Investigating political marketing using mixed method: the case for campaign spending data

Abstract

This article is a response to calls for new research methods in the study of political marketing. We submit that the mixed method approach to studying how political parties use opinion research and political communication is underused. More specifically we believe that campaign spending data, which are commonly analyzed in electoral studies, can become a significant source of information for the study of political marketing. We summarize the availability of electoral expenditure data in 13 established democracies before using a mixed method design to study political marketing management in Canada. We seek to validate quantitative data about marketing spending activity by administering semi‐structured interviews with practitioners who held senior campaign positions in major political parties. Our preliminary look at campaign finance through a political marketing scholarship lens reveals the strengths of drawing insights from such data but also some limitations. We conclude that, as other research has posited, Canadian political parties focus more on advertising in their approach to campaigning. More broadly, we propose that students of political marketing should balance proprietary interviews with transparent, standardized, replicable and objective sources of information such as campaign spending data, and vice‐versa. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Privacy concerns, internal political efficacy, intrusiveness, and voter resistance to the acceptance of political mobile marketing campaigns

“…Political marketing entails the application of marketing strategies, tactics, and scholarship to the practice and study of politics, government, and campaigning (Marland & Giasson, , p. 392). This field of study is widely regarded as a cross‐disciplinary field because of the profound impact of other disciplines, including political science, sociology, media and communication, and information systems, on the field (Kotler & Kotler, ; Lock & Harris, ; Scammell, ).…”

Élection 2018 : Une nouvelle étape dans la pratique du marketing politique au Québec

“…Les stratégies électorales puevent faire l'objet d’études quantitatives, mais peu de données fiables et quantifiables sont disponibles à cet effet. Ce type de recherche exige généralement la comptabilisation des dépenses électorales ou l'analyse quantitative du contenu des plateformes électorales (Dufresne, 2007; Marland et Giasson, 2013).…”

Gauging the Rigor of Qualitative Case Studies in Comparative Lobbying Research. A Framework and Guideline for Research and Analysis

“…Therefore, past public affairs research has very much relied on case studies “that illustrate the broad scope of contemporary public affairs practice” (Moss & Tonge, , p. 166) to understand and describe the corporate policy cycle (Schuler, ). Although such illustrative cases often provide a convincing narrative for examples of public affairs (see, e.g., the special issue on case studies in this journal, 2009, Volume 9, Issue 3 or Moss, ) and set the stage for empirical research in terms of surveys (e.g., Murphy, Hogan, & Chari, ), interviews (e.g., Fairbanks, Plowman, & Rawlins, ), content analyses (e.g., Olatunji & Adekunle Akinjogbin, ), focus groups (e.g., Heinze, Schneider, & Ferié, ), or mixed approaches (Marland & Giasson, ), they are not apt to build theory. Instead, to generate theory, an empirical case study approach is needed (Yin, ) that draws from different empirical data sources and analyses.…”