| Abstract: | The electorate are increasingly volatile in terms of their voting behaviour, and this presents valuable opportunities for the marketing discipline to offer the world of politics new insights and strategies. This paper suggests that those with little brand loyalty, who ultimately determine the outcome of general elections, perceive and use political advertising, particularly the genre commonly described as ‘negative’, in very different ways to the ‘politically active’. It argues for a more sophisticated approach to segmentation of political audiences based on prior involvement levels. It also offers support for the continued use of some forms of negative advertising with a number of important caveats. |
