Political Ideology & Candidate Marketing
3 September, 2020
We do not need to know ideology in order to determine effective marketing. Ideology is one of many factors that could help us shape a marketing strategy; however, there are other areas that may prove more beneficial in understanding the demographics in play in order to effectively influence and motivate voters. Political belief structure and ideologies are not necessarily the same thing. Political beliefs can be influenced by a variety of factors, with personal ideologies being a singular point to look at. A point that research shows may not always be indicative of how individuals feel about certain topics or issues.3 Although it is common to want to focus on ideologies they are a difficult thing to gauge and study, and a poor use of resources when trying to persuade the majority of a district’s voters that a candidate is the right choice for them.
Based on past studies and research, it is possible to classify an individual’s ideological preferences in some ways and to some extent. We could take a random survey of the district to see how people identify on a scale as either conservative, liberal, or moderate. This would probably yield inaccurate results for our purposes as someone’s political identification does not indicate the topics that are most pressing to them as voters. Individuals are drawn towards labels that appeal to them in a symbolic way and are not reflective of their true ideological leanings.1 As Philip Converse noted in regard to attempting to classify ideology, it is an instance where “what is important to study cannot be measured and… what can be measured is not important to study.” While we can classify individuals within their district on a scale of liberal to conservative, this metric is not a perfect measurement and it is a measurement of something that is not the most influential factor in affecting voter turnout or persuasion.2 It would make just as much, if not more, sense to review voting trends within the district and assess issues of overall interest rather than personal ideology.
While ideology may not be beneficial for the purpose of developing an effective marketing campaign, research suggests a few interesting things that it would benefit us to study and consider when creating our marketing strategy. For instance, party preference remains strong and consistent over time.3 Keeping this information in mind, we must consider the candidate’s party when discussing an appropriate strategy. The marketing must appeal to a wide variety of individuals who are persuaded by issues and group interests while not alienating individuals who will support the candidate based on party identification. What we really want to focus on and study would be group and identity politics within the district. It is far more likely that individuals will be interested in voting for a candidate that they think will represent and positively impact a group that they strongly identify with.2 By looking at past voting trends, we can understand what individuals feel strongly about within that district and what motivates them to vote. By understanding the competing group identities, we can market based on subjects that may be of interest to the largest number of people and may also be the highest motivating factor for voter turnout as well as support for the candidate.
Instead of looking at ideological groupings within the district, I propose that we direct resources where they are best spent. In this instance, we should gather and study generational lines and racial/ethnic groups, religious communities, and other groups of interest to the members of the district.2 Once we have determined the most pressing matters that pertain to group interests, we are able to ascertain how to effectively market the candidate as an ally to these interests, either by referring to past involvement and support of these critical issues or the denouncement of ideas and actions that are contrary to these key issues.
If we are interested in specific issue marketing, clearly, we want to know what specific issues will most motivate the voters of the district. Understanding the primary groups and potential group interests of the district would be far more beneficial than trying to gauge specific ideologies. Not because ideologies are not helpful but because there is a disconnect between how people identify and the issues they vote for or consider important.1 We would do far better at isolating a few areas of importance to the critical demographics and focusing our marketing in that way than we would by trying to identify individuals as conservative or liberal and tailoring our marketing towards a party or specific platform.
References
Conover, P. J., & Feldman, S. (2004). The Origins and Meaning of Liberal/Conservative Self-Identifications. Political Psychology, 200-216. doi:10.4324/9780203505984-11
2. Converse, P. E. (2006). The nature of belief systems in mass publics (1964). Critical Review, 18(1-3), 1-74. doi:10.1080/08913810608443650
3. Federico, C. M. (2019). Ideology and Public Opinion. New Directions in Public Opinion, 75-98. doi:10.4324/9781351054621-4