Political marketing:conceptualisation, dimensions

and research agendaLinus Osuagwu

Department of Business Studies,College of Business and Social Sciences, Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine political marketing with regard to its differentconceptualisations and dimensions, and to suggest cognate areas for empirical research efforts,especially in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Design/methodology/approach – Perspectives from relevant extant literature on meaning anddimensions of political marketing are examined, and empirical examination of these perspectives indeveloping countries suggested.

Findings – It was found that political marketing has many conceptualisations and dimensions, andits practice may be coloured by environmental issues, especially in developing economies with weakdemocratic infrastructure.

Research limitations/implications – Empirical investigations of political marketing indeveloping economies, as suggested in this paper, may be constrained by secrecy, lack ofsecondary data, and aparty on the part of relevant party executives, among others.

Practical implications – Party executives will benefit from the conceptualisations and dimensionsdocumented in this paper. In addition, researchers and students in the areas of marketing and politicalscience will find the research agenda a fertile ground for empirical research effort.

Originality/value – This paper should be of value to political party executives, electoralcommissions, educators and students of marketing and political science, in addition to governmentexecutives interested in relating beneficially with their citizens and other relevant stakeholders.

Keywords Marketing strategy, Nigeria, Africa, Politics

Paper type Conceptual paper

IntroductionDemocracy in any country or environment thrives on constructive criticism, differingopinions, competition and alternative policy choices. Debate and discussion are thetwin engines of democracy; they are the pillars on which representative governmentrests. Violence is the antithesis of political competition in a democracy. Conversely, fairpolitical practices epitomise the democratic process. Therefore, political practicesshould be exercised solely through approved competitive approaches and strategies(Jeter, 2003). Usually, politicians and political parties evolve different strategies toachieve set political goals and objectives.

Political practices and developments in any country have weighty implications forthe stability of the country, the security of investments and general business prospects.Political stability is a key factor in the conduciveness of an environment for businessactivities (Odeyemi, 2002). Political practices have always shaped the nature and scopeof national polities. Democratic practices and tendencies in Nigeria, for example, will

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Received December 2007Revised April 2008,

June 2008Accepted August 2008

Marketing Intelligence & PlanningVol. 26 No. 7, 2008

pp. 793-810q Emerald Group Publishing Limited

0263-4503DOI 10.1108/02634500810916726

have enormous implications not only for Nigeria and Nigerians but also for the regionsaround Nigeria and the world community as a whole (Halperin, 2000).

Certain factors such as constitutional issues, the fiscal system, legal andinstitutional complexity, low incentives, poverty, illiteracy, corruption and politicalinstability are some of the major problems confronting Nigeria. These problems havecombined to destroy the customer or market orientation of many Nigerian civil andpublic servants and undermined the confidence of the Nigerian public in governanceand democracy (Thomas, 2004). Also, human development indicators in Nigeria aregenerally below the average for sub-Saharan Africa. The presence of politicalinstability in Nigeria, for example, has created violent tendencies among Nigerianpoliticians, very slow rate of growth and development in the relevant indices,non-beneficial social activism, and lack of knowledge and interest among Nigeriancitizens regarding their rights, duties, obligations, tasks and responsibilities. Politicalinstability in Nigeria is substantially as a result of poor management practices andstrategies in Nigerian political organisations. With the presence of political instabilityoccasioned by poor managerial practices and strategies in Nigerian politicalorganisations, the interest in, and acceptance of democratic values by Nigerianswould be doubtful. Poor management practices in Nigerian political parties havespurred the military over the years to usurp political and economic power. Fordemocracy to thrive in any country, including Nigeria, political organisations have todesign efficient and effective management strategies which are relevant and enduring.

Political practices are supposed to serve as affirmations of a country’s democracy.Also, political practices (for example, political elections) should be exercises whichencourage the creative passion of a country’s best and brightest to develop solutions tothe country’s most urgent and difficult problems. In addition, political practices shouldinvolve a process where citizens of a country participate in the full discussion of criticalnational issues such as job creation, economic growth and development, security andstability, among others (Jeter, 2003). Such a process would facilitate the creation ofnational consensus, which could assist the growth and development of a country. Forexample, Ake (1996) posits that Nigerians are seeking democracy as a matter ofsurvival, and they believe that there are no alternatives to democracy. Therefore,political activities in any country, such as Nigeria, are supposed to be undertaken bypolitical parties through acceptable competitive approaches and strategies; they arenot supposed to be wars. However, Madunagu (2003) laments that political activities inNigeria are akin to civil wars.

Management practices in political parties determine substantially the growth anddevelopment of democracies (Gershman, 2000). Therefore, practices, policies andstrategies have to be evolved by political entities to build and sustain democracy incountries of the world. One of such strategies pertains to the actions of politicians andpolitical parties in relating to their voters, members, funders and relevant stakeholdersin the political environment. This paper examines political marketing with respect tomeaning, dimensions, strategies and areas for empirical research efforts.

Meaning of political marketingPolitical marketing can be conceptualised as the application of marketing concepts,principles and approaches in political issues by persons, groups, organisations andnations. The approaches associated with political marketing include the analysis,

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planning, implementation, evaluation and control of political activities by persons,groups, political parties, governments and lobbyists, among others. The majorpurposes in political marketing include driving public perspectives and opinions,advancing political ideologies, winning political contests and elections, and passinglegislation and forms of referenda pertaining to the needs, wants and desires of targetmarket segments (Newman, 1999). In Nigeria, political marketing may also includesystematic approaches and relationships which seek to persuade, convince and extractfrom the relevant persons or parties those things (including infrastructural facilitiesand support) which may advance personal, group, ethnic, tribal or professionalinterests.

Perspectives on political marketingAccording to Baines and Egan (2001), the phenomenon of political marketing isstill relatively new in historical terms, although the process of political campaigninghas existed for a long-time. However, the systematic use of political marketingprinciples, strategies and techniques seems to have developed recently due to the riseof industrialism and the enlargement of voter franchise (Wring, 1999). As an art,political marketing has existed prior to the notion of democracy, and as a collection ofcommunication tools and techniques, it has grown up as the twentieth century hasdeveloped (Egan, 1999).

Wring (1999) submits that the marketing discipline colonised political campaigningduring the latter part of the twentieth century. Historically, political marketing grewout of the works of political communication specialists from different disciplines.Presently, political marketing has matured into its own field (Newman, 2002).Indications of the maturity of this field can be seen in the publication of politicalmarketing text books, journals and the use of political marketing terms such as “spin”,“packaging”, “political advertising”, and “political strategies”, among others.

According to Newman (2002), political marketing, practically, uses many conceptsand terms which have been employed by profit and non-profit organisations in theirexchange transactions and relationships in marketing of goods, services and ideas totheir relevant customers, clients and stakeholders. Marketing influences contemporarypolitics substantially, and the same approaches used by profit-oriented businessorganisations to market their goods and services are also being used for the marketingof political candidates, policies, programmes and ideologies. Contemporary politiciansemploy marketing concepts and strategies in order to win elections and achieveeffectiveness as political actors.

Political marketing may, also, be conceptualised as the systematic and objectiveanalysis, planning, implementation, evaluation and control of political and electoralprogrammes, policies and processes designed to create, build, sustain and enhancemutually beneficial exchange transactions and relationships between a political party(on one hand) and its relevant audience (such as voters, electorates, party members,funders, etc.) for the purpose of achieving efficiency and effectiveness. PoliticalMarketing has been seen as the most suitable and encompassing discipline to analysethe application of marketing in politics (O’Cass, 2001).

Political marketing may, also, be seen as the marketing of ideas and opinions whichrelate to public or political issues or to specific candidates. In general, politicalmarketing is designed to influence people’s votes in elections. It is different from

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conventional marketing in that political concepts (ideas) are being sold as opposed togoods or services. However, political marketing employs many of the same techniquesused in product marketing such as advertising, direct mail, publicity, etc. (Clemente,1992). The constant dialogue between voters and their representatives in the legislativeand executive arms of government may be perceived as a form of political marketing.

Political marketing may, also, be conceived as techniques used for informing,communicating with, connecting with, persuading and reaching the electorate(and citizens generally) inside and outside political entities (Baines et al., 2002). Politicalmarketing in the USA and UK (compared to Nigeria) is regarded as being a sourceof innovation in campaign techniques (Kavanagh, 1995); at the cutting edge ofelectioneering innovation (Blumler et al., 1996); a world role – model for politicalcampaigns (Scammell, 1997); and as a result has brought about a transactionaldiffusion of American and British political marketing practices (Farrell, 1996; Baineset al., 2001). European and American styles of political marketing practices are likely tobe incorporated into democratic practices in those countries where electoral conditionsare most similar to those of Europe and the USA (Scammell, 1997).

Synthesis of thought on political marketingGenerally, political marketing seeks to establish, maintain and enhance long-termvoter relationship at a benefit for society and political organisations so that theobjectives of the individual political actors and organisations involved are met. This isdone by mutual exchange and fulfilment of promises (Henneberg, 1996;O’Shaughnessy, 2001). The political “product” may include party policy, leaderimage, promise, or references to past performance of a political entity (O’Shaughnessy,2001). Political marketing is, also, concerned with communicating with party members,media, prospective sources of funding and the electorates. As a result of its multipleaudiences, political marketing has a great deal in common with marketing for publicand non-profit organisations (Lock and Harris, 1996).

In addition, political marketing seeks to provide insight for interested citizens,politicians, groups, professionals and governments to understand how and why certainpoliticians, groups, governments and political parties use marketing strategiesefficiently and effectively. Political marketing deals also with ethical aspects ofgovernance regarding laws, regulations and practices which enhance and retard theability of a party, government or nation to function efficiently and effectively as ademocracy (Newman, 2002). Political marketing also highlights contemporarystrategic approaches used by democratic entities to run political campaigns.

Dimensions of political marketingGenerally, the field of political marketing addresses the following major issues, amongothers:

. Political advertising.

. Cyber-democracy.

. Propaganda in politics.

. Companies in politics.

. Women in politics.

. Direct marketing.

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. E-government.

. Marketing research & polling.

. Strategic management of political activities.

. Strategic corporate lobbying.

From a strategic/competitive perspective, political entities operate in situations, whichare relatively similar to an oligopoly (few sellers or marketers or parties) than to theconsumer marketing perspective generally associated with more perfect competition.However, there are many similarities between political marketing and traditionalfast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) marketing (Baines et al., 2002).

It should be noted, however, that there are aspects of political behaviour describedmore effectively using concepts and frameworks from political science rather thanmarketing. Examples include ticket-splitting (where voters vote for a different partyfor two or more political offices), traditional personal and tactical voting behaviourfrom a consumer behaviour perspective (e.g. protest voting), canvassing (particularlyin less developed countries), and comparative and negative advertising from acommunications perspective. It should be noted, also, that the goals and objectives of apolitical entity are different from those of commercial business organisations, and itmay be relatively difficult to index the performance of a political entity(Lees-Marshment, 2001a). However, political entities, like business organisations, userelevant forms of strategies in order to achieve set goals and objectives. One of thestrategies open to political entities is political marketing.

Political marketing strategiesPolitics is primarily concerned with structuring and ordering social existence.The behaviours, abilities and potentials of people are the anchor of responsible politicsin any country. Also, politics helps to integrate people in a society/community withtheir specific ideas about what constitutes a correct lifestyle and modes of socialrelationships. However, diminishing confidence in parties and politicians characterisessome democracies, and this has disastrous consequences for the democratic process(Dermody and Scullion, 2001), especially in developing democracies such as Nigeria.Although public disenchantment with political parties may not be same thing asdisenchantment with democracy, empirical evidence highlights worrying negativepublic attitudes towards aspects of Western democracy (Spogard and James, 2000).However, political organisations in most developed democracies have come to realisethat the fundamental principles and techniques of marketing can provide solutions totackling voter indifference to politicians and political parties (Bauer et al., 1996).

Political organisations have myriads of goals and, generally, seek effectivestrategies to compete in democratic contests. The major goal of a political party iselectoral success (Lees-Marshment, 2001a), and political parties use strategies whichwill lead them to win enough votes in general elections to win the control ofgovernment. Therefore, in most democracies of the world, politicians and politicalparties seek tactical and strategic marketing techniques to make themselves relevant tothe electorate and to gain the benefits of election or re-election. These politicians andpolitical parties recognise the need to match their political offerings with the corevalues of their relevant audience (Lock and Harris, 1996). Marketing could become apositive force influencing the way in which politics operates by, for example,

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contributing to policy formulation and aiding the prediction of future trends in thepolitical marketplace (O’Cass, 1996).

The market for political entities is complex, and may consist of voters, partymembers, funders, and relevant stakeholders. A political party’s product may includeits leadership or executives, members of state and federal legislature, staff, partysymbols, party constitution, party conferences and policies, among others(Lees-Marshment, 2001a). Marketing concepts, principles, frameworks and strategiesneed substantial adaptation in order to be of relevance in politics. According toScammell (1997), political marketing strategy offers a theoretical basis for explainingparty and voter behaviour which is more broad and inclusive than the conventionalcommunications approaches offered by political science theories.

Kotler and Kotler (1991) posit that political marketing is a key growth industryaffecting every person and institution, and the marketing of a successful politicalcandidate and cause is what political marketing strategy is all about. Politicalmarketing strategy offers new approaches for understanding and managingcontemporary political entities and persons. The relevance of marketing strategy inpolitics is that it promotes and enables political parties, voters and other relevantstakeholders to be part of a constructive dialogue, thereby deepening democraticvalues and practices in nations of the world (O’Cass, 2001).

The marketing discipline and marketers have developed a body of knowledge,strategies and technical expertise directly related to the analysis and persuasion oflarge groups of people in commercial and non-commercial settings. Therefore,marketing can contribute to an understanding of politics (Butler and Collins, 1994).A marketing strategy perspective to political behaviour can assist in an understandingof political organisations and persons (Harrop, 1990); after all, the problems facingpolitical entities and persons may be similar to those facing the marketing manager ofcommercial and non-commercial entities (Butler and Collins, 1994). In both politics andmarketing, a set of organisations in each domain (marketing or politics) competes forthe loyalty of the target market. The consumers/citizens are the decision-makers, withtheir choices usually implying some degree of commitment, and the channels ofcommunication in both politics and marketing are persuasion and are virtuallyidentical (Mauser, 1983). Programme and policy design/development in politicalscience and the product development and launch process in commercialbusiness/marketing are both managed in the same way. The problem of gettingelected is a marketing strategy problem (Reid, 1988), and a successful politicalcampaign is similar to marketing/product positioning (Denton, 1988). The politicalproduct is substantially an intangible offer (Harrop, 1990).

In some democracies, the political market can be described as mature. Generally, inmature markets, patterns of competitive behaviour are established. In politics, theperiodic nature of elections, for example, produces forms of strategic and tacticalmarketing management activities. As marketing is increasingly adopted, it will movebeyond influencing only tactical political matters of communication and presentation,and play a significant role in policy, strategy formulation and implementation, andlong-term direction. Ultimately, the strategic marketing practice will become dominantpractice in political activities (Butler and Collins, 1996).

Marketing concepts, principles, strategies and analytical methods haveconsiderable applicability in political marketing (Lock and Harris, 1996).

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The application of marketing strategies to politics has been somewhat limited in boththe marketing and politics literature, especially in sub-Saharan African countries.While the study of elections is of interest to political scientists, they concentrate onissues somewhat distant from the concern of political campaigners. Political scientists,also, tend to focus on institutional relationships, the legislative process, public policy,and the scientific examination of political and electorate phenomena rather thancampaign strategies and management (Butler and Collins, 1994; Gamble, 1990).However, general concepts and theories in marketing require contextual adaptation inorder to suit specific situations, including political situations, contexts and cultures(Blois, 1987). However, any strategy to achieve set political goals and objectives mustbe creative (Abati, 2003).

According to Butler and Collins (1996), political entities in a democratic systemshould be regarded as similar to commercial organisations in industrial markets whichuse different kinds of marketing strategies. Certain dimensions of democratictendencies have been concerned with marketing. For example, the growth of a newpublic management paradigm has necessitated a fresh approach to the state/citizenrelationship. However, Mauser (1983) submits that there is failure in extant politicalmarketing literature to examine marketing at the strategy level, and this crucialomission limits the horizon of political marketing research and understanding.

Marketing strategy in any organisation including political, has been seen as theinterface between an organisation and its environment (Mavondo, 2000), and anorganisation’s marketing strategy may result in better marketing performance if it isclosely aligned to the dictates of the relevant environment (Miles and Snow, 1978).However, Mavondo (2000) claims, empirically, that companies do not respond toenvironmental changes by adopting any marketing strategy, implying thatenvironment may be a poor predictor of marketing strategy and its effectiveness.

Marketing strategies in political organisations manifest themselves in suchactivities as image building, issue-tracking, the targeting of voters, timing of electionsand aiding in policy formulations (Kavanagh, 1995; Smith and Hirst, 2001).Specifically, strategic marketing in politics manifests itself in the use of marketingnot merely as a short-term tactical device (primarily used for information-gathering inthe run-up to elections) but as a long-term and permanent managerial activity to ensurecontinued governance (Nimmo, 1999; Smith and Hirst, 2001). Therefore, it seemsreasonable to state that political parties wishing to gain long-term competitiveadvantage must strive to design marketing strategies that will achieve the satisfactionof relevant target audience (voters, party members, party funders, etc.).

The use of marketing-like policies and strategies by political organisations(especially in developed economies) in their electoral activities has been discussed anddocumented in extant literature (Glick, 1967; McGinniss, 1969; Nimmo, 1970; Shama,1973; Kotler, 1975; Kotler and Kotler, 1981; Mauser, 1983; Newman and Sheth, 1985;Smith and Saunders, 1990; Butler and Collins, 1994; O’Cass, 1996, 2001;Lees-Marshment, 2001a,c; Newman, 1999, 2002 among others), and the relevance ofparticular aspects of marketing theory for political activities has been illustrated inextant literature (Baines et al., 2002). It is through the strategic use of marketingtechniques that the target markets’ needs and wants, and the necessary policydecision-making approaches to satisfy these needs and wants efficiently andeffectively will emerge (Smith and Saunders, 1990). For example, in order to bridge the

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gap between what voters need and want from a potential government and whatpolitical candidates and parties propose, the use of strategic marketing tools andframeworks has been advocated (Baines et al., 2002), especially in developingdemocracies such as Nigeria. However, if political marketing is to inform and influencepolitical action, it has to develop its own strategic framework and/or adopt frameworksfrom the core marketing literature such as market orientation. Also, it has to developits own predictive and prescriptive models (Lock and Harris, 1996).

Aspects of political marketing strategies. Political marketing strategy, generally, is aseries of persuasional techniques deployed in competitive situations to construct andreinforce a political entity’s image, products and persons. Political marketing strategy,specifically, seeks to describe how political entities and persons attempt to market theirprogrammes, policies, persons and ideas to the relevant publics, while being sensitiveto the realities of the political environment. Political marketing strategy may be applied(or be relevant) to such areas of governance/politics as interest/lobby groups, localgovernment, legislature, the civil service, public service, etc. Political marketingstrategy addresses different issues, such as how political organisations listen to thepeople they seek to serve, determine what they offer to the public and achieve theirgoals. It studies politics from the supply side (political parties) and from the demandside (voters, relevant audience).

Also, political marketing strategy is concerned with such issues as candidatesseeking elective posts at all levels (local, state and federal), political consultants andlobbyists, political action committee executives, fundraisers for politicians and politicalparties, pollsters, government officials, political advertising specialists, journalists,public relations executives, telemarketers, marketing researchers, political partymanagers and officers, and government officials, among others (Newman, 2002). Theemergence of television and other media have made political marketing strategy moreobvious, and the decline in party membership in some countries has highlightedthe importance of a two-way marketing communication strategy between politicalparties and their respective voters (Lock and Harris, 1996).

Political marketing strategy is also associated with academics, scholars andpractitioners in the fields of politics, marketing, political communications, journalism,political philosophy, sociology, social psychology and psychology, among others. Inaddition, political marketing strategy is concerned with the use of advertising, polling,the Internet system, and other marketing approaches by politicians, political partiesand governments. For example, the advertisement of Nigeria on CNN by the NigerianPresident, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo: “WELCOME TO NIGERIA, THE HEARTBEATOF AFRICA”, is a form of political marketing strategy (i.e. promotions strategy), thepurpose being to market Nigeria’s image and investment opportunities in the country.If the President of a country such as Nigeria can use an aspect of political marketingstrategy (advertising) in the governance of a country, it goes to show the importance ofthe strategy in governance and democracy generally. It may be stated that politicalmarketing strategy has interesting consequences and relevance as democratic forms ofgovernment spread round the developed and developing nations of the world(Newman, 2002).

According to Savigny (2004), political marketing strategy fits the assumption thatpolitical entities pursue certain policies in order to win political contests, rather thanwin political contests in order to pursue policies. In some contexts, political marketing

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strategy emphasises style over substance and image over policy content. This is done,according to Harrop (1990), to appeal to voters and persons who are assumed to casttheir votes affectively and emotionally; this tendency may be visible in developingdemocracies (such as Nigeria) with relatively illiterate electorates who may notcomprehend reasonably the variance between political trappings and substanceassociated with their nation’s political parties/entities. However, it can be argued that itis not only political ideology, which wins political contests, but the adept use ofrelevant marketing strategies that appeal to the relevant political stakeholders.Therefore, political marketing strategy is likely to improve the democratic process in anation, like Nigeria, if it places the voter and other relevant stakeholders at the centre ofthe political process.

Therefore, political entities can use marketing strategies to increase their chances ofachieving their goals and objectives. They can alter their strategic marketingbehaviours or practices, including party policy, membership, leadership andorganisational structure, in order to suit the needs and wants of their relevantmarket segment(s). They can do this using any marketing concept, principle, strategyor orientation. For example, political parties may use the marketing strategies ofstanding for what they believe in (product orientation), or focus on persuading votersand relevant others to agree with them (sales orientation), or change their politicalbehaviour to follow the opinions of voters and relevant others (market orientation).However, the paradox of marketing is that it is sometimes directed at the customer, butits fundamental aim is to satisfy the interest of the marketer or producer (Wring, 1996).

An appreciation of strategic management considerations in political marketingwould assist in isolating those tactical and operational issues which present politicalmarketing as trivial and unethical (Butler and Collins, 1996). For example, extendingthe analysis of elections back from the period of political campaign to includemarketing management elements of preparation, planning, implementing, organisingand controlling would help provide insights and understanding of strategicdevelopment in political marketing. Also, while a political candidate or party woulddebate and discuss political ideology and other party issues, it is for the politicalparty’s marketing manager to design efficient and effective marketing strategies whichwill relate the political party to its electorates and the relevant political environment.

Political marketing strategies and market orientationPolitical organisations may be seen as similar to commercial organisations in themarketplace. If political entities are similar to commercial organisations, therefore,marketing concepts, principles, strategies, models and frameworks used in analysingcommercial activities can be used for political activities. Generally, the marketingliterature permits the use of a wide array of principles, concepts, strategies,frameworks and models in the analysis of commercial activities. One widelyrecognised framework in extant marketing literature for such analysis is marketorientation, which emphasises, substantially, customer or client satisfaction (Butlerand Collins, 1996). The emphasis of marketing and market orientation on customer orclient needs and their satisfaction is the requisite ingredient for competitive success inorganisational practices (Diamantopoulos and Hart, 1991). Political parties are notexceptions.

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Marketing is the culture of an organisation and is part of everyone’s job description(Webster, 1992). This implies that the ultimate managerial culture of any organisationincluding political organisation, is marketing. It is therefore reasonable for politicalentities to make use of marketing frameworks, instruments and concepts in the interestof ensuring that resources are deployed to maximum political efficiency andeffectiveness (Bauer et al., 1996). One such strategic marketing framework is marketorientation strategy, which can provide a political entity with the means todemonstrate its vision of the state and society to potential and actual voters, membersand other relevant stakeholders. Therefore, market orientation strategy should be thefocus of political marketing strategy (O’Shaughnessy, 1990).

The central issue in marketing is the marketing concept, and the strategicimplementation of the marketing concept is referred to as market orientation.According to Webster (1992) and McKenna (1991), modern organisations, includingpolitical parties, should endeavour to implement the marketing concept in order to beefficient and effective. Market orientation, essentially, is the overt tendency of anorganisation such as a political party, which has adopted the marketing concept. It isthe generation of appropriate market (electorate) intelligence (information) pertainingto present and future needs and wants, the integration and dissemination of suchinformatibib54on across relevant organisational units, departments and section, andthe coordinated design and execution of the organisation’s strategic marketopportunities (O’Cass, 2001; Deng and Dart, 1994).

Extant literature submits that political marketing strategy equals a marketorientation strategy (Lees-Marshment, 2001a). It should be noted that any marketingstrategy orientation (e.g. production, product, sales, market, etc.) can be an appropriatemarketing strategy to adopt by a political entity, depending on the goals sought,the market segment the political entity is targeting, the relevant political context, andthe prevailing environment, among others. For example, a political entity employing amarket-oriented strategy will adapt its behaviour to the needs and wants of voters andother relevant stakeholders, and this can vary across time, culture and countries. Also,a political entity with certain political features may be market-oriented in one marketsegment and product-oriented in Lees-Marshment (2001a) submits that the greater themarket orientation strategy of a political entity, the greater the success of the politicalentity in political contests. This submission is debatable.

Market orientation within political entities is healthy for democracy because there isa reciprocal and dynamic relationship between political entities and voters (Shama,1976; O’Shaughnessy, 1990; Lees-Marshment, 2001b; Savigny, 2004). Through marketorientation strategy, political organisations may be able to achieve their goals, andvoters can benefit from an opportunity to participate in the political process byimpacting on the nature of political party policies and programmes. Also, by marketorientation in political entities, the quality of information, policies and servicesimproves. Market orientation enhances the relationship between the marketer (politicalentities) and the customer/client (relevant audience), and this relationship ischaracterised by trust, cooperation and lack of conflict (Huff and Kelley, 2005), inaddition to fostering internal organisational trust and employee commitment (Siguawet al., 1994), and all organisational functions directed towards delivering superior valueand satisfaction to customers and clients (Hooley et al., 2005).

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In the modern Nigerian political environment, for example, voters have becomemore educated, informed and critical of politics and parties; levels of partyidentification and membership have changed; and the nature of the political market hasbecome more heterogeneous. In addition, the demands made by voters have becomeless class-based. Therefore, political parties, for example, need to offer programmes,policies, ideas and candidates that will be accepted and supported by the majority ofthe Nigerian electorate. In short, they (political parties) need to practice marketorientation strategies to achieve stated goals, objectives, mission and vision. However,the use and effectiveness of market-orientation strategy in political marketing dependon the individual political entity’s type (i.e. major or minor party), dominant goal andobjective of the political entity, the country’s structure of democratic politics, nature ofthe market (voters, political culture, information, etc.), as well as institutional factorssuch as the electoral and party system (Lees-Marshment, 2001a).

The process of political marketing strategy, therefore, should be implementedthrough adopting the philosophy of the market orientation. In the market orientationphilosophy (as it relates to political marketing), political entities’ decisions should bevoter-oriented in order to determine voter needs and wants. In addition, a politicalentity should attempt to satisfy voter needs and wants within environmental,ideological and constitutional bounds. Therefore, it may be stated that political marketorientation means that a political entity will achieve its goals and objectives through athorough understanding of its target audience (voters, members, funders, etc.),including their needs and wants; understanding the relevant political environmentsassociated with satisfying such needs and wants; and then developing and offeringpolitical services and programmes efficiently and effectively. It requires the politicalentity generating market intelligence (information) pertaining to present and futureneeds and wants, dissemination of the information to relevant units/departments, andresponsiveness throughout the political organisation to the generated anddisseminated information (Kohli and Jaworski, 1990).

However, not all political systems have well developed political marketingindustries. Specifically, infrastructural and contextual factors have been documentedin extant literature as affecting the diffusion of political marketing strategies ofdeveloped democracies (such as the USA, UK, etc.) to other democracies (Baines et al.,2001). These factors include the electoral system and structure of party competition,whether the campaign is candidate or party-centred, the nature and structure ofcampaign regulation, restrictions on media and paid advertising, the structure of themedia, the strengths and distinctiveness of national cultures, the length of the electioncampaign, the presidential versus the parliamentary system, the commercial versusthe public service broadcasting system, the local press versus the national press, thedegree of modernisation in society, and the level of finance available for politicalcampaigns, among other cognate issues (Baines et al., 2001).

Research agendaAccording to Meldrum (1996), one of the problems confronting marketing as amanagerial discipline is the inability of companies to implement its theories. Thisproblem has for a long time been noted by scholars (Felton, 1959; Barksdale andDarden, 1972), but has continuously been either an un-researched or under-researchedissue (Lebahn and Biehal, 1991; Zinkhan and Pireira, 1994; Meldrum, 1996).

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Implementing any marketing theory may be at variance with what the theory dictates(Veloutsou et al., 2002). The variance between marketing theory and its practice can bedetermined and explained through empirical research. Therefore, research effortsshould examine the marketing strategies of political entities with a view tounderstanding political markets, political environments, political marketers andapproaches for achieving efficiency and effectiveness through political marketingstrategies. The linkages among political practices, political entities, the electorates(individual voters) and the society at large need to be investigated and understoodthrough the use of appropriate principles and techniques. Understanding suchprinciples, techniques and linkages is important for efficient and effective democraticpractice in a society or nation (O’Cass, 2001).

Political marketing is about political organisations/parties adopting marketingprinciples, concepts, techniques and strategies to achieve their goals and objectives.Lock and Harris (1996) lament that there is still relatively little research work inpolitical marketing comparing the development of political activity and its impactacross different international settings and political systems and structures. In addition,the degree of practice of certain marketing principles, strategies and theories has notbeen adequately investigated empirically across different political contexts andcultures. This paucity of research work means that it is very difficult to draw generalconclusions about political marketing. Therefore, to analyse and understand politicalbehaviour (practices and strategies) in political entities, it is imperative that interestedresearchers use theoretical marketing frameworks situated within relevant contextsand countries and examine, empirically, the relevance of these frameworks in specificpolitical settings and environments.

Both political systems and marketing have substantial impacts on society’s generalbehaviour and directions. Therefore, any research which analyses the link betweenmarketing and political systems and phenomena is warranted and timely, especially indeveloping countries which have embraced democratic tendencies. Politics issynonymous with party politics in developed economies. Specifically, moderndemocracy is synonymous with party democracy, where political institutions andpractices are the essence of democratic government. In short, modern democracy is thecreation of political parties, and modern democratic tendencies would be substantiallyunthinkable without political parties. Political parties are not only central todemocracy, they are important for any research on political marketing management.Therefore, research on political marketing practices should, generally, analysepractices, programmes, policies and strategies of political parties, and the relevantpolitical environments.

Empirical research coverage of political practices and processes in the marketingand strategy literature is generally lacking, especially in developing democracies suchas Nigeria. The academic development of the political marketing discipline is at anearly stage, and there is much debate regarding the nature of the role of marketing andits applicability in political activities. Baines and Egan (2001) have advised thatresearch should be undertaken to measure, for example, the extent of marketorientation in political activities. Many of the published works on political marketingare conceptual, and expected at this early stage of the subject’s development.

Research works into political behaviour in developed democracies (such as Britainand the USA) from a marketing perspective posit that political marketing is broad in

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scope and offers fresh analytical tools to explain how political entities behave in orderto achieve efficiency and effectiveness (Lees-Marshment, 2001b). For example, apolitical party with product-orientation behaviour argues for what the party stands forand believes in; a sales-oriented political party focuses on selling its policies,programmes and candidates to voters and other relevant stakeholders; amarket-oriented behaviour endeavours to provide satisfaction to its voters,members, funders and significant others.

A major weakness in the political marketing literature is its over concentration onissues drawn from the political system in the UK and USA which are not typical ofmost democracies (Butler and Collins, 1996). By conducting research in politicalmarketing in developing democracies, such as Nigeria, marketing theory can provide aclearer view of the long-term competitive positions and strategies of political entities inother countries.

Extant literature has considered the similarities and differences of strategies of rivalparties in developed economies/democracies (Wring, 1996). For example, in the latter,political parties (like their counterparts in the commercial business world) usemarketing research to plan better and target potential groups of supporters withpolicies and programmes using sophisticated marketing strategies. Also, studies areconducted on the effectiveness of different promotional strategies and media inreaching voters (Shama, 1976). However, not much is documented for developingdemocracies such as Nigeria. Modern political marketing requires a morecomprehensive holistic approach, one which calls for research going deeper intopolitical issues of relevance. Fertile areas for political marketing research, especially indeveloping countries such as Nigeria, include comparative studies of the marketingstrategies of rival political parties with regard to market segments served, specifictactical and strategic issues emphasised, the use of technological facilities for politicalmarketing activities, and practices of relationship marketing and market orientationstrategies, among others.

Modern political parties operate in a very competitive environment which iscontinuously changing and this may be the salient justification for adopting marketorientation strategies by political parties. Generally, the goal of meeting needs andwants of voters, party members and other stakeholders through a party’s offering(product) is to build brand loyalty and repeat exchanges by satisfying needs and wantsbetter than political rivals. Extant literature recognises market orientation as thefoundation of superior marketing strategy practice and enhanced performance,especially in commercial businesses (O’Cass, 2001). Therefore, empirical researchshould examine market orientation in political parties in a developing country likeNigeria. The findings from the proposed research will provide an initial move tocombat the dearth of empirically based literature and facts regarding marketorientation strategies and their effectiveness in Africa’s largest democracy.

In addition, research should determine the extent to which marketing strategies ofpolitical parties are based on national issues versus personality issues. Also, empiricalresearch should endeavour to determine the degree to which the marketing strategiesof political parties are a function of voter behaviour in the different relevantsegmentation bases such as tribe, gender, geopolitical zone, age group and social class,among other segmentation variables. A proper understanding of the politicalbehaviour of voters and other relevant stakeholders would assist political parties in

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designing efficient and effective marketing strategies, ensure healthy politicalcompetition among parties, and deepen democratic culture in nations.

A two-stage research method (qualitative and quantitative) is proposed for a properinvestigation of marketing in political entities. This method will allow for both anexploratory stage investigating the phenomenon of marketing strategy (such asmarket orientation strategy) and developing research ideas, and then a descriptivestage presenting patterns of the phenomenon of marketing strategy in Nigerianpolitical entities. This research approach is especially practical when the phenomenonof study or field of study, such as market orientation strategy in Nigerian politicalentities, is in evolution (Parkhe, 1993).

ConclusionModern democracy is built on equality, freedom and competition, and all politicalorganisations must design strategies for recognition, survival and success (Fukuyama,1992). Marketing is both a philosophy and a set of strategies or activities used toimplement that philosophy (Crompton and Lamb, 1986). According to Wring (1996),these two aspects of marketing are useful when analysing the strategic behaviour anddevelopment of a political country in any country. Marketing is an important catalystfor the growth and development of a political entity. Hitherto, little attention has beengiven to understanding how marketing activities and thought have informed partybehaviour and development, especially in developing countries such as Nigeria.

According to Bowler et al. (1996), all political organisations can apply thetechnologies or strategies of political marketing (i.e. market research, marketsegmentation, market orientation, relationship marketing, polls, media consultants,etc.) in order to achieve set goals and objectives. For example, the major politicalparties in developed countries have embraced the marketing concept and process(Baines et al., 2002). Also, in developed democracies, political parties, interest groups,etc. increasingly conduct market and marketing research to identify citizens’ concernsand change their behaviour to achieve set political goals and objectives. Therefore,modern political marketing should emphasise the political needs and wants of thevoters and other relevant stakeholders (Shama, 1976). Put simply, in modern politicaltendencies, marketing should take an important strategic perspective regarding theneeds and wants of the relevant target market and stakeholders.

Examining political practices from a marketing perspective in a developing anddemocratic country such as Nigeria may offer additional insights into the managerialtendencies of political parties beyond those gained from political science and othercognate disciplines. In addition, analysing political practices from a marketingperspective, as proposed in this paper, will provide insight into the practices andstrategies which are theoretically valuable in relating political parties and theirrelevant voters, members, funders and other relevant stakeholders in a developingdemocracy. The purpose of the proposed research is partly to highlight, empirically,the marketing strategies of political organisations, especially in developingdemocracies such as Nigeria, in the light of both general and specific marketingtheories and concepts. Specifically, the purpose of the proposed research is toinvestigate the opinions and attitudes of political marketing practitioners and their useof marketing techniques, in addition to the perceived effectiveness of such techniquesand strategies in political issues.

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This paper has attempted to examine political marketing in terms of meaning,dimensions and strategies, and proposed areas for empirical research work. It is hopedthat concerted research efforts would be directed towards investigating cognate issuesregarding the relationships between marketing and politics in all relevant dimensionsas this will go a long way in assisting political marketing theory and practice,especially in a developing country like Nigeria.

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Further reading

Blois, K. (1974), “The marketing of services: an approach”, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 8,pp. 7-19.

Carowthers, T. (2000), “Democracy promotion: a key focus in a new world order”, Issues ofDemocracy, May.

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Corresponding authorLinus Osuagwu can be contacted at: lisagwu@yahoo.co.uk

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