Psychology of electioneering

Consumer psychology and politics

As we move into 2010 there will no doubt be the usual plethora of opinion polls to look forward to. What is interesting from a consumer research point of view is to see how much of what is being done is so much psychological engineering – or psychobabble for some/ many! Whether its removing the ‘brand contamination’ of the Conservative Party; the use of social media on the back of the demonstrated success of the Obama campaign; the concept of Nudge Marketing – using messages that create an aura of social unacceptability around a way of behaving or the supposed application of the wisdom of the crowds method to policy making (even though opinion forming is a little different concept than measuring the weight of an ox at a fair-its original conception). This could be so much hogwash, but at the end of the day, if there is a change of Government then consider that it might be as much to do with David Cameron wearing a red tie or ‘nudge marketing’ comments to the marginal’s on their similarity to the Lib Dems as actual policy. In fact perhaps policy doesn’t matter anymore, what really counts is the latest poster of a leader with a full set of hair and a young complexion Twas ever thus, as with politics so with life: its less about the brand offer as the brand experience.

We hope you enjoyed this article.
Research Live is published by MRS.

The Market Research Society (MRS) exists to promote and protect the research sector, showcasing how research delivers impact for businesses and government.

Members of MRS enjoy many benefits including tailoured policy guidance, discounts on training and conferences, and access to member-only content.

For example, there's an archive of winning case studies from over a decade of MRS Awards.

Find out more about the benefits of joining MRS here.

0 Comments


Display name

Email

Join the discussion

Newsletter
Stay connected with the latest insights and trends...
Sign Up
Latest From MRS

Our latest training courses

Our new 2025 training programme is now launched as part of the development offered within the MRS Global Insight Academy

See all training

Specialist conferences

Our one-day conferences cover topics including CX and UX, Semiotics, B2B, Finance, AI and Leaders' Forums.

See all conferences

MRS reports on AI

MRS has published a three-part series on how generative AI is impacting the research sector, including synthetic respondents and challenges to adoption.

See the reports

Progress faster...
with MRS 
membership

Mentoring

CPD/recognition

Webinars

Codeline

Discounts