Thesis (M.Com.)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Business and Economic Sciences, 2017 / With an increase in competition in the political sector, there is a paradigm shift as parties revert to branding to influence voters’ political party brand preference. Political marketing is one of the most important aspects of developing industry which affects institutions, people and the involvement of successful candidates in the modern generation of politics. Therefore, it is of interest to examine how political party branding can enhance brand preference of the voters. Although several studies have explored political marketing and factors influencing university students’ intention to vote using various mediums, few studies have explored distinctive cues as a holistic concept in investigating the effect on youth of brand image and brand preference. More precisely, few studies have explored this topic in a political context among the youth in South Africa. This research purpose is to determine whether political party branding influences voting brand preference among the youth in South Africa, through the means of the proposed conceptual model, brand identity, positive word of mouth and brand authenticity as the predictors, brand image as the mediating variable, and brand preference as the outcome variable. The current study undertakes a quantitative approach, where 379 questionnaires were received from the respondents, (University of the Witwatersrand students), to explore the influence of political party branding on voting brand preference among the youth in South Africa. The data was analysed using structural equation modelling and Amos 23.0. Findings support all five proposed hypotheses. Hence indicating that brand identity, positive word of mouth and brand authenticity, influences brand image and brand preference. The contribution of this study is to provide general information to guide political parties or politics in South Africa in developing marketing / branding strategies based on the concept of brand preference. These contributions will help different types of political parties in having the knowledge of the critical role of brand preference and its implementation in the political marketing context. Theoretically, it is positioned in political marketing and adds to empirical literature that focuses on political branding, branding and voters’ preference in political parties. Lastly, by examining the predictors’ variables and their influence on brand image and brand preference, the findings provide political parties with a better understanding of branding strategies that can be implemented to influence voters’ preference before, during and after a campaign through comprehensive political branding. / XL2018
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/24132 |
| Date | January 2017 |
| Creators | Omo-Obas, Promise |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | Online resource (144 leaves), application/pdf |
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