General election marketing-selling a can of beans, building a favours bank or managing an event?

Abstract

This paper applies three marketing approaches to identify a possible framework for analysing the 2010 general election. The first approach to be assessed is transactional, which is the traditional view of political marketing. The second approach is relationship marketing, of which there is some evidence that it has applied to politics. The third approach, experiential, has not yet been applied to the political context. As this is an exploratory research project, the data are collected from one small geographical area, Devon. Interviews were conducted with candidates in the 12 seats in this county to identify which, if any, of these three marketing approaches might apply to UK general elections. The article, argues that a hybrid approach to political marketing, drawing on all three approaches can potentially offer researchers a framework for understanding general election campaigns. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.