Towards a Marketing Communications Model for Small Political Parties - A Primary Principles Strategic Perspective for Developed Countries

Purpose Through a comprehensive literature review and data analysis, the purpose of this paper is to adopt a multi-perspective interrelation of different dimensions of existing theory to eventually bridge the fields of political and business marketing, identify the underlying causes of voter political marketing, and distil the critical factors of small political parties (SPPs) strategic marketing communications (MCs) success. The research finally develops a preliminary conceptual strategic MCs model for SPPs that fits the context of developed countries and concentrates on the strategic aspects of MCs. Design/methodology/approach The paper is largely conceptual and is based on an extensive literature review and secondary data; strengthened through additional and focused quantitative political marketing data. Findings The findings indicate an increasing association between business and its concentration, an environmental context that stimulates and nurtures a symbiotic relationship between parties and voters, an enhanced role of perception management, and substantial divergence of generic discussion from classical theory. Research limitations/implications Further and focused primary research is required towards model testing. Practical implications A scientific basis is provided for practical strategic implementation of MCs by SPPs. Originality/value The research value stems from its focus on SPPs, its contribution to the analogous strategic on business marketing theory applicability to politics; its reinforcement of existing analogous strategic the subject through further data and analyses; and additionally to existing researches focus, its concentration on the strategic aspects of the subject and its contribution to literature of an analogous strategic political marketing model.