25 April 2024
English
266 p.
- This thesis relates to how political branding, as a marketing paradigm, fits into the 2016 parliamentary elections in Cyprus. The current context of Cyprus politics presents a challenge for all political actors. Cypriot voters generally demonstrate a new mindset imbued with intense anti-establishment and populist sentiment in repudiation of government scandals, corruption, and poor governance bedeviling the Cypriot society. Cypriot socio-economic problems have been generally attributed to reigning political regime made up by major political parties. These old controlling political forces, while expressing a positive thought that supporters would continue to vote for them since they are beneficiaries of long-running political favors, showed in their behavior more of caution and apprehension that political clientelism may have loosened its firm grip on the electorate. In an incensed manner, the Cypriot electorate openly declared massive abstention from voting in the 2016 parliamentary elections. This avowed and demonstrated withdrawal from political rights purveyed a serious threat, which political actors could not summarily dismiss because the intensity of anti-establishment feelings resonated everywhere and could change the balance of political power in Cyprus. As the situation typified a solid, rebellious, and militant population of voters in a deteriorating Cypriot socio-economic strand, the role and significance of political branding surged to the fore. The need to know the profiles of new target audiences, how to reach them, what to tell them, how to impact and influence them, and how to convert Cypriot politics into a more predictable political environment were in general, fundamental marketing and communication issues that political branding needed to address in positioning a Cypriot political candidate. By leveraging a qualitative research design and theoretical frameworks of brand audit, market segmentation, and digital media communications, the study involved the investigation and analysis of the political branding strategy of political actors in the 2016 Cypriot parliament elections. The study covered the areas of audience targeting; thoughts, attitudes, and approaches of political actors; role and relevance of communication and branding; and the effectiveness of political branding based on actual elections results. The findings indicated that political branding, with respect to Cypriot politics, produced mixed results and did not wholly meet desired outcomes of political actors due to partial process and quality compliance in political branding execution.
The role of political branding in Cyprus parliamentary elections of 2016
- PhD thesis
- english
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- Elections -- Cyprus -- Parliament -- Branding
