Voters Perception towards Branding among Indian Politicians

 

Pankaj Goel^1*, Dr. Amanpreet Singh Brar²

¹Research Scholar, Inder Kumar Gujral, Punjab Technical University, Kapurthalla, Punjab,

 ²Guru Nanak Institute of Management & Technology, Ludhiana, Punjab

 

ABSTRACT:

This paper focuses on the perception of voters toward branding of Indian Politicians and their parties. An attempt has been made to understand how voters’ behavior and perception is psychologically influenced when a politician or a political party becomes a brand. This paper has mainly stressed upon studying various aspects which makes a political actor as a national or international brand. Once these brands are established in the minds of political consumers, are able to create a distinguished approach during electoral competition. The public image along with their national and international recognition of a political leader and his party, when attached to branding helps a lot in creating voters loyalty. In a country like India, numerous strategies have been adopted in the political system to woo voters through local and social media in the recent past. The present study has randomly selected the most accepted Indian political brands like Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal and other left parties.  A survey of 300 voters has been done who casted their valuable vote in Lok Sabha Election 2014. Chi Square test of Independence, ANOVA and Garrett Ranking has been used to analyze the results. This study has concluded the public image of Mr. Narendra Modi has helped him in becoming the most favorite brand in India. This paper has also felt the need of further research to determine the role of branding and political marketing in changing the perception of the electorates

 

 

INTRODUCTION:

Politics is an art and technique consisting of various activities related to the struggle for the power and position for governing a set of people. Governing of a nation, selecting representatives in an election process, passing of various laws comes under the regime of any political study. Various political parties, in these days, have shifted from the traditional ideology of simply ruling the nation to modern competitive philosophy of rationality and reasoning. It becomes difficult for any politician or a party to survive and to stay for longer without a huge aura of loyal voters.

 

These politicians are not only to market themselves strategically but also to create awareness to influence the behaviour and perception of the entitled voters. Internal marketing and hiring of the strategists is becoming a common phenomenon among political parties across the globe. These marketing experts help the politicians to understand the mood and perception of the electorates. These perceptions are further influenced by the media, family members, strong party identification, religion, caste, region, language and public image of the candidate. However rural voting, as per Javaid and Elahi (2014), is mainly influenced by community and personal affiliations where as urban have an influence of media, previous performance and policies. Political organizations in these days are very much resorting on various marketing strategies to understand and manipulate the perception of voters where branding is its integral and continuous part.

 

Political marketing has made it easy to make politician a brand in the politics. What is the first impression comes up in the mind of a voter, is the actual essence of a political brand. This brand perception is extendable to the political organization as well. This branded candidate is the official envoy of the ideology of that organization. This helps voters to understand clearly what a party or its branded candidate is all about; why they should be chosen and given power to rule upon formers, how they are superior to their rivals in the political competition and finally how they can have positive impacts upon their future. Cwalina and Falkowski (2015, p. 152) has discussed the role of branding, in not only in strengthening the positive characteristics of a candidate but also in neutralizing the effect of negative ones. This helps in forming overall higher quality as per the expectation.

 

Political branding helps candidates to uniquely establish their public image in the sub conscious mind of the electorates. A strong political brand, not only convince the masses to create an association with a political party or its candidate but also positions into the electorates’ mind to be first. Because second stands nowhere. Overflowing and immense communication from media has made people to learn how to rank various political products in their mind. Now-a-days, if a political party wants to move up the ladder in the mindsets, requires having strong foothold, little outside leverage and adequate positioning. Only then, a brand acquires much larger share than its competitor in the race of power. This was the reason why Mr. Arvind Kejriwal had upper hand in New Delhi assembly election 2015 and Mr. Narendra Modi in Indian general election 2014. These brands have unique power in their names. The association of these names also helps in positioning a party as well and vice versa. The odds of winning grew more with every step towards proper branding and positioning of a candidate and his party.

 

The Indian Lok sabha election 2014 had witnessed the eminent role of the media in the marketing of various political brands. In this general election, the preferences at various levels were built up to customize, alter, shape and design the perceptions of the electorates. Reeves (2006, p. 419) believes that brand marketing techniques, if used appropriately, can improve the political process of a nation. Similarly candidates in the Indian electoral field are now presented as brands and are commoditized to market among voters. At the time of branding of politicians, politics became the most significant business and so called voter become a customer seeking maximum satisfaction in terms of after vote services.  Branding has come into its fullest role in these days. The previous researches of the scholars and literature has witnessed that political branding is decades long in India as well in some disguised manner. Pandit Nehru can be considered as first most influential political brand in the post independence period. Being a supreme leader in Indian Independence movement, he was able to create a huge gathering around him. He also encashed his pre intimacy and support from Mahatma Gandhi and his followers. This helped him to create all time loyal workers and voters for his political party i.e. Indian National Congress. The legacy left behind by Pandit Nehru helped Gandhians to create Brand Gandhi. Brand Gandhi crafted their own bespoke appearance with appealing principles like national integrity, unity, perspicuity, empathy, secularism etc. The ancestral legacy of the family helped Gandhians to descend Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and now Rahul Gandhi easily in politics. Recently created Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s leader Arvind Kejriwal used brand Anna Hazare to establish his own brand easily nationwide. Similarly Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) re established itself by using Brand Modi (NaMo), now PM of India. This move has helped BJP to have landscaping win not only in General Election 2014, but also in recently held assembly elections 2017 to establish their government in Uttar Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Manipur and Goa. The land sliding results were also very much apparent of wave Modi in municipal elections held in Chandigarh 2016 and New Delhi 2017.

 

However, post 2014 general election results are beyond the scope of this paper. The study has focused mainly upon the formation of the perception of the voters when a candidate becomes a brand. The study has also gone through analysis of certain factors which emphasizes on a mechanism on accepting or not, to a particular national or a regional political brand.

 

LITERATURE REVIEW:

The role of political branding in framing perception of electorates is increasing day by day. Cwalina and Falkowski (2015,152) has studied political branding in 2005 presidential election in Poland and discussed its three stages where first stage consists of positioning, second with mutual relation between particular elements and third with voters decision while casting his vote. The author has used multi-dimensional scaling technique to measure similarities between objects, associative affinity and dominance Indexes. The study has concluded that branding should not only be able to strengthen the positive features but neutralizing the negative ones. Stewart (2009, 78) has studied the impact of negative remarks in political communication. The author has viewed and termed it as mud-slinging which has serious implications for the political communicator because these words directly hit the image of office seeker. However the role of branding in politics has a diverse quality of political communication. Adolphsen (2008) has made a content analysis of TV Campaign advertisements in US during Presidential Election Campaigns. Detailed review of the contents of Democratic Party’s presidential primaries 2007/08 was made in this regard. The author compared the campaign communication strategies of Barrack Obama against his contender Hilary Clinton. The Study has concluded that there was less statistical significant difference in the presentation of both contenders. The case is similar if this study is extended in another continent like Europe. Gordan (2010) have conducted his study in United Kingdom and stressed that even the smallest details and inconsistencies in manifesto of the parties can affect the overall perception of these politicians as brands. He based his finding upon through reading of manifestos of labour, liberal democrats and conservatives parties. The author concluded that if the brand doesn’t deliver what it promises it will be quickly found out and exposed. It will ultimately fail to gain, or maintain, the trust it needs to be a winner. Consistency in the behaviour is everything in branding, without it a politician can’t be a winner. Rising of brands and then sudden fall is also not an absurd in these days worldwide. Downer (2013) has studied Australian electoral system and made a rigorous analysis of political branding in Australia and similar system. He has studied a case of then Prime minister from Labour Party Mr. Kevin Rudd where he rose as a brand in 2007 and then fell drastically in mid 2010. He has also offered a conceptualization of brand oriented party a model of political branding in Australia.

 

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

a)      To know the voters perception towards branding among Indian politicians.

b)     To find the most preferred political leader.

 

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

This study is based on certain randomly selected most popular Indian political brands like Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal and other left parties where the political branding and resultant voters’ perception has been examined to explore the scope of further study. Research design is descriptive in nature whereas sampling design has non probability technique. Target population of the study is the eligible and registered electorates of urban Punjab who casted their votes in recently held Lok Sabha elections 2014. The sampling frame of the study consists of randomly selected electorates from selected constituencies. The sampling units include electorates from Malwa, Majha and Doaba region of Punjab. Two major cities were taken from these three regions viz. Ludhiana, Bathinda, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Jalandhar and Nawanshahar. These voters have been surveyed as per convenient random sampling basis. At the primary data collection stage, a survey has been conducted through a structured and tested questionnaire for sample size of 300 eligible voters, followed by empirical analysis of responses through usage of statistical software SPSS and MS Excel. Awareness of branding, casting of votes, brand ratings and ranking and factors like public image, sincerity toward nation; reliability etc have been studied against  age, occupation and Income of the voters with the help of Chi Square Tests of Independence, Phi and Crammer V, ANOVA and Garrett ranking techniques. Other tools like weighted averages and percentage analysis helped in analyzing multiple responses of electorates.

 

HYPOTHESIS UNDER STUDY:

1)      H_o1: Casting of vote in elections is independents of age, occupation and annual income of the electorates.

2)      H_o2: Awareness of branding in politicians is independents of age, occupation and annual income of the electorates.

3)     H_o3: The strength of association between the variables under consideration is weak.

4)     H_o4: There is no significant difference among brands means rated on certain parameters.

5)     H_o5: There is no significant difference among political brand means rated on selected factors under consideration.

 

EMPIRICAL RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:

A Chi Square Test of Independence has been conducted on the survey of assessing the casting of vote is independent of age, occupations and income of the voters or not. Level of Significance is 5%.

 

Table 1: Showing association and strength of the casting of vote in elections against age, occupation and annual income of the electorates.

	Test	Age		Occupation		Annual Income
		Values	Asymp. Sig.	Values	Asymp. Sig.	Values	Asymp. Sig.
Chi Square Test (X2)	Pearson Chi Square	19.298	0.000	25.077	0.000	9.273	0.026
	Likelihood Ratio	24.924	0.000	25.939	0.000	14.322	0.002
	Linear By Linear Ass.	14.422	0.000	4.226	0.000	7.423	0.006
Symmetric Measures	Phi	0.254	0.000	0.289	0.000	0.176	0.026
	Crammer’s V	0.254	0.000	0.289	0.000	0.176	0.026

 

A chi square test of independence was performed to examine the association between the casting of votes in Indian elections with the age of the electorates, their occupation in hand, and their income. The association between the variable is significant. While studying the age of the electorates with his intention of casting vote, the X² (3, N= 300) = 19.298, p<.05 shows strong association. The occupation of the electorates with his intention of casting vote, the X² (5, N= 300) = 25.077, p<.05 also shows strong association. The annual income of the electorate with his intention of casting vote, the X² (3, N= 300) = 9.273, p<.05 shows strong association.  The table has shown that p value in all cases is less than alpha value i.e. 0.05. So null hypotheses is rejected in all cases i.e. age, occupation and annual income of the respondents. There is enough evidence that to suggest that there is strong association between the age of respondent, their occupation and annual income when studied independently with their casting of the votes. However the value of ϕ and crammer V (age) = 0.254, ϕ and crammer V (occupation) = 0.289, ϕ and crammer V (annual income) =0.176 has shown weak strength of association for casting their votes.

 

Table 2: Showing association and strength of the awareness of branding in politicians against age, occupation and annual income of the electorates

	Test	Age		Occupation		Annual Income
		Values	Asymp. Sig.	Values	Asymp. Sig.	Values	Asymp. Sig.
Chi Square Test (X2)	Pearson Chi Square	14.421	0.002	14.171	0.015	1.237	0.744
	Likelihood Ratio	15.512	0.001	19.793	0.001	1.663	0.645
	Linear By Linear Ass.	6.212	0.013	8.311	0.004	1.122	0.289
Symmetric Measures	Phi	0.219	0.002	0.217	0.015	0.064	0.744
	Crammer’s V	0.219	0.002	0.217	0.015	0.064	0.744

 

A chi square test of independence was performed to examine the association between the awareness of branding of politicians in Indian politics among electorates on the basis of their age, their occupation, and annual income. The association between the variable is significant or not, has been detected. While studying the age of the electorates along with awareness of branding, the X² (3, N= 300) = 14.421, p<.05 shows strong association. The occupation of the electorates along with awareness of branding, the X² (5, N= 300) = 14.171, p<.05 also shows strong association. However the annual income of the electorate along with awareness of branding, the X² (3, N= 300) = 1.237, p>.05 has not shown strong association.  The table has shown that p value in all cases except independent variable annual income is less than alpha value i.e. 0.05. So null hypotheses is rejected in the cases of age and occupation but accepted in case of annual income of the respondents. There is enough evidence that to suggest that there is strong association between the ages of respondent, their occupation with the awareness level of branding in politics and no association between annual incomes with the awareness level. However the value of ϕ and crammer V (age) = 0.219, ϕ and crammer V (occupation) = 0.217 has shown weak strength of association while, ϕ and crammer V (annual income) =0.064 has shown no strength of association for awareness level. Garrett’s Ranking Method has been used to find the most popular national leader among the masses. The survey has recorded the responses of 300 respondents where they ranked one to most preferred and rank four to the least preferred leader. These respondents ranked these politicians on the basis of their own perception. Various upshots were recorded, total ranks were converted into percent positions and corresponding Garrett values were recorded through Garrett table and are shown as follows:

 

Table 3: Showing the most preferred brand among voters

	Number	Rank 1	Number	Rank 2	Number	Rank 3	Number	Rank 4	Sum	Final Rank
Garrett Scores		73		57		44		27
RaGa	63	4599	114	6498	96	4224	27	729	16050	3rd
NaMo	156	11388	66	3762	69	3036	9	243	18429	Ist
Arke	72	5256	114	6498	81	3564	33	891	16209	2nd
Left	9	657	9	513	51	2244	231	6237	9651	4th

 

Garrett ranking results have shown that Mr. Narendra Modi has emerged as the most popular branded leader among masses. Whereas Arvind Kejriwal is standing at number two position in terms of brand likings. Rahul Gandhi, in spite of being vice president of decades old National Party Indian National congress remained at number three position. Whereas Left and other leaders stood at the last position.

 

Table 4: Showing the most effective communication media for building brands among voters

	Number	1	Number	2	Number	3	Number	4
Garrett score		78		66		57		50
Social Marketing	90	7020	75	4950	66	3762	24	1200
Electronic Marketing	129	10062	84	5544	48	2736	24	1200
Print Media	15	1170	87	5742	111	6327	54	2700
Public Rallies	36	2808	27	1782	30	1710	99	4950
Door to door	9	702	6	396	27	1539	54	2700
Punch Lines	24	1872	18	1188	12	684	45	2250
Others	3	234	0	0	0	0	0	0

Table 4: Cont..............

	Number	5	Number	6	Number	7	Sum	Final Rank
Garrett score		43		34		21
Social Marketing	24	1032	21	714	0	0	18678	2nd
Electronic Marketing	15	645	0	0	0	0	20187	Ist
Print Media	21	903	12	408	0	0	17250	3rd
Public Rallies	75	3225	33	1122	0	0	15597	4th
Door to door	99	4257	105	3570	0	0	13164	6th
Punch Lines	69	2967	129	4386	3	3	13350	5th
Others	0	0	0	0	297	6237	6471	7th

 

The next step was to find and rate the communication media which the respondents find as most appropriate for building the brands in Indian politics. Seven major communication modes were rated by these 300 respondents. Branding of the politicians is influenced by the variety of communication modes. A rightly chosen mode has a tremendous role in brand building of the politicians in these days. Time has gone when politicians use to win elections without much hassle. Now various communication modes decide your final position in the forthcoming election results tally in advance. The resultant Garrett ranking table has shown, with not much surprise, that electronic media has pivotal role in framing a politician as a brand in the mindsets of electorates in these days. Social media standing at number two mainly attracts youth and middle aged electorates. With the advent of technology, print media is lagging little behind; still it is standing at number three while ranking various communication modes for framing brands in politics. If the entire information is available at the place of voters, then, why to go out to attend these politicians. This is the reason that public rallies and door to door canvassing stands at number four and five respectively. Punch lines given by various political parties like slogans in west also plays significant role but not very much popular among masses. Even then Punch lines like “BJP- Chai Pe Charcha”, INC- Har Haath Shakti Har Haath Tarakki” “BJP- Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas” frames the winning path of a party and converting politicians into a brand.

 

The next analysis is related to find out the significant difference among various political brand means rated on selected factors and parameters under consideration. One Way ANOVA has been studied to find out differences as follows.

 

Table 5: Showing the descriptive statistics for various parameters and brand means

Summary of Parameters	Count	Sum	Average	Variance
Commitment	5	15.46	3.092	1.65777
Reliability	5	15	3	1.328
Reputation	5	15.03	3.006	1.22423
Responsibility Assumed	5	15	3	0.8981
Recognition World Wide	5	14.99	2.998	1.36827
NaMo	5	8.96	1.792	0.01497
RaGa	5	11.49	2.298	0.11937
ArKe	5	13.53	2.706	0.04548
Left	5	18.79	3.758	0.01237
Others	5	22.71	4.542	0.05627

 

Table 6: Showing the difference among brand means on the basis of parameters under study.

 

A one way ANOVA was conducted that examines the effect of various parameters on brand enhancement or dilution of a politician. There was no statistical significant difference  between the brand means on the basis of various parameters studied, F (4, 20) = 125.498, p>0.005, leads to rejection of null hypothesis stating than average brand means are similar on various parameters.

 

Table 7: Showing the descriptive statistics for various factors and brand means

 

Table 8: Showing the difference among brand means on the basis of factors under study.

 

 

 

A one way ANOVA was conducted that examines the effect of various factors on brand means of selected politicians  There was no statistical significant difference between the brand means on the basis of various factors under study, F (4, 20) = 106.3921, p>0.005, leads to rejection of null hypothesis stating than average brand means are similar on various parameters.

 

CONCLUSION:

Branding has proved as an integral tool of modern political marketing in changing and sustaining perception of the voters. The present study has proved that brand Modi is the most favorite brand among masses. Electronic media and social media played their eminent role in shaping Narendra Modi as a brand in Indian Political arena. This brand helped other party leaders to win elections held from time to time. However there is still need to explore factors which affect political brands and their ratings.

 

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