Authors: Georgia Panagiotidou, Theodore Chadjipantelis
Title: The effect of promotion marketing tools strategy in political campaigns: A case study for the region of Attica
Abstract
This research aims to analyze the marketing tools used for promotion in the recent regional elections of 2019 by the candidate mayors and more specifically in the case of Attica Region. Attica is the largest prefecture, in terms of population in Greece and its Municipalities demonstrate various social and political characteristics. For this reason Attica and it municipalities were chosen as the analysis unit of the research.
More specifically, the available means of promotion, as defined by the political marketing research and bibliography, are recorded and evaluated regarding the level of intensity they were used during the election campaigns of each candidate. In addition, an effort is made to identify correlations between the strategic choices of marketing tools for promotion in relation to the ideological orientation of the combinations. Furthermore, since 2010 the use of digital media has been on the rise, but traditional media have remained a strong preference in election campaigns. This research aims to record the various strategies regarding the mixture of the main tools of marketing but also to investigate whether this choice significantly affects the likelihood of being elected.
The research questions are summarized as follows:
‐ Does choice of marketing tools in political campaign have a positive effect on the likelihood to be elected?
‐ Are there significant difference in the marketing strategy approach of the candidate’s according to their ideological background?
‐ Is there a significant difference between the use of traditional and digital marketing tools in the election campaign by the candidates? If yes, how does each of the two options affect his or her eligibility?
For the analysis of the data, advanced analysis methods are applied, such as cluster analysis for the classification of candidates into groups of common characteristics. Next, using methodologies such as correspondence analysis and Principal component analysis, we investigate in depth any correlations between strategies in the selection of marketing tools and candidates. Finally, the effect of the above on the probability of a candidate being elected is analyzed using the appropriate statistical tests.
KEYWORDS: political marketing; political analysis; quantitative methods; municipal elections; political campaigns
