Page 73 - The Handbook of Persuasion and Social Marketing

66 The Handbook of Persuasion and Social Marketing

section concludes with a discussion on the use of negative political cam-
paigning as a tool for influencing voters’ evaluations and preferences re-
garding political candidates.
The chapter ends with a proposal of a model that offers a merger of
political marketing management with priming and framing effects. The
model elaborates on the interrelations between the particular stages of the
political marketing process and the two persuasion strategies mentioned
above, as well as the system of mutual dependencies that exists between
these strategies.

Political Marketing as a Vehicle of Persuasion

In contemporary democracies, persuasive communication undertaken by
politicians to influence citizens has become “institutionalized” in political
marketing campaigns. One could claim that the rational planning and de-
velopment of persuasion strategies has become an instrument of shaping
the beliefs, attitudes, and behavior of those people who display low-infor-
mation rationality (Popkin, 1991) or bounded rationality and intuitive de-
cision making (Lau & Redlawsk, 2006). The principles of political
marketing are such that not everyone can be persuaded to accept a differ-
ent point of view, and that, in fact, there can be no sense in engaging in
persuasive attempts with some voters. Hence, to achieve effective influ-
ence, the particular persuasion mechanisms as well as the wider context of
their use are strategically important. This latter aspect is designated by
Cwalina, Falkowski, and Newman (2012) as a macro view on political
marketing. In this perspective, the following macrostructures play impor-
tant roles: (1) the political system and its legal regulations concerning the
foundations of a particular political system (the constitution), as well as
ruling, organizing elections, and regulating the media market; (2) techno-
logical forces; (3) the state’s demographic structure; and (4) modern con-
cepts of marketing management and its methods. Voters, politicians,
political parties, opinion leaders, and other organizations (e.g., lobbyists,
nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), or labor unions) are considered
agents that function not only within these macrostructures but also within
specific microstructures. They enjoy a lot of influence on the course of
political events and the shape of the microenvironment.
Looking at political behaviors and processes from these two perspec-
tives (macro and micro) simultaneously, one can better understand the
working of modern democracies and the processes taking place there, as
well as the inherent development threats and opportunities. Such an ap-
proach can then integrate various theories of particular political behavior,