Perception Of The Role Of Marketing In Nigerian Politics: Political Parties' Perspective
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Department of Business Management, AAUA, Nigeria
Abstract
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The basic premise of this paper is that perception of the role of marketing · in politics is the major
determinant of the extent of application of marketing strategies in electoral politics. If political parties and
their candidates should come to terms with the truism that marketing is the heart and soul of democratic
politics in their perception, they will be eager to develop marketing strategies that most suitably fit or match
the characteristics of their political market place. Thus the overriding objective of this study is to examine
how political parties and their candidates perceive the role of marketing strategies in party politics. The
basis of this objective is that political parties operate in a complex and uncertain environment. In order to
make sense of this environment party leaders tend to form si11zplified cognitive representation of the
importance or otherwise of marketing strategies. This mental model can be referred to as "their perception
of the role of marketing strategies, and constitutes a factor in the formulation and execution of political
marketing strategies. In pursuit of our objective in this study, Nigeria was stratified into six geopolitical
zones, out of which a representative sample of 400 respondents was drawn to fill out the questionnaire. Of
this number, 311 Copies of questionnaire were completed and retumed. After editing, only 298 copies were
usable. These were analyzed to crystallize the findings. The findings show that marketing strategies do not
play extremely positive role in Nigerian politics. Infact only 52% of the electoral success in Nigeria is
ascribable to marketing strategies while the remaining 48% derives from anti-democratic forces like state
power, godfatherism,ethnicism, selection, deselection, rigging, and other electoral irregularities. Based on
this finding, political actors are advised to improve the role of marketing in politics through training and
research.
Keywords
H Social Sciences (General), JA Political science (General)