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Global Marketing Practices in Political Systems – A Comparative Study of Selected Countries *Dr. Amanpreet Singh Brar **Mr. Pankaj Goel This paper focuses on the mechanism of political campaigns and marketing strategies adopted by political parties worldwide in general and India in particular. An attempt has been made to examine if there are some excellent political marketing strategies upon which political organizations can rely in winning elections with the honest philosophy of rationality and reasoning. Major stress has been laid down on branding of politicians and adoption of marketing mix in the political burlesque along with their formulation, implementation, management and operational methodologies. These strategies assist the political system expediency in wooing voters through Local and Social Media. Further research was needed to determine how to position a particular party and to select and place advertising in the relevant media. This study was based on certain randomly selected countries like US, Canada, UK, India etc., where the extent of global marketing strategies in political systems has been studied to explore the scope of further study in the same field. A dire need has been stressed at the level of political parties and candidates that may be taken into consideration for developing their political marketing strategies. Paper has recommends discouraging bribery of any type along with adoption of unethical methods to influence voters’ electoral choices and behavior along with dire need of flow of reliable information. At last paper has discussed various methods used by these nations to raise funds through hosting promotional get together along with projections of Candidates as brands, discarding traditional methodologies of targeting voters and finally role of media in their successful floatation. Key words: Political Marketing, Voters, Branding, Public Funding, Political Parties, Voter Trust, India, Election, Strategies *Dr Amanpreet Singh Brar, Assistant Professor, Guru Nanak Institute of Management & Technology (GNIMT) Ludhiana, Punjab Technical University Kaputhalla, Punjab, India Email: [email protected] **Mr. Pankaj Goel, Lecturer, Guru Nanak Institute of Management & Technology (GNIMT) Ludhiana, Punjab Technical University Kaputhalla, Punjab, India Email: [email protected] In any nation, any presidential or parliamentary election is one of the largest, most costly and widespread marketing action involving huge number of candidates and masses. A large number is involved directly or indirectly in the confrontation of this mega political event. Once elections are declared, it becomes the talk of the town. Debates are started in unorganized groups gathered in offices, markets, lawns, streets, parties etc. and in organized way in media, survey houses, political campaign managers, industrialists, opinion poll houses, academicians, research scholars and political experts level. Each and every group tries to explore the result of forthcoming elections on the basis of information analyzed in their own way. The research has already initiated in this area; but it is inconclusive in lot of aspects. This paper has tried to explore areas in which an attempt has been made to find how marketing helps political parties does locally, nationally and globally. The major objectives of this paper are: a) To understand the mechanism of political campaigns and wacky marketing strategies internationally; b) To know the impact of branding of politicians and adoption of marketing mix; c) To determine how to position a particular party and to select and place advertising in the relevant media; d) To understand the impact of adoption of unethical methods to influence voters’ electoral choices and behavior; e) To understand the methodologies of politicians to raise funds. 1. Political Market Campaigns and Marketing Strategies: This paper focuses on the mechanism of political campaigns and marketing strategies adopted by political parties worldwide in general and India in particular. The same principles that operate in the commercial marketplace hold true in the political marketplace: successful companies have a market orientation and are constantly engaged in creating value for their customers. In other words, marketers must anticipate their customers' needs, and then constantly develop innovative products and services to keep their customers satisfied. Politicians have a similar orientation and are constantly trying to create value for their constituents by improving the quality of life, and creating the most benefit at the smallest cost (Kotler and Kotler 1981, 1999). Political marketing is the process by which political candidates and ideas are directed at the voters in order to satisfy their political needs and thus gain their support for the candidate and ideas in question(Shama 1975:106). Political marketing is almost now a never ever ending phenomenon. Campaign manager is directed immediately at the end of a campaign to work upon new Marketing strategies for next elections. The biggest challenge to political candidates is to face the digital voter public. Television media has vital influence upon the voters. Their biased or paid statements sometimes can prove as a game changer and can misconstrue the original facts. TV journalists are capable enough to explore all the personal and official history of a candidate; can easily make or tarnish the image with in span of days. Individual Positive image , their activities , message left, actions, statements delivered, leadership capabilities, etc have vital impact on the overall performance of a political party. Political Marketing term is very exhaustive. It not only consist of marketing and branding of individuals along with a party , but also include Political Communications, Political Management, Political Delivery, Political Public Partnership, Political Relationships, Political Science, ploit another opportunity Political Language, Political Organizations and many more. “The government’s policies are like cornflakes -- If they are not marketed they will not sell” (Franklin, 2004, p. 5) It is true in case of UPA 2 in India where they could not market themselves despite of having credits into their account. The definition of political marketing can be broken down into three distinct segments in its most basic form: “communications, management, and political science” (Scammell, 1999, p. 718). “Political marketing is about political organizations adapting business-marketing concepts and techniques to help them achieve their goals” (Lees-Marshment, 2001, p. 692). So political marketing tries to leave a message for a public at large which can not only influence their behavior, but also shape their future as well, positively or negatively, it depends. A single well designed and planned message can give a candidate the most crucial four or five years of a voter. It is easy to sell the product like a dish bar or a car by explaining its features, but to sell the concept through political marketing is seriously a tough job, comprising of influencing the behavior and decision making of a voter. Well designed political campaign through any medium should be able to annihilate one way communication. This paper has divided various political marketing strategies used so far globally in two ways viz. Traditional Strategies and Modern Strategies. Traditional Strategies consisted of campaign through TV channels, Radio Broadcastings, Wireless Technology, Newspapers, Magazines, Slogans, Road side Hoardings, Banners, Leaflets, Stickers, Pamphlets, Personal Canvassing, Door to Door Visits, Road Shows through various organized and unorganized groups, Rallies, Loudspeakers etc. Modern Strategies consists of Mobiles SMSs, E mails, Pagers, Newsletters, Social Apps (Like Face book Pages, Twitters Blogs, Google Plus Accounts, Whats App etc.), Celebrity Endorsements etc. Both have their own pros and cons. Both are able to convey what is and what ought to be. But still a medium which offers two way communication and unfiltered information proves a successful mechanism to make a candidate to be in public office. Elections at all level whether Presidential, Prime Ministerial, Government Departments, Municipal Councilors, all make use marketing in their quest of political goals. A comprehensive Marketing research program is prepared beforehand which is used to understand what is the expectation and profile of the people they are going to serve, styles of buzzed policies ,vision and mission created and offered, service design, strategy likely to be undertaken, media chosen , communication messages intended , creation of the political brand, volunteer participation, pre hand analysis, opposition preparations etc. 2. Philosophy of Rationality and Reasoning: Paper has made an attempt to examine if there are some excellent political marketing strategies upon which political organizations can rely in winning elections with the honest philosophy of rationality and reasoning .Ferber (1981) argued that as rational choice provided an explanation for most electoral decision making, it was incumbent on governments and politicians to improve the amount and quality of the information upon which voters were able to draw. Downs’ (1957) classic study on economic rationality argued that rationality is measured by how the electorate ‘‘strives for what they desire, or at least act as if they were pursuing some end’’ (Brams, 1985). There is no room for emotion or other variables that could affect the instrumental processing of the information. Downs cited a number of examples in which rational behavior could be clouded by secondary emotional factors but claimed that he was only looking from a political rather than a psychological perspective (Downs, 1957:7). The voters simply weigh the benefits and costs associated with their own individual gains (Dean and Croft 2009). Rationality is required at both ends. Voters must cast their votes rationally keeping in mind that their one decision can change their four or five year of life. Decision is irreversible for a particular span of time. Information disseminated by these candidates shape the electorate choice. Globally it has been observed that various political candidates use an assortment of confrontational and tactical marketing strategies which not only help them in winning the elections, but also help them to enter the public office with a dignified endeavor of serving humanity. 3. Branding of Politicians : A major stress has been laid down on the study of branding of politicians and adoption of marketing mix in the political burlesque along with their formulation, implementation, management and operational methodologies. Political marketing expert Keller (1993), points out that brands are not physical but intangible, being the knowledge about a particular object that is held in the memory of consumers. Brand knowledge is made from individual pieces of information (called nodes) that link together in memory to form more complex associative networks. Information is recalled from memory when a node is stimulated from rest by a process known as activation. e.g. Narendra Modi, A candidate for Indian Prime Ministerial Election 2014 has established himself as a brand Modi. Even an online store, launched by Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), has introduced a fresh way to endorse the name of their prime ministerial candidate Mr. Narendra Modi and to help collect funds for the election campaign. Another initiative is that the party has launched the online shopping site- ‘The NAMO Store’ that offers four brands- NaMo Mantra, NaMo Lekh, NaMo Tech and collections. Such marketing funda was never ever adopted by any political party so far in India. Brand Gandhi has already given two PMs to India and third Mr. Rahul Gandhi is in row. He is still a novice and amateurish but has a great legacy in his hand. Brand Kejriwal first time in nation has given strong competition to both the parties. Just one year old party with strong leader like Mr. Arvind Kejriwal has created a special place in the heart of masses as a strong brand. Where Brand Modi seems authoritarian, Brand Gandhi seems to be introvert; there Brand Kejriwal seems to be an Aam Aadmi (a common Man). These brands came up with themes like Chai Pe Charcha (Discussion on Tea-BJP), Har Haath Shakti (Power in every hand –INC). Zavattaro (n.d.) has opined that transforming the president into a brand has three implications: co modification of the person and office, candidate-centered marketing instead of platform-centered marketing, and presidential simulation. Obama was not the first to usher in political marketing, but the first to perfect the tactics. He is Brand Obama. Australian leader Mark McGowan, David Cameron-led Conservative party & Gordon Brown’s Labor Party in UK are among other acknowledged brand worldwide. These strategies assist the political system in expediency in wooing voters through Local and Social Media. 4. Positioning a particular Party: Positioning in political campaigns works on both sides. Right positioning of a branded candidate helps a party to place itself in the right corner. BJP in India was not able to place their top officials and suddenly Brand Modi helped BJP to position back in the Indian Political arena. Whereas already Positioned Congress Party easily placed Rahul Gandhi as a potential candidate for parliamentary elections. Globally strong advertisements of parties, their candidates and their messages have helped parties to position themselves successfully throughout centuries. Further research was needed to determine how to position a particular party and to select and place advertising in the relevant media. 5. Global Marketing Strategies in Political Systems: This study was based on certain randomly selected countries like US, Canada, UK, India etc., where the extent of global marketing strategies in political systems has been studied to explore the scope of further study in the same field. A dire need has been stressed at the level of political parties and candidates that may be taken into consideration for developing their political marketing strategies. US: Newman has studied the extent of political marketing and campaign since Franklin D. Roosevelt entered in his office in 1932. A successful use of imagery management was made from sophisticated marketing technology to manufacture an image of them that they were convinced they could sell to the electorate (Newman 1999b). Ronald Reagens, the great communicator in 1984 campaign formed a strategy consisting of campaign group meeting 4 hours a week, working on simple patriotic themes like “its morning in America again” on TV outraced the Mr. Mondale . In 1988 Bush Era began and he made Dukakis out of race with negative commercials against him and with his themes like "A kinder, gentler nation". Roger Ails delivered Bush messages where as Lee Atwater handled opposition research department. In 1992, Bill Clinton with his censored speeches, focus on economy and change, message "It's The Economy Stupid,” worked to Clinton’s advantage. In 1994 Gingrich and his army of Republicans dominated the airwaves and responded to voters' needs with a very effective marketing. Bill Clinton successfully re-positioned himself for the 1996 presidential election as a leader of the free world. Clinton focused on voters' concerns, not his concerns. This win was with a message that a political marketing strategy must match the product. Bush in 2000 successfully marketed himself as a candidate who would bring respect back to the White House. This was done by presenting himself as a "softer and kinder" This was done by presenting him as a "softer and kinder" Republican (Newman n.d.). Recent double win of Mr. Obama shows the effectiveness of his marketing campaign and strategies adopted worldwide. Canada: Coletto (2013) summed up priorities of Canadians into the basic categories like Economy, job creation and Health along with others analogous to retirement, the environment and the education. Both Conservative Party of Canada and the Harper Government have taken a highly market-orientated approach to campaigning and governing. Harper Government since 2006 had policies like reduction in the GST by two percentage points, tougher criminal justice laws, the child care allowance, tax credits for public transit and sports programs, infrastructure and transit spending, income splitting and deficit reduction. All these policies are easily measurable, communicated, and have a noticeable impact on the target markets identified above. Harper Government has strong brand value where as Conservative vote is more stable and solid. Marland et.al.(2011) has Characterized Canadian parties with strong Political advertising, Brokerage politics and added that Government of Canada uses public opinion research data while developing policies. UK: Baines (2001) argued that both the American and British electoral systems are based on first-past-the-post ballot systems and yet the US is more candidate-centered whilst the UK is more party-centered. This is due to the nature of the first-past-the-post electoral system, which requires parties to win in each constituency (local) and to obtain a majority of such constituencies overall (national). Denver and Hands (1992), when talking about British campaigning, also indicate that it is important to put as much effort as possible into the local campaign. Baines (2001) observed that Political communication through the use of mass media has been the subject of much research in the area of political science. Other methods of political communication including direct mail, the Internet, polling, fund-raising and canvassing are also considered in more detail, and from a marketing perspective. Political parties in the UK tend to have a stronger, local presence than in the US and, therefore, campaign volunteers are important in running grassroots campaigns in the UK. This is less necessary in the US due to the greater use of direct mail, and the mass media for political advertising, which is illegal in the UK. As a result, the UK political parties try to obtain more news coverage from the mainstream broadcast news organizations, in a way that the Americans do not because they can reach their audiences directly through political advertising. In the UK, parties’ views are represented through the use of five and tenminute broadcasts, and more recently two-and-a-half minute broadcasts, which are regulated by the ITC and provided by the broadcaster’s free-of-charge. Sweden: A country with almost 9 million people, feels public speaking is important along with traditional Town Square Meetings. Use of political marketing trend has increased. Peterson (1995) identifies four factors that account for the increasing importance of the campaign itself: increasing electorate volatility; the decrease in the proportion of voters with strong party allegiance; the decline of class-based voting and the increase of issue-based voting; and lastly, final voting choices being made closer and closer to the Election Day. Esaiasson (1992) has opined that Campaign planning is heavily centralized in order to not lose control over the local politicians and the party program. There is no official start date for the election campaign. Unofficially it starts a year in advance when nearly all the parties have their party conferences and where the platform is established. Doorstep canvassing is seen as an intrusion of privacy, so the parties use personal contact in the work place, particularly the Social Democrats with their close trade union links (Harris, Lock, nivelelt n.d) Australia: Norris (2002:134-5) viewed 1949 as pre modern phase of election campaign communications through slogans dissemination. Liberal Party of Australia had an edge over Australian Labor Party (ALP) in all marketing aspects. Pursuit of slogan was followed by ALP in 1951. Young (2006) made an analysis of almost 1500 advertisements carrying almost 60 slogans propagated during the period 1949-2004. In 1996, a new trend emerged of pairing positive slogans with a negative one to use both type of appeals. In 2004, multiple and fragmented slogans campaign was initiated to introduce flexibility. Australia Election campaign is largely based upon the personification of the political candidates and parties through slogans. India: India is a constitutional democracy with a parliamentary system of government. Since independence in 1947 from British rule, Indian political system has seen a lot of turmoil. Indian National Congress (INC) and Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) are two major parties along with several other small or big parties. Five year electoral period is determined not only by the political campaign but also by the achievements of the ruling party. Several verbal and non verbal tactics are used to woo voters. Concept selling becomes a significant feature of whole game. Newly born Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) came up with new issues first time in Indian political structure like Corruption, Citizen Ombudsman Bill, Swaraj Bill, Transparency in system etc gave a hard push to these existing parties. Elections in India both at local and national level is not less than a festive season where majority of voters play a crucial role. Aggressive campaigning and canvassing is important feature of Indian political marketing in Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and Vidhan Sabha election. Analysis: Paper has attempted to review made worldwide analysis of political marketing systems through randomly selected countries at continent level. In US, Approach is Candidate centric with the use of imagery management, great communication, negative marketing, censored speeches and focus on voters’ concern. In Canada, Approach is Voter centric with due concern on issues like economy, job creation, health, retirement, reduction in GST etc. On the contrary, In UK, approach is Party Centric with lot of campaigning, communications, mass media, internet polling, fund raising etc. In Sweden, Mode is public speaking, town square meetings, doorstep campaigning at workplaces etc. But in Australia, slogan dissemination & personification of the candidates prevails. Lastly in India, aggressive campaigning on the basis of past achievement & failures and showing carrots for the future involving, huge expenditures, mass media, rallies, positive and negative marketing works at a mega level. A small proportion of population has just started to use internet and smart phones; still they aren’t able to exploit them fully in this regard. These countries require a solid model for their political marketing purposes. A few are given suiting their requirements. Phillip B. Niffenegger (1988) has assimilated his political marketing model along with traditional marketing mix i.e. four Ps—product, promotion, price, and place for political campaigns and control the voters’ behaviors competently. He stresses that a complete market research program in which voters’ market segmentation required to properly knitting with advertising. Advertising is needed not to be an independent research discipline. Niffenegger described his model using various instances of the election committee in U.S. presidential campaigns. Following framework integrating elements of political marketing emphasizes the importance of market research Source : Adapted from Niffenegger (1988) Ormond (2005) designed a superb model which is widely used by all types of political parties regardless of ideological influence or electoral system and to be used independently of the position in the electoral cycle. This framework helps the political parties to take vital decisions with regard to political market orientation, re allocation of resources, achievement of long term objectives in the light of constraints inflicted by various stakeholders in the society. He also stresses that further research into the concept of a political market orientation should be able to explore implementation issues and to help in making business market orientation to be customized in the political marketplace. This model helps in understanding behavior and attitude of political parties towards stakeholders groups in society. Source : A conceptual Model of Political Market Orientation ;Robert P Ormrod (2005) India and other countries still have not made accurate use of models like “A Conceptual Model of Political Market Orientation” given by Ormond R.P in 2005. Mandate given by various political parties sometimes offers doubtful messages, lead to dramatic results of the elections. In India, political parties try to make undue use of illiteracy, poverty and need of voters for their selfish purposes. They offer money, blankets, free rations, wine, drugs, cricket kits to players, room coolers etc to buy their votes. These illiterates are not aware of the value of their votes and sale like junk to these greedy politicians. Voters are affirmed about government jobs, transfers at place where they are required after winning elections, help in getting what is demanded by these electorates. What else all is this, simply bribery, completely unethical methods used to influence voters’ decision making & behavior and manipulation of their mindsets. This Paper strongly recommends discouraging such activities both at voters and candidates level globally. In this digital world, it is not difficult to choose a mobile app, then how someone can make a mistake in choosing a person managing his life externally. 6. Fund Raising: No political party can win election without funds; Fund raising is an important aspect if you want to stand a little longer. Public presentation requires a huge chunk of funds in the hand and in the bank accounts. In the United States, candidate cannot expect to see him or herself in public office without fundraising. Without large sums of money, a candidate has practically no possibility of even dreaming to realize his objectives. One of the latest ways of raising funds is Micro targeting where a candidate employ it to find likely contributors. These contributors may be industrialists, nig tycoons, religious organizations, trusts etc. Another ways include mass mailings, phone banks, emails, use of social media, bulk messages on mobile etc. In India AAP has already resorted to this medium to feed their campaigning plans. Online Fundraising, Credit Card Donations, debit card transfers etc are among important electronic transfer means of funding these parties. In India, Arvind Kejriwal (Founder of AAP) hosted a sit-down dinner for targeted, wealthy donors for a per-plate fee at Bangalore. He was able to manage somehow 4-5 millions. These funds are spent hugely on public canvassing. Almost there is positive correlation between fund spent on campaign and probability of winning in elections. 7. Role of Social Media: Time has gone when people used to win elections without much hassles. All political parties at all levels are marketing themselves so intensively in India for Lok Sabha Elections 2014.Now political marketing has become an indispensable component of the life of a political party and any electoral process. First time Social media and online internet platform has been vastly used by all major parties in India. Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), Indian National Congress (INC), and newly emerged Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has their social accounts on Face book, Twitter, Google plus, Whats app etc. Social Media & its growing usage pattern reflecting a mixed range of gist can prove as a game changer in forthcoming Lok Sabha Election 2014 in India. Candidates are taking relevant shifts from traditional style of canvassing to this modern medium to reach out to the voters. India is known as world’s biggest democracy where there are so many political contenders conventionally dressed up, moulting and evolving to adjust to new hi tech vote bank. But the role of traditional communication mediums cannot be ignored at all because still majority don’t have their accounts on social media and even personal e mail addresses. Same is on the voter side; still India with a huge population of 125 crores has a very small percentage using social apps. Political Parties are bound to use a blend of both. If somebody wants a budge from corrosive cynicism to more healthy skepticism, require a comprehensive approach. Technique may be any, but it must have a massive hit at the door step of a voter. “Political marketing has hitherto suffered from significant confusion, because it is commonly perceived to be simply about political communication, but it is a potentially fruitful marriage between political studies and marketing” (Lees-Marshment, 2001: 692). Social Media had played a crucial role in victory story of Mr. Obama in US as well. Conclusion and Area of further Research Well customized political market orientation program along with well designed political campaigns after a comprehensive market research program helps in improving the quality of life in respective constituencies, and creates the most benefit at the smallest cost. A Brand in politics not only guide political marketing but also able to give due perfection in the required tactics. Present paper has laid stress on right positioning of both party and party prospective candidates. Positioning is strongly influenced by the chosen media and mode of advertisement as well. Paper strongly discourages the bribery and unethical methods of politicians to woo voters globally. However role of media and election commissions can’t be ignored in instigating awareness program. References: Baines, P. R., Worcester, R. M., Jarrett, D. and Mortimore, R. 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