Party Brand Research Articles

Factors Influencing Political Brand Coolness and Voting Intention

ABSTRACTEstablishing a voter connection requires political parties to prioritize providing the electorate with pleasurable experiences, treating them as consumers, and incorporating the “coolness factor” as a key ingredient. Consequently, the perceived coolness of a political brand is a characteristic that develops and evolves independently within society. The current empirical research aims to explore the various factors that contribute to the perceived coolness of political brands and its influence on voting intention. The study's participants are selected from India, a vibrant and diverse nation known as the world's largest democracy. In order to analyze the data, researchers employ the technique known as Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The results of the analysis highlight the considerable impact of political party brand meaning on its coolness, indicating a positive relationship between the two. The coolness of the political party brand is heavily influenced by the leader's image, which has a significant positive impact. It is further revealed that political party brand coolness has a significant positive association with voting intention and party brand engagement. Our investigation shows that political brand engagement serves as a mediator in the association between political brand coolness and voting intention, besides the direct influence of political brand coolness on voting intention. A comprehensive understanding of the study's findings enables political marketers to identify more effective strategies for cultivating political brand coolness and leveraging them to create memorable experiences that resonate with voters. Those factors ultimately affect how people vote.

The logic of ambitious legislators in fluid party systems

AbstractClassic theories of political ambition assume relatively stable and programmatic party systems. However, in many parts of the world, ‘fluid’ or ‘inchoate’ party systems do not provide ambitious legislators with the electoral benefits associated with stable party brands. In this paper, we examine ambition in fluid party systems: What is the frequency of party switching for legislators who seek re‐election, and what are their characteristics? What incentives do parties create to push away or retain legislators? And which parties do ambitious legislators seek out? Using a systems approach, we argue that in fluid party systems, legislators' office‐seeking behavior is driven by their attitudes towards parties and their constituents, their prospective evaluation of party performance, and ideology. Incentives for politicians to switch parties act as negative feedback mechanisms which keep the party system stuck in a fluid state. We test the determinants of party switching using two data sources from Ecuador: a public records dataset of every legislator who earned re‐election from 1979 to 2021, and the Parliamentary Elites in Latin America (PELA) surveys of all legislators from 1994 to 2017. Both sources distinguish between switchers and non‐switchers. The results support the conclusion that ambitious legislators in fluid party systems are strategic actors that seek or keep parties to maximize their probability of re‐election—and thereby further exacerbate the party system's fluidity.

Can individual MPs damage their party's brand? Quasi-experimental evidence from a public procurement corruption scandal

Can individual MPs damage their party's brand? Quasi-experimental evidence from a public procurement corruption scandal

‘A huge political experiment’ – exploring the political brand positioning of political parties in Jersey from an internal-external perspective’

ABSTRACT A political brand aims to project a differentiated and identifiable position in the minds of voters. However, there is limited understanding on the envisaged and realised positioning of political ‘party’ brands particularly in under-explored contexts. Therefore, this study investigates the brand positioning of four political ‘party’ brands from an insider (politician) and outsider (voter) perspective in the context of the British Crown Dependency of Jersey. Adopting a qualitative approach, this study conducted semi-structured interviews with politicians-candidates from all four political parties in Jersey and focus group discussions with young voters 18–24 years. Thematic analysis was adopted as part of the analytical strategy. It was revealed internal stakeholders created clear positioning for their political brands grounded on values and visual identity cues rather than grounded on distinct policies. However, the brand positioning of the three of the four political party brands were largely unclear from the standpoint of young voters. The study has implications for academics-practitioners beyond politics. More specifically, this study presents ‘the Political Brand Positioning Toolkit’. The toolkit developed from existing theory and empirical findings represents a systematic framework, which provides guidance on how to position new or existing brands and strategically manage a brand’s envisaged and realised position.

Winning the election; determining the main reasons for decision to vote in religious country

Purpose All presidential and legislative candidates want to be the winner. However, they do not know the determinants of voters' reasons for making choices. This study aims to investigate the role of education level, political party brand reputation, religiosity brand personality and e-WOM on voters' decisions with implications for voters' loyalty. Design/methodology/approach The survey method was used to collect data from 1206 respondents who have the right to vote through offline and online using Google forms shared on social media platforms—data analysis using Structural Equation Modeling using the SmartPLS 4.0 program. Findings The results showed that Brand Reputation of Politics can encourage brand Religious Personality and e-WOM. Brand Religious Personality is a factor that causes the decision to vote. However, the level of education is not a determining factor for Brand Religious Personality and e-WOM. In addition, brand religious personality, e-WOM and Decision to vote can mediate Brand Reputation of Political loyalty. Practical implications The findings from this study can help political parties and candidates develop strategies tailored to voters' needs and increase their chances of winning elections. Originality/value The novelty in this study is the development of a model that has never been tested before that uses factor sources from marketing science literacy such as Brand, e-WOM and Loyalty. This study also used moderation variables namely choosing decisions, e-WOM, and religious brand personality. The object of this research was conducted in Indonesia, which is included in the list of developing countries but has never been done in any country. The analysis tool uses the new SEM-PLS version 4.0, so it has a level of novelty and implications that are important for political marketing.

From torches to trees: Political party logo changes and voter perception

Logos are a prominent visual signal used by virtually every European political party. Most of these parties have also changed their logo at some point in their history. Despite the ubiquitousness of both logos and logo changes, little is known about voter attitudes towards this element of the party brand. To examine these questions, we first provide a theoretical framework that can be used to understand party logos and logo changes. We then implement a survey experiment in the United Kingdom to determine if voters notice these logo changes, how these may affect the issues that voters associate with the party, and how competent they perceive the party to be on these issues. Our findings provide suggestive evidence that voters notice and consider changes to the party logo, and that these changes can alter the issues that voters associate with the party. These findings provide the groundwork for future studies on party logos.

Indian voters’ attitude and behavior toward a political brand for producing green products: a mediation model

This study explores the attitude–behavior relationship among voters for political party brands that use a sustainable or green marketing approach. A structural equation modeling is used to analyze data collected from 1771 respondents who are registered Indian voters in this case. A positive attitude toward a political brand is compared to intentions to vote for the same brand. According to the findings, political brands create a more environmentally friendly product in the form of green actions because doing so encourages consumers to think favorably of the political brand, which results in them voting for it. As a result, authors are able to identify a positive attitude–behavior relationship for political brands among voters.

Marketing Political Parties: Political Branding Elements and Voters’ Preference: A Hypothesised Model

Objective - The aim of this study is to create a hypothesised model of political brand elements that can influence voters’ preference. Theoretical testing is used in analysing the research subject of this paper. Methodology/Technique - The qualitative research method was employed and the exploratory research design was used. A hypothesised model aids in theory building and presents a graphic representation of the exploratory research findings. Trustworthiness of the research was confirmed through credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability. Findings – Awareness, party campaign, brand trust, leader’s image, party brand image and brand association were identified as political brand elements that may influence voting preference. Novelty - The significance of identifying the political brand elements that can potentially influence voter preference will add to existing literature which will assist researchers and political parties in understanding how political supporters make their voting decision. In addition, the hypothesised model of the study can be tested quantitatively in future studies. Type of Paper: Empirical JEL Classification: M39, M31, D72, P16 Keywords: Political branding, Marketing, Politics, Qualitative, Hypothesised model Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Ferreira, D; Eyk, M.V. (2023). Marketing Political Parties: Political Branding Elements and Voters’ Preference: A Hypothesised Model, J. Mgt. Mkt. Review, 8(4), 111 – 118. https://doi.org/10.35609/jmmr.2023.8.4(1)

Overcoming the cost of governance? Junior party strategy in multi-level politics

How can junior coalition members overcome the costs of governing in a coalition? In this article, we argue that junior partners can use supranational and subnational political institutions as a venue for signaling disagreement with their coalition partners to mitigate the brand dilution that occurs in the coalition. To test this argument, we use roll-call data from the European Parliament (EP) from 1999-2009 to demonstrate that when intra-coalitional conflict increases, junior parties are more likely to defect from the prime minister’s party. In addition, we find that while junior parties in general are no more likely to defect on votes focused on their owned issues, niche parties are more likely to defect from the PM’s party on their owned issues as intra-coalitional conflict increases. Our results have important implications for junior party behavior and how multi-level politics can be used to strengthen party brands.

Celebrity political party endorsement and voter behaviour: a post-election empirical evidence

ABSTRACT The study submits a piece of real-life empirical evidence on voter choice influenced by celebrity endorsement in an election other than the dominant evidence of measured intentions in the scant literature on celebrity political party endorsements and voter behaviour. It responds to calls for more research on the subject, which is motivated by country-specific political nuances and their associated voter behaviour variations that affect measures of celebrity political endorsements. Drawing on the source credibility model, the study examined the influence of celebrity endorsements on voters’ choice of political party brands in Ghana. Attractiveness, trustworthiness, and expertise were conceptualised as a tri-component construct that influenced voters’ choices of endorsed political parties at the polls. Voters’ political salience was included in the model as a moderating variable, with voters’ age and gender as control variables. Leveraging scales from extant literature, data was collected from 1463 voters right after participating in the 2020 Ghanaian general elections using purposive sampling and the intercept mode. The results indicate positive relationships between trustworthiness, attractiveness, and voters’ political brand choice. While political salience moderated the relationship between trustworthiness and voters’ choice, the control variables provided no support for their hypothesised relationships. Compelling implications and recommendations are discussed.

The paradox of youth’s online political party brand engagement on Facebook: a congruity theory perspective

The paradox of youth’s online political party brand engagement on Facebook: a congruity theory perspective

Political brand experience and voting intention: Is there a relation?

The current study reveals that Indian voters' political brand experiences positively influence their engagement and trust in a political party. Voters' addiction to political parties mediates the relationship between their party engagement and voting intentions. Thus, political marketers should increase voters' party brand addiction for proper conversion of party engagement in the ballot box. Although voters' political brand trust directly influences their voting intentions, interestingly, their political brand addictions indirectly influence the relationship between brand trust and voting intentions. The findings advocate that political marketers should ensure positive political party experiences to ensure voters' engagement with the party. Positive party experiences increase voters' trust in the party further. Another critical input for political marketers is the role of political brand addiction, which the study findings corroborate. Political brand addiction develops a set of loyal voters for a party and guarantees those voters' support for the party.

From Gender Equity to Gendered Assignments? Women and Cabinet Committees in Canada and the United Kingdom

Abstract This article explores women's access to ministerial power in an important but understudied arena of executive politics: cabinet committees. Specifically, we analyse the gendered patterns in the distribution of cabinet committee assignments in two ‘typical’ Westminster cases, Canada and the United Kingdom, and under two prime ministers, Justin Trudeau (2015–2021) and David Cameron (2010–2016), who both made explicit gender-equity pledges. Informed by previous research into gendered allocation of ministerial portfolios, we investigate the overall extent of women's committee assignments, the gendered dimensions of these assignments and the status of assignments, namely the ‘prestige’ of committee remits, whether committees were chaired by the prime minister and the allocation of chairing responsibilities across committees. In both cases, overall assignment broadly matched shares of women ministers at the cabinet level, but less so during the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition in the UK (2010–2015). Women's shares of committee assignments were likely to be lower on ‘masculine’ and ‘high-prestige’ committees compared to ‘neutral’, ‘feminine’ and ‘low-prestige’ committees, but commitment to gender equity is more evident in the Canadian case. While our aim is exploratory and descriptive, we offer several explanations for these patterns, including the supply of women ministers, departmentalism, party branding and the low public profile of cabinet committees.

Peculiarities of the activities of Russian political parties in the context of the special military operation in 2022

This article analyzes the positioning of political parties in the current political realities. The special military operation in Ukraine is considered as a significant internal political and geopolitical event, which to one degree or another affected almost all socio-political institutions of Russia, including political parties. In this article the parties are classified into new ones, that are those which created after 2015 and participating in federal election campaigns, and those parties that managed to take a firm place in the political system and form fractions in the Parliament. The purpose of this study is to determine whether new political parties in 2022 were able to take advantage of the current period of instability to strengthen their position in the political space and to which extent. Analyzing the legislative, media and public activities of such parties as “United Russia”, the Communist party, the Liberal-Democratic party, “Just Russia – for the Truth”, “New People”, “Green Alternative” and the “Party of Growth” in 2022 it was concluded that among the new political parties only "New People" are relatively active in the framework of the agenda of a special military operation. Other new political parties, except for minor actions, projects and other activities, almost do not use special operations in their activities to promote their party brand and attract new supporters. At the same time, almost all the parties under consideration integrated the agenda of the special military operation into their activities, but this had a very small impact on the electoral sympathies of the population.

The legislative cost of ruling: Voter punishment of governing parties fuels legislator party dissent

AbstractPolitical parties in office generally incur a cost of ruling among the electorate. This article considers the broader implications of this phenomenon for democratic governance. We argue that the electoral cost a party incurs in office entails that its individual legislators become more inclined to vote against the party line as a way to distance themselves from the deteriorating party brand. We test and support several observable implications of this argument using time series data including all members of parliament in the British parliament between 1992 and 2015 coupled with monthly opinion poll data. The well‐established electoral cost of ruling thus translates into a legislative cost of ruling by reducing incumbent party legislators’ loyalty to the party line. We discuss how the legislative cost of ruling complicates effective governance but may also strengthen democratic accountability by reducing legislative capacity of governing parties that have lost their electoral mandate.

A Rumbling from Below? Opposition Party Rebranding, Regional Elections, and Transforming the Regime in Russia

In this paper we examine whether opposition parties, particularly the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF), can promote transition in the electoral authoritarian regime in Russia. We use the example of the National Action Party’s (PAN) evolution as an “official opposition” party in Mexico and discuss how its campaign strategy and party identity evolved. Using a framework derived from the political marketing literature on party branding and rebranding, we argue that the PAN successfully rebranded itself via the electoral opportunities afforded by structure of Mexican federalism, which ultimately led to the democratic transition in 1999. We then address the possibility of a similar evolution occurring in Russia, by examining how the CPRF altered its national campaign message between 2015–2018. Finally, we speculate whether local opposition victories will spark the kind of transition in Russia that occurred in other electoral authoritarian regimes, such as Mexico.

Green Marketing Strategy Adoption by Indian Political Party Brands with Special Emphasis on Marketing Mix

Purpose : The goal of this paper was to provide an overview of the green marketing mix of political party brands and to explain how Indian political brands are implementing green marketing strategies along with the marketing mix consisting of the seven Ps for political party brands. Methodology : The paper is theoretically positioned and qualitative in nature. Findings : We discovered that very few papers have investigated this topic. Neither green marketing nor political marketing researchers have identified the green marketing positioning strategy of political brands, nor have political marketing researchers focused on the seven Ps of a political brand. Political parties are implementing green marketing strategies in practice, but academics provide no evidence of this. Practical Implications : Following a thorough literature review, we concluded that political marketers or managers should continue exploring new voter segments, such as green voters. We advise researchers to focus on this area of marketing so that voter behavior can be studied more scientifically. Our study has limitations and leaves room for future researchers. More examples of green initiatives can be found while broadening the scope of research to include other countries. Originality : Unlike prior research in the green and political marketing domain, the current work has paid attention to non-conventional political marketing strategies. Development of the seven Ps concept is also undertaken for the first time.

THE INFLUENCE OF PARTY BRAND EQUITY ON ATTITUDE OF THE YOUNG GENERATION

Party brand equity is an essential strategy of political brand. Party brand equity relates the attitude to support or deciding to vote in a political party of the young generation. The methodology of the study is cross-sectional using survey questionnaire. Also, the objectives of the study are (1) purpose to examine the strategy to enhance the importance of voting in the young generation, and (2) to investigate the strategy of political party by influence of party brand equity and other party brands; there are party brand image, awareness, quality, loyalty and leadership on attitude of the young generation in the age 15 to 29 years. The study was analyzed the attitude by using party brand attitude. The findings of this study shown that, party brand equity and other party brands have a significant influence on attitude of the young generation.

Millstone or means to succeed: party-brand value, intra-party competition and personal vote-seeking

ABSTRACT Politicians will cultivate their personal vote if electoral rules foster competition within parties. We examine how the value of the party brand in the competition between parties affects how politicians attempt to build up their personal vote. Theoretically, if party valence is low, intra-party crowdedness intensifies, since a given number of candidates must vie for a smaller number of expected seats. In addition to this first mechanism, a poor party brand should generally (under weak assumptions about candidates’ beliefs) encourage less party-oriented and more person-oriented candidate campaigns. Empirically, we examine this argument in the context of the 2011 Irish legislative election. The incumbent Fianna Fáil struggled with its toxic party brand, as it was widely regarded as being responsible for the crash of the Celtic Tiger, whereas Fine Gael consistently led the polls. A content analysis of our own collection of campaign leaflets suggests that, in 2011, Fianna Fáil candidates ran much more personal campaigns than their Fine Gael counterparts, even when adjusting for the level of intra-party competition. For the campaign four years earlier, candidate survey data do not suggest such a difference. These findings suggest that low party valence contributes to personal vote-seeking.

POLICY OF THE JUSTICE AND DEVELOPMENT PARTY (AKP) IN THE NEED AND APPLICABILITY OF THE PRESIDENTIAL SYSTEM IN THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY

Since the time of Plato, there has been a discussion of political systems and regimes. In search of an ideal state structure in this process, the model of democracy, which is based on the will of the people, is accepted as an indicator of the only functioning system of modernity. The distribution or limitation of political power among the powers is governed by constitutions. Parliamentary, presidential and semi-presidential systems are considered the main systems of government in democratic countries. Since the existence of a parliament is not a guarantee of democracy, democracy can exist without a parliamentary system, and thus a parliamentary system can exist without democracy. Therefore, there is no direct relationship or proportion between the form of government and democracy or the rule of law. Is there a need and applicability of the presidential system, which is constantly discussed in Turkey, are some of the criticisms and reservations regarding this system correctly interpreted and understood. When it comes to the existence of a harmonious government in any country and the satisfaction of the electorate, it is necessary to consider the negative / positive discourses of leaders. The Justice and Development Party (AKP) has won every election since its founding by Recep Tayyip ERDOGAN. This research was carried out in order to understand the strong concept of the Ak Party brand and its value in the eyes of voters. Also in this article you can see an overview of the shortcomings of the presidential system, as well as the positive aspects of the presidential system. The study also takes into account the views of various authors, a conceptual analysis of public administration systems, and comparisons with examples of countries in the historical process. The study consists of three parts. The first part emphasized the need for a presidential system. The second part examines in detail the applicability of the presidential system in the Republic of Turkey. The third part contains criticisms and reservations against the system.