Global Political Marketing

Introduction

The Future and Aspirations of Political Marketing, Special issue of the International Journal of Market Research; Abstract deadline 31 Oct

INTEREST CATEGORY: SECTORS
POSTING TYPE: Calls: Journals

Author: Christopher Pich

CALL FOR PAPERS

Special Issue: Global Political Marketing – The Future and Aspirations of Political Marketing

Submission Deadline: October 2023

Guest Editors

Dr Christopher Pich
Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University

Dr Guja Armannsdottir
Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University

The last decade has seen shock election victories, the emergence of political movements and communities, the spread of misinformation and ‘fake news’, and an increasingly complex dynamic of voter engagement-disengagement. The discipline of political marketing has investigated the strategies, tactics and behaviours of political institutions including politicians, parties, groups and campaigns, and examine the political engagement [or disengagement] of citizens/voters. Political marketing represents a sophisticated area of study, “beyond the black arts of propaganda” (Harris and Lock 2010:297) bringing together theories, concepts, tools and frameworks from disciplines including marketing and political science (Harris and Lock 2010; Hughes and Dann 2009; Speed et al. 2015). Political marketing scholars have considered the marketing management process of intelligence gathering, objective setting and the implementation of political campaigns and programs to produce effective relationships with diverse stakeholders (Lees-Marshment and Bendle 2022; Ormrod and Henneberg 2011; Poorrezaei et al. 2023). However, despite progress made within political marketing, many gaps remain including research across international contexts and settings (Needham and Smith 2015; Nielsen 2016; Pich et al. 2020; Poorrezaei et al. 2023). Further, as democracies and political systems across the globe continue to evolve, adapt and emerge, researchers need to reflect and critique existing concepts and practices to challenge the status quo. Therefore, researchers must not sit still or play it safe and accept that political marketing must evolve along with the ever-changing global political landscapes (Scammell 2015; Speed et al. 2015). This in turn will allow political marketing to advance and remain a vibrant and relevant area of study.

Call for Abstracts

Conceptual and/ or methodological contributions that offer insight into this area are welcomed. The following is a non-exhaustive list of potential topics for this Special Issue

  • Political marketing in unexplored contexts and settings – [new democracies, under-researched jurisdictions, evolving political systems, and island communities for example]
  • Political marketing in national, regional and local elections
  • Polling, measuring public opinion and impact of public opinion on voter engagement
  • Comparative and/or longitudinal studies on political marketing
  • Critique of political marketing
  • Political marketing strategy
  • Political branding [including and beyond party brand]
  • Political brand communities-ecosystems-groups [online and/or offline]
  • Political marketing communications
  • Political marketing planning
  • Radical movements-grassroots groups
  • Pop-up political brands – [Vote Leave and Vote Remain – UK Referendum for example]
  • Long-term engagement and participation

Submission Details:

Authors wishing to propose an article for the special issues should initially send an abstract(no more than 500 words) to the SI Editors by 31st October 2023. Authors will be informedby end of November 2023 if their abstract has been selected to be invited to progress further. The aim is to publish this special issue in late 2024.

Those full manuscripts that are successful after the review process will be included in the Special Issue.

Abstracts for both full papers and shorter research notes are welcome. Details of word lengthand article formats are available at

.

Potential authors are welcome to contact the special issue editor for advice on suitability of aproposed paper.

Special Issue Editor:

Dr Christopher Pich, Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University. (christopher.pich@ntu.ac.uk)

References

  • Harris, P. and Lock, A. (2010), ‘Mind the gap: the rise of political marketing and a perspective on its future agenda’, European Journal of Marketing 44(3/4), 297-307.
  • Lees-Marshment, J. and Bendle, N.T. (2022), ‘Political practitioners’ perspectives on political management: the importance of people and power’, International Journal of Public Leadership.
  • Needham, C. and Smith, G. (2015), ‘Introduction: Political Branding’, Journal of Political Marketing, DOI:10.1080/15377857.2014.990828
  • Nielsen, S.W. (2016), ‘Measuring Political Brands: An Art and a Science of Mapping the Mind’, Journal of Political Marketing, 15(1), 70-95.
  • Ormrod, R. P. and Henneberg, C. M. (2011), ‘Political market orientation and strategic party postures in Danish political parties’, European Journal of Marketing, 45(6), 852-881
  • Poorrezaei, M. Pich C. Armannsdottir G. Branco-Illodo, I. and Harvey J. (2023), ‘Exploring Young Voter Engagement and Journey Mapping across Political Events’, International Journal of Market Research, DOI: 10.1177/14707853231151890.
  • Pich, C., Armannsdottir, G. Dean, D. Spry, L. and Jain, V. (2020), ‘Problematizing the presentation and reception of political brands: The strategic and operational nature of the political brand alignment model’, European Journal of Marketing, DOI: 10.1108/EJM-03-2018-0187.
  • Scammell, M. (2015), ‘Politics and Image: The Conceptual Value of Branding’, Journal of Political Marketing, 14 (1-2), 7-18
  • Speed, R. Butler, P. and Collins, N. (2015), ‘Human branding in political marketing: Applying contemporary branding thoughts to political parties and their leaders’, Journal of Political Marketing, 14(1-2), 129-151.