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Political marketing: conceptualisation, dimensions and research agenda

Linus 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 different conceptualisations 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 and dimensions of political marketing are examined, and empirical examination of these perspectives in developing countries suggested. Findings It was found that political marketing has many conceptualisations and dimensions, and its practice may be coloured by environmental issues, especially in developing economies with weak democratic infrastructure. Research limitations/implications Empirical investigations of political marketing in developing economies, as suggested in this paper, may be constrained by secrecy, lack of secondary data, and aparty on the part of relevant party executives, among others. Practical implications Party executives will benet from the conceptualisations and dimensions documented in this paper. In addition, researchers and students in the areas of marketing and political science will nd the research agenda a fertile ground for empirical research effort. Originality/value This paper should be of value to political party executives, electoral commissions, educators and students of marketing and political science, in addition to government executives interested in relating benecially with their citizens and other relevant stakeholders. Keywords Marketing strategy, Nigeria, Africa, Politics Paper type Conceptual paper

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Received December 2007 Revised April 2008, June 2008 Accepted August 2008

Introduction Democracy in any country or environment thrives on constructive criticism, differing opinions, competition and alternative policy choices. Debate and discussion are the twin engines of democracy; they are the pillars on which representative government rests. Violence is the antithesis of political competition in a democracy. Conversely, fair political practices epitomise the democratic process. Therefore, political practices should be exercised solely through approved competitive approaches and strategies (Jeter, 2003). Usually, politicians and political parties evolve different strategies to achieve set political goals and objectives. Political practices and developments in any country have weighty implications for the 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 business activities (Odeyemi, 2002). Political practices have always shaped the nature and scope of national polities. Democratic practices and tendencies in Nigeria, for example, will

Marketing Intelligence & Planning Vol. 26 No. 7, 2008 pp. 793-810 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0263-4503 DOI 10.1108/02634500810916726

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have enormous implications not only for Nigeria and Nigerians but also for the regions around Nigeria and the world community as a whole (Halperin, 2000). Certain factors such as constitutional issues, the scal system, legal and institutional complexity, low incentives, poverty, illiteracy, corruption and political instability are some of the major problems confronting Nigeria. These problems have combined to destroy the customer or market orientation of many Nigerian civil and public servants and undermined the condence of the Nigerian public in governance and democracy (Thomas, 2004). Also, human development indicators in Nigeria are generally below the average for sub-Saharan Africa. The presence of political instability in Nigeria, for example, has created violent tendencies among Nigerian politicians, very slow rate of growth and development in the relevant indices, non-benecial social activism, and lack of knowledge and interest among Nigerian citizens regarding their rights, duties, obligations, tasks and responsibilities. Political instability in Nigeria is substantially as a result of poor management practices and strategies in Nigerian political organisations. With the presence of political instability occasioned by poor managerial practices and strategies in Nigerian political organisations, the interest in, and acceptance of democratic values by Nigerians would be doubtful. Poor management practices in Nigerian political parties have spurred the military over the years to usurp political and economic power. For democracy to thrive in any country, including Nigeria, political organisations have to design efcient and effective management strategies which are relevant and enduring. Political practices are supposed to serve as afrmations of a countrys democracy. Also, political practices (for example, political elections) should be exercises which encourage the creative passion of a countrys best and brightest to develop solutions to the countrys most urgent and difcult problems. In addition, political practices should involve a process where citizens of a country participate in the full discussion of critical national issues such as job creation, economic growth and development, security and stability, among others (Jeter, 2003). Such a process would facilitate the creation of national consensus, which could assist the growth and development of a country. For example, Ake (1996) posits that Nigerians are seeking democracy as a matter of survival, and they believe that there are no alternatives to democracy. Therefore, political activities in any country, such as Nigeria, are supposed to be undertaken by political parties through acceptable competitive approaches and strategies; they are not supposed to be wars. However, Madunagu (2003) laments that political activities in Nigeria are akin to civil wars. Management practices in political parties determine substantially the growth and development of democracies (Gershman, 2000). Therefore, practices, policies and strategies have to be evolved by political entities to build and sustain democracy in countries of the world. One of such strategies pertains to the actions of politicians and political parties in relating to their voters, members, funders and relevant stakeholders in the political environment. This paper examines political marketing with respect to meaning, dimensions, strategies and areas for empirical research efforts. Meaning of political marketing Political marketing can be conceptualised as the application of marketing concepts, principles and approaches in political issues by persons, groups, organisations and nations. The approaches associated with political marketing include the analysis,

planning, implementation, evaluation and control of political activities by persons, groups, political parties, governments and lobbyists, among others. The major purposes in political marketing include driving public perspectives and opinions, advancing political ideologies, winning political contests and elections, and passing legislation and forms of referenda pertaining to the needs, wants and desires of target market segments (Newman, 1999). In Nigeria, political marketing may also include systematic approaches and relationships which seek to persuade, convince and extract from the relevant persons or parties those things (including infrastructural facilities and support) which may advance personal, group, ethnic, tribal or professional interests. Perspectives on political marketing According to Baines and Egan (2001), the phenomenon of political marketing is still relatively new in historical terms, although the process of political campaigning has existed for a long-time. However, the systematic use of political marketing principles, strategies and techniques seems to have developed recently due to the rise of 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 of communication tools and techniques, it has grown up as the twentieth century has developed (Egan, 1999). Wring (1999) submits that the marketing discipline colonised political campaigning during the latter part of the twentieth century. Historically, political marketing grew out of the works of political communication specialists from different disciplines. Presently, political marketing has matured into its own eld (Newman, 2002). Indications of the maturity of this eld can be seen in the publication of political marketing 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 concepts and terms which have been employed by prot and non-prot organisations in their exchange transactions and relationships in marketing of goods, services and ideas to their relevant customers, clients and stakeholders. Marketing inuences contemporary politics substantially, and the same approaches used by prot-oriented business organisations to market their goods and services are also being used for the marketing of political candidates, policies, programmes and ideologies. Contemporary politicians employ marketing concepts and strategies in order to win elections and achieve effectiveness as political actors. Political marketing may, also, be conceptualised as the systematic and objective analysis, planning, implementation, evaluation and control of political and electoral programmes, policies and processes designed to create, build, sustain and enhance mutually benecial 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 efciency and effectiveness. Political Marketing has been seen as the most suitable and encompassing discipline to analyse the application of marketing in politics (OCass, 2001). Political marketing may, also, be seen as the marketing of ideas and opinions which relate to public or political issues or to specic candidates. In general, political marketing is designed to inuence peoples votes in elections. It is different from

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conventional marketing in that political concepts (ideas) are being sold as opposed to goods or services. However, political marketing employs many of the same techniques used in product marketing such as advertising, direct mail, publicity, etc. (Clemente, 1992). The constant dialogue between voters and their representatives in the legislative and 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). Political marketing in the USA and UK (compared to Nigeria) is regarded as being a source of innovation in campaign techniques (Kavanagh, 1995); at the cutting edge of electioneering innovation (Blumler et al., 1996); a world role model for political campaigns (Scammell, 1997); and as a result has brought about a transactional diffusion of American and British political marketing practices (Farrell, 1996; Baines et al., 2001). European and American styles of political marketing practices are likely to be incorporated into democratic practices in those countries where electoral conditions are most similar to those of Europe and the USA (Scammell, 1997). Synthesis of thought on political marketing Generally, political marketing seeks to establish, maintain and enhance long-term voter relationship at a benet for society and political organisations so that the objectives of the individual political actors and organisations involved are met. This is done by mutual exchange and fullment of promises (Henneberg, 1996; OShaughnessy, 2001). The political product may include party policy, leader image, promise, or references to past performance of a political entity (OShaughnessy, 2001). Political marketing is, also, concerned with communicating with party members, media, prospective sources of funding and the electorates. As a result of its multiple audiences, political marketing has a great deal in common with marketing for public and non-prot 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 certain politicians, groups, governments and political parties use marketing strategies efciently and effectively. Political marketing deals also with ethical aspects of governance regarding laws, regulations and practices which enhance and retard the ability of a party, government or nation to function efciently and effectively as a democracy (Newman, 2002). Political marketing also highlights contemporary strategic approaches used by democratic entities to run political campaigns. Dimensions of political marketing Generally, the eld of political marketing addresses the following major issues, among others: . Political advertising. . Cyber-democracy. . Propaganda in politics. . Companies in politics. . Women in politics. . Direct marketing.

. . . .

E-government. Marketing research & polling. Strategic management of political activities. Strategic corporate lobbying.

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From a strategic/competitive perspective, political entities operate in situations, which are relatively similar to an oligopoly (few sellers or marketers or parties) than to the consumer marketing perspective generally associated with more perfect competition. However, there are many similarities between political marketing and traditional fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) marketing (Baines et al., 2002). It should be noted, however, that there are aspects of political behaviour described more effectively using concepts and frameworks from political science rather than marketing. Examples include ticket-splitting (where voters vote for a different party for two or more political ofces), traditional personal and tactical voting behaviour from a consumer behaviour perspective (e.g. protest voting), canvassing (particularly in less developed countries), and comparative and negative advertising from a communications perspective. It should be noted, also, that the goals and objectives of a political entity are different from those of commercial business organisations, and it may be relatively difcult to index the performance of a political entity (Lees-Marshment, 2001a). However, political entities, like business organisations, use relevant forms of strategies in order to achieve set goals and objectives. One of the strategies open to political entities is political marketing. Political marketing strategies Politics is primarily concerned with structuring and ordering social existence. The behaviours, abilities and potentials of people are the anchor of responsible politics in any country. Also, politics helps to integrate people in a society/community with their specic ideas about what constitutes a correct lifestyle and modes of social relationships. However, diminishing condence in parties and politicians characterises some 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 as disenchantment with democracy, empirical evidence highlights worrying negative public attitudes towards aspects of Western democracy (Spogard and James, 2000). However, political organisations in most developed democracies have come to realise that the fundamental principles and techniques of marketing can provide solutions to tackling voter indifference to politicians and political parties (Bauer et al., 1996). Political organisations have myriads of goals and, generally, seek effective strategies to compete in democratic contests. The major goal of a political party is electoral success (Lees-Marshment, 2001a), and political parties use strategies which will lead them to win enough votes in general elections to win the control of government. Therefore, in most democracies of the world, politicians and political parties seek tactical and strategic marketing techniques to make themselves relevant to the electorate and to gain the benets of election or re-election. These politicians and political parties recognise the need to match their political offerings with the core values of their relevant audience (Lock and Harris, 1996). Marketing could become a positive force inuencing 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 the political marketplace (OCass, 1996). The market for political entities is complex, and may consist of voters, party members, funders, and relevant stakeholders. A political partys product may include its leadership or executives, members of state and federal legislature, staff, party symbols, party constitution, party conferences and policies, among others (Lees-Marshment, 2001a). Marketing concepts, principles, frameworks and strategies need substantial adaptation in order to be of relevance in politics. According to Scammell (1997), political marketing strategy offers a theoretical basis for explaining party and voter behaviour which is more broad and inclusive than the conventional communications approaches offered by political science theories. Kotler and Kotler (1991) posit that political marketing is a key growth industry affecting every person and institution, and the marketing of a successful political candidate and cause is what political marketing strategy is all about. Political marketing strategy offers new approaches for understanding and managing contemporary political entities and persons. The relevance of marketing strategy in politics is that it promotes and enables political parties, voters and other relevant stakeholders to be part of a constructive dialogue, thereby deepening democratic values and practices in nations of the world (OCass, 2001). The marketing discipline and marketers have developed a body of knowledge, strategies and technical expertise directly related to the analysis and persuasion of large 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 understanding of political organisations and persons (Harrop, 1990); after all, the problems facing political entities and persons may be similar to those facing the marketing manager of commercial and non-commercial entities (Butler and Collins, 1994). In both politics and marketing, a set of organisations in each domain (marketing or politics) competes for the loyalty of the target market. The consumers/citizens are the decision-makers, with their choices usually implying some degree of commitment, and the channels of communication in both politics and marketing are persuasion and are virtually identical (Mauser, 1983). Programme and policy design/development in political science and the product development and launch process in commercial business/marketing are both managed in the same way. The problem of getting elected is a marketing strategy problem (Reid, 1988), and a successful political campaign is similar to marketing/product positioning (Denton, 1988). The political product is substantially an intangible offer (Harrop, 1990). In some democracies, the political market can be described as mature. Generally, in mature markets, patterns of competitive behaviour are established. In politics, the periodic nature of elections, for example, produces forms of strategic and tactical marketing management activities. As marketing is increasingly adopted, it will move beyond inuencing only tactical political matters of communication and presentation, and play a signicant role in policy, strategy formulation and implementation, and long-term direction. Ultimately, the strategic marketing practice will become dominant practice in political activities (Butler and Collins, 1996). Marketing concepts, principles, strategies and analytical methods have considerable applicability in political marketing (Lock and Harris, 1996).

The application of marketing strategies to politics has been somewhat limited in both the marketing and politics literature, especially in sub-Saharan African countries. While the study of elections is of interest to political scientists, they concentrate on issues somewhat distant from the concern of political campaigners. Political scientists, also, tend to focus on institutional relationships, the legislative process, public policy, and the scientic examination of political and electorate phenomena rather than campaign strategies and management (Butler and Collins, 1994; Gamble, 1990). However, general concepts and theories in marketing require contextual adaptation in order to suit specic situations, including political situations, contexts and cultures (Blois, 1987). However, any strategy to achieve set political goals and objectives must be creative (Abati, 2003). According to Butler and Collins (1996), political entities in a democratic system should be regarded as similar to commercial organisations in industrial markets which use different kinds of marketing strategies. Certain dimensions of democratic tendencies have been concerned with marketing. For example, the growth of a new public management paradigm has necessitated a fresh approach to the state/citizen relationship. However, Mauser (1983) submits that there is failure in extant political marketing literature to examine marketing at the strategy level, and this crucial omission limits the horizon of political marketing research and understanding. Marketing strategy in any organisation including political, has been seen as the interface between an organisation and its environment (Mavondo, 2000), and an organisations marketing strategy may result in better marketing performance if it is closely aligned to the dictates of the relevant environment (Miles and Snow, 1978). However, Mavondo (2000) claims, empirically, that companies do not respond to environmental changes by adopting any marketing strategy, implying that environment may be a poor predictor of marketing strategy and its effectiveness. Marketing strategies in political organisations manifest themselves in such activities as image building, issue-tracking, the targeting of voters, timing of elections and aiding in policy formulations (Kavanagh, 1995; Smith and Hirst, 2001). Specically, strategic marketing in politics manifests itself in the use of marketing not merely as a short-term tactical device (primarily used for information-gathering in the run-up to elections) but as a long-term and permanent managerial activity to ensure continued governance (Nimmo, 1999; Smith and Hirst, 2001). Therefore, it seems reasonable to state that political parties wishing to gain long-term competitive advantage must strive to design marketing strategies that will achieve the satisfaction of 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 and documented 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; OCass, 1996, 2001; Lees-Marshment, 2001a,c; Newman, 1999, 2002 among others), and the relevance of particular aspects of marketing theory for political activities has been illustrated in extant literature (Baines et al., 2002). It is through the strategic use of marketing techniques that the target markets needs and wants, and the necessary policy decision-making approaches to satisfy these needs and wants efciently and effectively 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 what political candidates and parties propose, the use of strategic marketing tools and frameworks has been advocated (Baines et al., 2002), especially in developing democracies such as Nigeria. However, if political marketing is to inform and inuence political action, it has to develop its own strategic framework and/or adopt frameworks from the core marketing literature such as market orientation. Also, it has to develop its own predictive and prescriptive models (Lock and Harris, 1996). Aspects of political marketing strategies. Political marketing strategy, generally, is a series of persuasional techniques deployed in competitive situations to construct and reinforce a political entitys image, products and persons. Political marketing strategy, specically, seeks to describe how political entities and persons attempt to market their programmes, policies, persons and ideas to the relevant publics, while being sensitive to 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, local government, legislature, the civil service, public service, etc. Political marketing strategy addresses different issues, such as how political organisations listen to the people they seek to serve, determine what they offer to the public and achieve their goals. It studies politics from the supply side (political parties) and from the demand side (voters, relevant audience). Also, political marketing strategy is concerned with such issues as candidates seeking elective posts at all levels (local, state and federal), political consultants and lobbyists, political action committee executives, fundraisers for politicians and political parties, pollsters, government ofcials, political advertising specialists, journalists, public relations executives, telemarketers, marketing researchers, political party managers and ofcers, and government ofcials, among others (Newman, 2002). The emergence of television and other media have made political marketing strategy more obvious, and the decline in party membership in some countries has highlighted the importance of a two-way marketing communication strategy between political parties and their respective voters (Lock and Harris, 1996). Political marketing strategy is also associated with academics, scholars and practitioners in the elds of politics, marketing, political communications, journalism, political philosophy, sociology, social psychology and psychology, among others. In addition, political marketing strategy is concerned with the use of advertising, polling, the Internet system, and other marketing approaches by politicians, political parties and governments. For example, the advertisement of Nigeria on CNN by the Nigerian President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo: WELCOME TO NIGERIA, THE HEARTBEAT OF AFRICA, is a form of political marketing strategy (i.e. promotions strategy), the purpose being to market Nigerias image and investment opportunities in the country. If the President of a country such as Nigeria can use an aspect of political marketing strategy (advertising) in the governance of a country, it goes to show the importance of the strategy in governance and democracy generally. It may be stated that political marketing strategy has interesting consequences and relevance as democratic forms of government spread round the developed and developing nations of the world (Newman, 2002). According to Savigny (2004), political marketing strategy ts the assumption that political entities pursue certain policies in order to win political contests, rather than win political contests in order to pursue policies. In some contexts, political marketing

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 cast their votes affectively and emotionally; this tendency may be visible in developing democracies (such as Nigeria) with relatively illiterate electorates who may not comprehend reasonably the variance between political trappings and substance associated with their nations political parties/entities. However, it can be argued that it is not only political ideology, which wins political contests, but the adept use of relevant marketing strategies that appeal to the relevant political stakeholders. Therefore, political marketing strategy is likely to improve the democratic process in a nation, like Nigeria, if it places the voter and other relevant stakeholders at the centre of the political process. Therefore, political entities can use marketing strategies to increase their chances of achieving their goals and objectives. They can alter their strategic marketing behaviours or practices, including party policy, membership, leadership and organisational structure, in order to suit the needs and wants of their relevant market segment(s). They can do this using any marketing concept, principle, strategy or orientation. For example, political parties may use the marketing strategies of standing for what they believe in (product orientation), or focus on persuading voters and relevant others to agree with them (sales orientation), or change their political behaviour 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, but its fundamental aim is to satisfy the interest of the marketer or producer (Wring, 1996). An appreciation of strategic management considerations in political marketing would assist in isolating those tactical and operational issues which present political marketing as trivial and unethical (Butler and Collins, 1996). For example, extending the analysis of elections back from the period of political campaign to include marketing management elements of preparation, planning, implementing, organising and controlling would help provide insights and understanding of strategic development in political marketing. Also, while a political candidate or party would debate and discuss political ideology and other party issues, it is for the political partys marketing manager to design efcient and effective marketing strategies which will relate the political party to its electorates and the relevant political environment. Political marketing strategies and market orientation Political organisations may be seen as similar to commercial organisations in the marketplace. If political entities are similar to commercial organisations, therefore, marketing concepts, principles, strategies, models and frameworks used in analysing commercial activities can be used for political activities. Generally, the marketing literature permits the use of a wide array of principles, concepts, strategies, frameworks and models in the analysis of commercial activities. One widely recognised framework in extant marketing literature for such analysis is market orientation, which emphasises, substantially, customer or client satisfaction (Butler and Collins, 1996). The emphasis of marketing and market orientation on customer or client needs and their satisfaction is the requisite ingredient for competitive success in organisational practices (Diamantopoulos and Hart, 1991). Political parties are not exceptions.

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Marketing is the culture of an organisation and is part of everyones job description (Webster, 1992). This implies that the ultimate managerial culture of any organisation including political organisation, is marketing. It is therefore reasonable for political entities to make use of marketing frameworks, instruments and concepts in the interest of ensuring that resources are deployed to maximum political efciency and effectiveness (Bauer et al., 1996). One such strategic marketing framework is market orientation strategy, which can provide a political entity with the means to demonstrate its vision of the state and society to potential and actual voters, members and other relevant stakeholders. Therefore, market orientation strategy should be the focus of political marketing strategy (OShaughnessy, 1990). The central issue in marketing is the marketing concept, and the strategic implementation of the marketing concept is referred to as market orientation. According to Webster (1992) and McKenna (1991), modern organisations, including political parties, should endeavour to implement the marketing concept in order to be efcient and effective. Market orientation, essentially, is the overt tendency of an organisation such as a political party, which has adopted the marketing concept. It is the generation of appropriate market (electorate) intelligence (information) pertaining to present and future needs and wants, the integration and dissemination of such informatibib54on across relevant organisational units, departments and section, and the coordinated design and execution of the organisations strategic market opportunities (OCass, 2001; Deng and Dart, 1994). Extant literature submits that political marketing strategy equals a market orientation strategy (Lees-Marshment, 2001a). It should be noted that any marketing strategy orientation (e.g. production, product, sales, market, etc.) can be an appropriate marketing strategy to adopt by a political entity, depending on the goals sought, the market segment the political entity is targeting, the relevant political context, and the prevailing environment, among others. For example, a political entity employing a market-oriented strategy will adapt its behaviour to the needs and wants of voters and other 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 market segment and product-oriented in Lees-Marshment (2001a) submits that the greater the market orientation strategy of a political entity, the greater the success of the political entity in political contests. This submission is debatable. Market orientation within political entities is healthy for democracy because there is a reciprocal and dynamic relationship between political entities and voters (Shama, 1976; OShaughnessy, 1990; Lees-Marshment, 2001b; Savigny, 2004). Through market orientation strategy, political organisations may be able to achieve their goals, and voters can benet from an opportunity to participate in the political process by impacting on the nature of political party policies and programmes. Also, by market orientation in political entities, the quality of information, policies and services improves. Market orientation enhances the relationship between the marketer (political entities) and the customer/client (relevant audience), and this relationship is characterised by trust, cooperation and lack of conict (Huff and Kelley, 2005), in addition to fostering internal organisational trust and employee commitment (Siguaw et al., 1994), and all organisational functions directed towards delivering superior value and satisfaction to customers and clients (Hooley et al., 2005).

In the modern Nigerian political environment, for example, voters have become more educated, informed and critical of politics and parties; levels of party identication and membership have changed; and the nature of the political market has become more heterogeneous. In addition, the demands made by voters have become less class-based. Therefore, political parties, for example, need to offer programmes, policies, ideas and candidates that will be accepted and supported by the majority of the Nigerian electorate. In short, they (political parties) need to practice market orientation strategies to achieve stated goals, objectives, mission and vision. However, the use and effectiveness of market-orientation strategy in political marketing depend on the individual political entitys type (i.e. major or minor party), dominant goal and objective of the political entity, the countrys structure of democratic politics, nature of the market (voters, political culture, information, etc.), as well as institutional factors such as the electoral and party system (Lees-Marshment, 2001a). The process of political marketing strategy, therefore, should be implemented through adopting the philosophy of the market orientation. In the market orientation philosophy (as it relates to political marketing), political entities decisions should be voter-oriented in order to determine voter needs and wants. In addition, a political entity should attempt to satisfy voter needs and wants within environmental, ideological and constitutional bounds. Therefore, it may be stated that political market orientation means that a political entity will achieve its goals and objectives through a thorough understanding of its target audience (voters, members, funders, etc.), including their needs and wants; understanding the relevant political environments associated with satisfying such needs and wants; and then developing and offering political services and programmes efciently and effectively. It requires the political entity generating market intelligence (information) pertaining to present and future needs and wants, dissemination of the information to relevant units/departments, and responsiveness throughout the political organisation to the generated and disseminated information (Kohli and Jaworski, 1990). However, not all political systems have well developed political marketing industries. Specically, infrastructural and contextual factors have been documented in extant literature as affecting the diffusion of political marketing strategies of developed 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 of campaign regulation, restrictions on media and paid advertising, the structure of the media, the strengths and distinctiveness of national cultures, the length of the election campaign, the presidential versus the parliamentary system, the commercial versus the public service broadcasting system, the local press versus the national press, the degree of modernisation in society, and the level of nance available for political campaigns, among other cognate issues (Baines et al., 2001). Research agenda According to Meldrum (1996), one of the problems confronting marketing as a managerial discipline is the inability of companies to implement its theories. This problem has for a long time been noted by scholars (Felton, 1959; Barksdale and Darden, 1972), but has continuously been either an un-researched or under-researched issue (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 be determined and explained through empirical research. Therefore, research efforts should examine the marketing strategies of political entities with a view to understanding political markets, political environments, political marketers and approaches for achieving efciency and effectiveness through political marketing strategies. The linkages among political practices, political entities, the electorates (individual voters) and the society at large need to be investigated and understood through the use of appropriate principles and techniques. Understanding such principles, techniques and linkages is important for efcient and effective democratic practice in a society or nation (OCass, 2001). Political marketing is about political organisations/parties adopting marketing principles, concepts, techniques and strategies to achieve their goals and objectives. Lock and Harris (1996) lament that there is still relatively little research work in political marketing comparing the development of political activity and its impact across different international settings and political systems and structures. In addition, the degree of practice of certain marketing principles, strategies and theories has not been adequately investigated empirically across different political contexts and cultures. This paucity of research work means that it is very difcult to draw general conclusions about political marketing. Therefore, to analyse and understand political behaviour (practices and strategies) in political entities, it is imperative that interested researchers use theoretical marketing frameworks situated within relevant contexts and countries and examine, empirically, the relevance of these frameworks in specic political settings and environments. Both political systems and marketing have substantial impacts on societys general behaviour and directions. Therefore, any research which analyses the link between marketing and political systems and phenomena is warranted and timely, especially in developing countries which have embraced democratic tendencies. Politics is synonymous with party politics in developed economies. Specically, modern democracy is synonymous with party democracy, where political institutions and practices are the essence of democratic government. In short, modern democracy is the creation of political parties, and modern democratic tendencies would be substantially unthinkable without political parties. Political parties are not only central to democracy, they are important for any research on political marketing management. Therefore, research on political marketing practices should, generally, analyse practices, programmes, policies and strategies of political parties, and the relevant political environments. Empirical research coverage of political practices and processes in the marketing and strategy literature is generally lacking, especially in developing democracies such as Nigeria. The academic development of the political marketing discipline is at an early stage, and there is much debate regarding the nature of the role of marketing and its applicability in political activities. Baines and Egan (2001) have advised that research should be undertaken to measure, for example, the extent of market orientation in political activities. Many of the published works on political marketing are conceptual, and expected at this early stage of the subjects development. Research works into political behaviour in developed democracies (such as Britain and the USA) from a marketing perspective posit that political marketing is broad in

scope and offers fresh analytical tools to explain how political entities behave in order to achieve efciency and effectiveness (Lees-Marshment, 2001b). For example, a political party with product-orientation behaviour argues for what the party stands for and believes in; a sales-oriented political party focuses on selling its policies, programmes and candidates to voters and other relevant stakeholders; a market-oriented behaviour endeavours to provide satisfaction to its voters, members, funders and signicant others. A major weakness in the political marketing literature is its over concentration on issues drawn from the political system in the UK and USA which are not typical of most democracies (Butler and Collins, 1996). By conducting research in political marketing in developing democracies, such as Nigeria, marketing theory can provide a clearer view of the long-term competitive positions and strategies of political entities in other countries. Extant literature has considered the similarities and differences of strategies of rival parties in developed economies/democracies (Wring, 1996). For example, in the latter, political parties (like their counterparts in the commercial business world) use marketing research to plan better and target potential groups of supporters with policies and programmes using sophisticated marketing strategies. Also, studies are conducted on the effectiveness of different promotional strategies and media in reaching voters (Shama, 1976). However, not much is documented for developing democracies such as Nigeria. Modern political marketing requires a more comprehensive holistic approach, one which calls for research going deeper into political issues of relevance. Fertile areas for political marketing research, especially in developing countries such as Nigeria, include comparative studies of the marketing strategies of rival political parties with regard to market segments served, specic tactical and strategic issues emphasised, the use of technological facilities for political marketing activities, and practices of relationship marketing and market orientation strategies, among others. Modern political parties operate in a very competitive environment which is continuously changing and this may be the salient justication for adopting market orientation strategies by political parties. Generally, the goal of meeting needs and wants of voters, party members and other stakeholders through a partys offering (product) is to build brand loyalty and repeat exchanges by satisfying needs and wants better than political rivals. Extant literature recognises market orientation as the foundation of superior marketing strategy practice and enhanced performance, especially in commercial businesses (OCass, 2001). Therefore, empirical research should examine market orientation in political parties in a developing country like Nigeria. The ndings from the proposed research will provide an initial move to combat the dearth of empirically based literature and facts regarding market orientation strategies and their effectiveness in Africas largest democracy. In addition, research should determine the extent to which marketing strategies of political parties are based on national issues versus personality issues. Also, empirical research should endeavour to determine the degree to which the marketing strategies of political parties are a function of voter behaviour in the different relevant segmentation bases such as tribe, gender, geopolitical zone, age group and social class, among other segmentation variables. A proper understanding of the political behaviour of voters and other relevant stakeholders would assist political parties in

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designing efcient and effective marketing strategies, ensure healthy political competition among parties, and deepen democratic culture in nations. A two-stage research method (qualitative and quantitative) is proposed for a proper investigation of marketing in political entities. This method will allow for both an exploratory stage investigating the phenomenon of marketing strategy (such as market orientation strategy) and developing research ideas, and then a descriptive stage presenting patterns of the phenomenon of marketing strategy in Nigerian political entities. This research approach is especially practical when the phenomenon of study or eld of study, such as market orientation strategy in Nigerian political entities, is in evolution (Parkhe, 1993). Conclusion Modern democracy is built on equality, freedom and competition, and all political organisations must design strategies for recognition, survival and success (Fukuyama, 1992). Marketing is both a philosophy and a set of strategies or activities used to implement that philosophy (Crompton and Lamb, 1986). According to Wring (1996), these two aspects of marketing are useful when analysing the strategic behaviour and development of a political country in any country. Marketing is an important catalyst for the growth and development of a political entity. Hitherto, little attention has been given to understanding how marketing activities and thought have informed party behaviour and development, especially in developing countries such as Nigeria. According to Bowler et al. (1996), all political organisations can apply the technologies or strategies of political marketing (i.e. market research, market segmentation, market orientation, relationship marketing, polls, media consultants, etc.) in order to achieve set goals and objectives. For example, the major political parties 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 concerns and change their behaviour to achieve set political goals and objectives. Therefore, modern political marketing should emphasise the political needs and wants of the voters and other relevant stakeholders (Shama, 1976). Put simply, in modern political tendencies, marketing should take an important strategic perspective regarding the needs and wants of the relevant target market and stakeholders. Examining political practices from a marketing perspective in a developing and democratic country such as Nigeria may offer additional insights into the managerial tendencies of political parties beyond those gained from political science and other cognate disciplines. In addition, analysing political practices from a marketing perspective, as proposed in this paper, will provide insight into the practices and strategies which are theoretically valuable in relating political parties and their relevant voters, members, funders and other relevant stakeholders in a developing democracy. The purpose of the proposed research is partly to highlight, empirically, the marketing strategies of political organisations, especially in developing democracies such as Nigeria, in the light of both general and specic marketing theories and concepts. Specically, the purpose of the proposed research is to investigate the opinions and attitudes of political marketing practitioners and their use of marketing techniques, in addition to the perceived effectiveness of such techniques and strategies in political issues.

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