“The Late Leader”: Influence of Political Leader’s Death on Their Evaluation

Abstract

Of the dead, nothing unless good—has this Latin quote practical implications for political marketers? We tend to view dead people (especially leaders) more favorably than their living equivalents. The phenomenon that psychology refers to as of “death positivity bias” (DPB) has been observed in the case of both business and political leaders. People show a death positivity bias even in impressions about politicians who were ineffective. Death seems to cement leader’s legacy, which encourages a sense of pride and identity and tends to foster group cohesiveness and involvement. In this paper we aim to verify 1) if people show a death positivity bias in their judgments about a real political figure, former Polish President Lech Kaczyński, 2) whether a DPB occurs also in the case of fictitious leaders with differences by gender and leadership styles. Study 1, based on opinion polls surveys completed before and after Kaczyński’s death, shows that voters evaluated him more favorably after his death than when he was alive. An experimental Study 2 shows that people express a DPB in their judgments about fictitious leaders within the two basic dimensions of social perception, i.e. communion and agency, while the leadership style and gender of a leader might have a moderating effect. Leader’s death as a valuable tool in political marketing campaigns and party image creation is discussed.