Abstract
Abstract. The case study revolves around discussions by a group of students of a popular university in a cafeteria. State elections in Uttar Pradesh had just finished and students were wondering as to how the election results were against their pre-conceived notions. They were discussing about the reasons as to why they voted for their preferred political party as first-time voters. Overall, this case study purports to assess the impact of political parties’ branding on voters’ decision-making. The case study seeks to raise three concerns: how does political parties’ branding influence voters’ decision-making? what are the key factors which influence a voter in decision-making process?, and why is psychology so different in a multi-party system in developing economies’ contexts? A consumer-oriented approach is developed for assessing the impact of political parties’ branding on voters’ decision-making. It is concluded that voters’ decision-making is influenced by the political parties’ branding initiatives.
Keywords. Political parties’ branding; Political marketing; Voters perception.
JEL. P16, D72, D73.
References
Aaker, D. (1991). Managing brand equity. The Free Press: New York.
Aaker, D., & Joachimsthaler, E. (2000). Brand leadership. The Free Press: New York.
Baines, P. (1999). Voter segmentation and candidate positioning. In Newman, Bruce (Ed), Handbook of Political Marketing. Sage: Thousand Oaks.
Baines, P. R., & Egan, J. (2001). Marketing and political campaigning: Mutually exclusive or exclusively mutual? Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, 4(1), 25-33. doi. 10.1108/13522750110364541
Baines, P. R., Brennan, R., & Egan, J. (2003). Market classification and political campaigning: Some strategic implications. Journal of Political Marketing, 2(2), 47-66. doi. 10.1300/J199v02n02_04
Baines, P., Harris, P., & Lewis, B. (2002). The political marketing planning process: Improving image and message in strategic target areas. Marketing Intelligence and Planning, 20(1), 6-14. doi. 10.1108/02634500210414710
Baines, P., Lewis, B., & Yorke, D. (1999). Marketing planning for UK political parties: Co-ordinated local campaigning. Proceedings of the Academy of Marketing Conference, July, University of Stirling, Stirling.
Baines, P., Newman, B., & Harris, P. (1998). International political marketing: Towards a cross- cultural model. Paper presented at the Political Marketing Conference, University Ireland Cork.
Bannon, D. P. (2003). Relationship marketing and the political process. Paper presented at the Political Marketing Conference 2003, London, September, 2003.
Butler, P., & Collins, N. (1999). A conceptual framework for political marketing, in B. I. Newman (Ed.), Handbook of Political Marketing, Sage, Thousand Oaks, pp. 55-72.
Clarke, H.D., Sanders, D., Stewart, M.C., & Whiteley, P. (2004). Political choice in Britain. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Collins, A.M., & Loftus, E.F. (1975). A spreading activation theory of semantic processing, Psychological Review, 82(6), 407-28. doi. 10.1037//0033-295X.82.6.407
Collins, N., & Butler, P. (2003). When marketing models clash with democracy, Journal of Public Affairs, 3 (1), 52-62. doi. 10.1002/pa.133
Farrell, D. M., & Wortmann, M. (1987). Party strategies in the electoral marketing: Political marketing in West Germany, Britain and Ireland, European Journal of Political Research, 15, 297-318. doi. 10.1111/j.1475-6765.1987.tb00879.x
Harris, P. (2001). Machiavelli, political marketing and reinventing government, European Journal of Marketing, 35 (9/10), 1136-1154. doi. 10.1108/EUM0000000005962
Harris, P. (2001). To spin or not to spin, that is the question: The emergence of modern political marketing. The Marketing Review, 2(1), 35-53. doi. 10.1362/1469347012569436
Harris, P., Gardner, H., & Vetter, N. (1999). ‘Goods over God’: Lobbying and political marketing, In B. I. Newman (Ed.), Handbook of Political Marketing, Sage, Thousand Oaks, 607-626.
Harris, P., Lock, A., & O’Shaughnessy, N. (1999). Measuring the effect of political advertising and the case of the 1995 Irish Divorce Referendum. Marketing Intelligence and Planning, 17(6), 272-279. doi. 10.1108/02634509910293089
Harrop, M. (1990). Political Marketing, Parliamentary Affairs, 43, 277- 291.
Henneberg, S. C. (2002). Understanding Political Marketing, in N. O’Shaughnessy and S. C. Henneberg (Eds.), The Idea of Political Marketing, Praeger, Westport, 93-171.
Henneberg, S. C. (2003). Generic functions of political marketing management, Working Paper 19, School of Management, University of Bath.
Henneberg, S. C., & O’Shaughnessy, N. (2009). Political marketing management and theories of democracy. Marketing Theory, 9(2), 165-189. doi. 10.1177/1470593109103060
Kavanagh, D. (1995). Election campaigning: The new marketing of politics, Blackwell, Oxford.
Keller, K.L. (1993). Conceptualizing, measuring, and managing customer-based brand equity, Journal of Marketing, 57(1), 1-22. doi. 10.2307/1252054
Keller, K.L. (1998). Building, measuring and managing brand equity, Prentice Hall, New Jersey.
Keller, K.L. (2002). Branding and Brand Equity, in Weitz, B.A. and Wensley, R., (ed.), Handbook of Marketing, Sage, Thousand Oaks, California.
Kotler, P. (1972). A generic concept of marketing, Journal of Marketing, 36(2), 46-54. doi. 10.2307/1250977
Kotler, P., & Andreason, A. (1995). Strategic marketing for non-profit organizations, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River.
Kotler, P., & Kotler, N. (1999). Political Marketing, in B. I. Newman (Ed.), Handbook of Political Marketing, Sage, Thousand Oaks, 3-18.
Kotler, P., & Levy, S. J. (1969). Broadening the concept of marketing, Journal of Marketing, 33(1), 10-15. doi. 10.2307/1248740
Lees-Marshment, J. (2001). Political marketing and British political parties, Manchester University Press, Manchester.
Lees-Marshment, J. (2003). Political marketing: How to reach that pot of gold, Journal of Political Marketing, 2 (1), 1-32. doi. 10.1300/J199v02n01_01
Lock, A., & Harris, P. (1996). Political marketing vive la difference. European Journal of Marketing, 30(10/11), 21-36. doi. 10.1108/03090569610149764
Maarek, P.J. (1995). Political Marketing and Communication. John Libbey: London.
Mauser, G. A. (1983). Political Marketing: An Approach to Campaign Strategy, Praeger, New York.
Mortimore, R., & Tyrrell, C. (2003). Children’s acquisition of political opinions, paper presented at the Political Marketing Conference, Middlesex University, London.
Newman, B. I. (1994). The Marketing of the President, Sage, Thousand Oaks.
Newman, B. I. (1994). The forces behind the merging of marketing and politics, Werbeforschung & Praxis, 39(2), 41-46.
Newman, B. I. (1995). Political marketing as a governing tool, Werbeforschung & Praxis, 5, 163-167.
Newman, B. I. (1999). Handbook of political marketing, Sage, Thousand Oaks.
Newman, B. I. (2001). Image-manufacturing in the USA: Recent US Presidential elections and beyond, European Journal of Marketing, 36(9/10), 966-970. doi. 10.1108/EUM0000000005954
Newman, B. I. (2002). Editorial: The Role of Marketing in Politics, Journal of Political Marketing, 1 (1), 1-5. doi. 10.1300/J199v01n01_01
Newman, B. I., & Sheth, J. N. (1985). Political marketing: Readings and annotated bibliography, AMA, Chicago.
Niffenegger, P. B. (1989). Strategies for success from the political marketers, Journal of Consumer Marketing, 6(1), 45-61. doi. 10.1108/EUM0000000002539
O’Cass, A. (2001). Political Marketing. European Journal of Marketing, 35(9/10), 1003-1025. doi. 10.1108/03090560110401956
O’Shaughnessy, N. J. (1990). The phenomenon of political marketing, Macmillan, Basingstoke.
O’Shaughnessy, N. J. (2002). The Marketing of Political Marketing, In N. O’Shaughnessy and S. C. Henneberg (Eds.), The Idea of Political Marketing, Praeger, Westport, 209-220.
O’Shaughnessy, N. J. (2003). The symbolic state: A British experience, Paper presented at the 2003 Political Marketing Conference, London, September, 2003.
O’Shaughnessy, N. J., & Holbrook, M. B. (1988). What U.S. Businesses can learn from political marketing, The Journal of Applied Business Research, 4(3), 98-109.
Savigny, H., & Wring, D. (2009). An ideology of disconnection: For a critical political marketing. Central European Journal of Communication, 2(3), 251-266.
Scammell, M. (1994). The phenomenon of political marketing: The Thatcher contribution, Contemporary Record, 8(1), 23-43. doi. 10.1080/13619469408581279
Scammell, M. (1995). Designer politics, Macmillan, Basingstoke.
Scammell, M. (1999). Political marketing: Lessons for political science, Political Studies, 47, 718-739. doi. 10.1111/1467-9248.00228
Scammell, M. (2007). Political brands and consumer citizens: The rebranding of Tony Blair, The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 611(1), 176-192. doi. 10.1177/0002716206299149
Sherman, E. (1999). Direct marketing: How does it work for political campaigns, in B. I. Newman (Ed.), Handbook of Political Marketing, Sage, Thousand Oaks, 365-388.
Sherman, E., & Schiffman, L. G. (2002). Political marketing research in the 2000 U.S. Election. Journal of Political Marketing, 1(2/3), 53-68. doi. 10.1300/J199v01n02_05
Smith, G. (2001). The 2001 General Election: Factors influencing the brand image of political parties and their leaders. Journal of Marketing Management, 17(9-10), 989-1006. doi. 10.1362/026725701323366719
Smith, G., & Hirst, A. (2001). Strategic political segmentation, European Journal of Marketing, 35(9/10), 1058-1073. doi. 10.1108/EUM0000000005958
Smith, G., & Saunders, J. (1990). The application of marketing to British politics. Journal of Marketing Management, 5(3), 307-323. doi. 10.1080/0267257X.1990.9964106
Wring, D. (1997). Reconciling marketing with political science: Theories of political marketing. Journal of Marketing Management, 13(7), 651-663. doi. 10.1080/0267257X.1997.9964502
Wring, D. (1999). The marketing colonization of political campaigning, in B. I. Newman (Ed.), Handbook of Political Marketing, Sage, Thousand Oaks, 41-54.
Wring, D. (2001). Selling socialism: The marketing of the ‘Very Old’ British Labour Party, European Journal of Marketing, 35(9/10), 1038-1046. doi. 10.1108/EUM0000000005957
Wring, D. (2002). Conceptualising political marketing: A framework for election- campaign analysis, in N. J. O’Shaughnessy and S. C. Henneberg (Eds.), The Idea of Political Marketing, Praeger, Westport, pp. 171-185.
Wring, D. (2002). Images of Labour: The progression and politics of party campaigning in Britain, Journal of Political Marketing, 1(1), 23-37. doi. 10.1300/J199v01n01_03
