The Sage Handbook of Political Marketing

Paul Baines, Phil Harris, Denisa Hejlova, Costas Panagopoulos

• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
• Year: 2025
• Print ISBN: 9781529609707
• eBook ISBN: 9781529679168
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Marketing
• Index: Business

The Sage Handbook of Political Marketing is a comprehensive resource that introduces the theory and practice of political marketing in a global, yet simultaneously localized, world. The practice of political marketing has evolved significantly during the 20th and 21st centuries, adapting to the rise of mass media, marketing communication, advertising, and the web. Traditionally dominated by US, European, and Australasian scholars, the field has up-to-now emphasized the Americanisation and professionalisation of campaigning styles.

Since the start of the new millennium, however, political marketing has transformed into a data-driven, specialized profession. With increasing digitalisation and the advent of AI, political marketing involves personally targeted, evidence-based messaging with real-time engagement and sentiment analysis. This approach is not limited to democratic regimes but is also widely adopted by authoritarian states worldwide.

The handbook addresses the global perspectives on political marketing, covering a myriad of contexts, cultures, and regimes. It encompasses insights into political marketing in regions seldom discussed in the literature, including Zimbabwe, Japan, India, Hong Kong, and Ukraine. These chapters enrich the debate on political marketing's impact on democracies and its use in non-democratic societies.

Organized into four parts, the handbook covers strategy, propaganda, digital evolution, ideology, and contemporary practices in political marketing. It explores topics such as the marketing of ideology, the impact of the internet and social media, the use of AI in political marketing, and the role of fake news and disinformation in campaigns. The handbook addresses the use of political marketing techniques in crisis management, political branding, the measurement of political marketing effects, and political marketing use outside of electoral campaigns.

The Sage Handbook of Political Marketing is an essential resource for scholars, practitioners, students, and politicos in general, seeking to understand the complexities of political marketing. It provides a comprehensive and nuanced exploration of the field, equipping readers to engage with the theoretical and practical aspects of political marketing in a rapidly changing world.

Part 1: Strategy in Political Marketing: Orthodox and Occidental Perspectives
Part 2: Political Marketing, Propaganda, and Digital Evolution: Global South and Eastern European Perspectives
Part 3: Ideology in Political Marketing: Advocacy, Movements, Lobbying, and Public Diplomacy
Part 4: Contemporary Political Marketing: Cybercampaigning, Fake News and Social Media

 

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Acknowledgements
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Illustration List
• Notes on Editors and Contributors
• Foreword I
• Foreword II
• Introduction
• Part 1 Strategy in Political Marketing: Orthodox and Occidental Perspectives
• 1 Strategies and Tactics in Global Political Marketing: Cases and Challenges from the Practitioner’s Perspective
• 2 Australia – Political Marketing in a Down Under Democracy
• 3 Positioning Presidents: Non-Political Branding in US Elections1
• 4 Negative (Issue) Campaigning: Towards a Decision-Making Process and Framework
• 5 Electoral Attacking Strategies: Lessons From the Electoral Debates in Spain and France
• 6 Polarized and Connected: Measuring Campaign Effects in the 2016 and 2020 US Presidential Elections
• 7 Political Brand Engagement and Positioning: An Integrated Framework
• 8 The Continued Relevance of Political Advertising on Television: A Review of Its Effects and Content
• 9 Social Media Content in the Turkish Presidential Elections: A Functional Theory of Political Campaign Discourse Perspective
• 10 Political Communication and Digital Media in Japan: Trends and Challenges
• 11 Ukrainian Political Communication in the Russo-Ukrainian War: A Case of Strategic Communication and Political Marketing?
• Part 2 Political Marketing, Propaganda, and Digital Evolution: Global South and Eastern European Perspectives
• 12 Political Marketing and Propaganda: Definitions, Evolutionary Changes, and Their Implications for a Taxonomy of Regime Types
• 13 Strategic Market Segmentation and Targeting in the 21st Century: Ethical Challenges, Trends and Innovations
• 14 Vetting Political Candidates in the Digital World
• 15 Political Marketing and the Strategic Populism in Poland
• 16 Disinformation and Elections: Old Challenge in the New Context
• 17 Use of Analytics in Political Marketing: Data-Driven Campaigns, Theory and Examples
• 18 Role of Content and Narrative in Indian Political Leadership Communication: A Narrative Paradigm Theory Approach
• 19 Political Marketing at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Shreds of Evidence From India
• Part 3 Ideology in Political Marketing: Advocacy, Movements, Lobbying, and Public Diplomacy
• 20 The Marketing of an Ideal: The Hong Kong Pro-Democracy Movement
• 21 Pick-Six: How Grassroots Organizations in the United States Can Use Core Stakeholder Influence Techniques in Political Marketing
• 22 It’s all About Position, Position, Position: The Case of the Five Star Movement in Italy
• 23 Soft Power, Art of the Media and International Political Marketing: A Cross-Cultural Perspective
• 24 The Pandemic Olympics: Japan’s COVID-19 Crisis Communications1
• 25 Marketing the Far-Right: How Do They Get it Right?
• 26 The Political Marketing of Austerity and Anti-Austerity Policies in the UK1
• 27 Women in Public Affairs and Lobbying
• 28 Going Blue in the Deep Red: How Kansas Voters Shocked the Nation and Protected Choice
• Part 4 Contemporary Political Marketing: Cybercampaigning, Fake News, and Social Media
• 29 Digital Political Campaigning and Social Media
• 30 The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Political Marketing
• 31 Digital Political Marketing: Informing, Mobilising and Interacting During the 2023 Zimbabwean Election
• 32 Character Assassination in Electoral Negative Campaigns
• 33 What Can Nation Branding Research Learn From Political Marketing?
• 34 Challenges to Political Marketing: Overcoming Risks When Engaging in Socio-Political Issues
• 35 Entrepreneurs or Franchisees? The Use of Individual Versus Party Branding in Contemporary American Politics
• 36 Political Marketing Amid the Rise and Fall of Democratic Regimes in Africa
• 37 Persuasion and Persistence: A Large-Scale Field Experiment in a Presidential Campaign
• 38 The Challenge of Responding to Populism
• Index