, campaigning, and political marketing alike. If edited volumes occasionally suffer from a lack of focus, then this volume is characterized by a thematic approach that groups the chapters into three sections focusing on the primaries; new technologies; and finally, the presidential election campaigns. Johnson’s excellent introduction captures the drama of this ‘‘transformational election,’’ providing a précis of the chapters to come. Using the material provided from the contributors, he develops his argument that explains why Barack Obama was elected as the first black president. He recognizes that there were a number of complex variables that contributed his success—for instance how the Obama strategists extinguished the inevitability of Hillary Clinton’s nomination; new technological developments that enabled innovations in data mining, communications, and fund raising; and the fault lines in the McCain campaign—but concluded that, ultimately, it was untainted freshness of Obama that caught the attention of voters. He also provides a brief but illuminating explanation of the vagaries U.S. election system including the constitution and voting practices of the primaries and the influence of the super delegates. Hillary Clinton’s failure to secure the democratic nomination was surprising for many, and Faucheux argues that the complexity of the Hillary Clinton brand was exacerbated by the double-edged sword of Bill Clinton, who was able to raise large sums of money for the campaign but also to polarize opinion both among the campaign team and Democratic supporters. Faucheux argues that this resulted in an inconsistent message diluting the clarity of the Hillary Clinton brand. How John McCain succeeded in gaining the Republican presidential nomination according to Tony Fabrizio was his tenacity, remaining resolute when faced with major competition from other Republican candidates and the economic meltdown. According to Fabrizio, McCain failed to get complete support from the Republican party, who only rallied round when faced with an ultra-liberal Democratic nominee. Journal of Political Marketing, 9:225–227, 2010 Copyright # [2010] Crown copyright ISSN: 1537-7857 print=1537-7865 online DOI: 10.1080/15377857.2010.497744