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Political Marketing Communications in Today’s Era: Putting People at the Center

  • Symposium: The State of American Politics
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Abstract

Several studies have focused on the impact of the main communication tools on political performance. However, little academic attention has been given to examine the influence of each communication strategy on voters as “consumers.” The researcher aims to test the relationship between each of the four main communication tools (i.e. public relations, media, advertising, and social media) and political performance, and the relationship of each of the aforementioned communication tools with the “offering” of political products that focus on voters. A survey of U.S. politicians indicates that public relations, media, and social media have a significant positive effect on political performance; public relations and social media also have a significant positive impact on the “offering” of products that focus on voters. In turn, the results show a significant positive relationship between political performance and the “offering” of political products that focus on voters.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Marketing, St. John’s University, Jamaica, NY, USA

    Nicos Antoniades

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  1. Nicos Antoniades
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Correspondence to Nicos Antoniades.

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Appendices

Appendix 1

Development of Hypotheses

POLITICAL PERFORMANCE

My ideas/proposals helped me achieve a higher performance among voters

Voters are satisfied with my ideas/proposals

Leonidou et al. (2012)

THE “OFFERING” OF POLITICAL PRODUCTS THAT FOCUS ON VOTERS-CUSTOMERS

I give priority to offering political ideas/proposals that focus on voters (i.e., human rights, equal opportunities, health care, social benefits, etc.)

I provide my political ideas/proposals in a way that voters can be benefited

Adapted from Antoniades et al. (2018)

COMMUNICATION TOOLS

H1a: There is a positive relationship between Public Relations (PR) and Political Performance (PP).

H1b: There is a positive relationship between Public Relations (PR) and Voters (VO).

Public Relations (PR)

I often produce press releases and present my political ideas/proposals at social events, conferences, forums, etc.

Adapted from Antoniades et al. (2018)

Leonidou et al. (2012)

H2a: There is a positive relationship between Media (MD) and Political Performance (PP)

H2b: There is a positive relationship between Media (MD) and Voters (VO)

Media (MD)

I present my political ideas/proposals to the media (i.e., TV, radio, newspapers, and magazines)

Adapted from Antoniades et al. (2018)

Leonidou et al. (2012)

H3a: There is a positive relationship between Political Advertising (PA) and Political Performance (PP)

H3b: There is a positive relationship between Political Advertising (PA) and Voters (VO)

Political Advertising

I use political advertising to promote my political ideas/proposals (i.e., TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, and the Internet)

Adapted from Antoniades et al. (2018)

Leonidou et al. (2012)

H4a: There is a positive relationship between Social Media (SM) and Political Performance (PP)

H4b: There is a positive relationship between Social Media (SM) and Voters (VO).

Social Media

I use social media to promote my political ideas/proposals (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.)

Adapted from Antoniades et al. (2018)

Leonidou et al. (2012)

H5: There is a positive relationship between Political Performance (PP) and Voters (VO)

Appendix 2

Table 6 Demographic profile
Full size table

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Antoniades, N. Political Marketing Communications in Today’s Era: Putting People at the Center. Soc 57, 646–656 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12115-020-00556-6

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