Political marketing in Pakistan: exaggerated promises, delusive claims, marketable development projects and change advocacy

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1562
• Date: 01 May 2016
• Published date: 01 May 2016

■Practitioner Paper

Political marketing in Pakistan:

exaggerated promises, delusive claims,

marketable development projects and

change advocacy

Salman Yousaf*

School of Business Administration, Dongbei University of Finance and Economics, Dalian, China

The present study discusses the intricacies of the political landscape in Pakistan and its compatibility with the modern

political marketing theory. The election campaigns of the three largest political parties Pakistan Muslim League

Nawaz, Pakistan People’s Party, and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in the general elections 2013 were critically analyzed

in the print media to comprehend the political marketing trends in Pakistan. It was found out that that the three

parties largely employed mutually exclusive strategies in order to garner the support of the electorate. The success

ratio of the political parties in the general elections 2013 signifies the importance of certain advertising appeals, adver-

tising themes, and aggressively attacking the opponents. The study also questioned the veracity of the exaggerated

and delusive claims made in the advertisements. The findings have implications not only for future electioneering

in Pakistan, but also other countries with similar demographics and socioeconomic setups. Copyright © 2015 John

Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

INTRODUCTION

Marketing essentially facilitate consumers in mak-

ing an informed decision. The cardinal purpose of

political marketing is to facilitate the political

parties and electorates in making the most appro-

priate and acceptable decisions (Kolovos & Harris,

2005). Political marketing in its essence is an ex-

change process, as conceptualized by O’cass (1996),

which takes place when constituencies extend sup-

port to the political parties by casting votes in favor,

who in return offer better government and policies.

There are various stakeholders involved in a ‘politi-

cal market’carrying their own political relevance,

that is, media, interest groups, financiers, and the

consumer at the center of the political marketing

process, that is, the voter (Lock & Harris, 1996). A

political party that emphasizes on building relation-

ships and collaborations within a political market

has more prospects in achieving electoral success

and maintaining desirable terms with the variety of

stakeholders (Bannon, 2005; Johansen, 2005).

The use of marketing theories and models has

been well reckoned to explain certain political phe-

nomena and activities that are not sufficiently

within the scope of conventional political sciences

discipline. For example, the use of the ‘4P’s’of mar-

keting to analyze election campaigns, preparation of

the core product, promotion of this product, and

placing and distributing it through communication

channels has been well-acknowledged in the politi-

cal marketing domain (e.g., Publications. Newman,

1994; Wring, 2001). Moreover, integrated marketing

communication mix and public relations are consid-

ered indispensablefor an efficient and effective polit-

ical marketing management (Cornelissen, 2003). The

use of marketing theory to explain political

*Correspondence to: Salman Yousaf, School of Business Adminis-

tration, Dongbei University of Finance and Economics, Dalian,

China.

E-mail: salman_yousaf@live.com

Journal of Public Affairs

Volume 16 Number 2 pp 140–155 (2016)

Published online 28 April 2015 in Wiley Online Library

(www.wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/pa.1562

Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

phenomenon seems justified as political science has

little to enunciate on topics like brand management,

segmentation, positioning, and related concepts.

Therefore, a political marketing theory is essential

in coming to terms with the most recent develop-

ments of elector ates as it accommoda tes the po-

litical actors to apply marketing management

techniques effectively and efficiently (Henneberg,

2008; Henneberg, 2002).

The 2013 general elections in Pakistan were con-

sidered critically significant in the electoral politics

of Pakistan for two reasons. First, the myth of essen-

tially being the two-party system in Pakistan was

challenged when traditional opponents Pakistan

Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) and Pakistan Peo-

ple’s Party (PPP) were confronted by an emerging

political force, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI; liter-

ally means Movement for Justice in Pakistan). These

three political parties were the core focus of present

study. Secondly, the youth was considered to play a

pivotal role in the elections as 34% of voters aged

less than 31 years (ECP, 2013), for the first time in

Pakistan, was politicized and was aware of their

independent political rights. This study also aims

to provide empirical evidence of the marketing

applications from the political arena, which modern

political marketing literature sufficiently lacks

(Henneberg, 2008). As a consequence, we aim to cal-

ibrate and refine the political marketing theory by

critically assessing the empirical aspects and mar-

keting orientation of the political marketing theory

in Pakistan in milieu of the May 2013 general elec-

tions. A content analysis approach will be carried

out, following the marketing campaigns of the three

largest political parties in Pakistan in the print

media.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Electoral history in Pakistan

Electoral history in Pakistan is not well-constituted,

marked with military-civil bureaucratic oligarchic

form of government for most of the years (Ghazali,

1999), with the military rulers legitimizing them-

selves through constitutional amendments. Often,

the deterioration of law and order situation, the pre-

carious condition of the national institutions, crum-

bling economy, and inordinate corruption has been

cited as justifications by the military rulers for the

takeover. The first general election in Pakistan was

held in 1970, 23 years after the country gained

independence in 1947. The democratic system in

Pakistan did not always sailed smoothly even in the

absence of direct intervention from the military for

example. After the end of general Zia’s regime in

1988, Pakistan saw four general elections in a period

of not more than 10 years, till 1997. Prior to 2013,

there were a total of seven general elections held in

Pakistan, and only twice an elected government

succeeded in completing its tenure of 5years, that is,

the government formed under General Musharaf’s

regime in 2003 and PPP government in 2008.

Another pertinent characteristic of Pakistani elec-

tions is that, no election in Pakistan has been devoid

of post-election rigging allegations and controversies

regarding the res ults. The accus ations of falsi fication

or misrepresentation of the election outcome by the los-

ing candidate/party of the winning candidate/party

are a common trend in the political process of Pakistan,

whichinextremecasescanleadtocivilunrestmove-

ment, engendering government sacking and military

takeover, for example, the events succeeding 1977 elec-

tions. But unfortunately, no concrete counter-rigging

mechanism or electoral reforms have been introduced

in the electoral system.

Voter segments in Pakistan

Generally, the vote bank in Pakistan can be seg-

mented into six groups.First, the traditional religious

vote bank, endorsed by the religious parties, like

Jamat-e-Islami and Jamiat-e-Ulma-e-Islam, among

many, representing certain religious factions. Al-

though it is considered illegal by the election com-

mission of Pakistan to demand votes in the name

of religion, but because of the lack of scrutiny, this

practice is seldom entailed. These religious parties

have ardent followers, and in the case of adjustment

between a political party and a certain religious

faction, one can expect that the followers will vote

for that political party. Usually a religious faction is

spread throughout the country instead of concentrat-

ing on a particular area, so this strategic alliance helps

the political parties to gain a majority, and religious

political parties in return acquire political favors. The

leaders of these religious political parties assume to

represent a whole religious faction. Second, the

ideological vote bank, originally backed by Pakistan

Muslim League, headed by the founder of Pakistan,

Muhammad Ali Jinnah, at the time of independence

of Pakistan in 1947. The founding political party had

enormous sentimental value attached to it, which is

now divided into various factions (PMLN and

Pakistan Muslim League Quaid-e-Azam (PMLQ), the

salient ones). Third, the victim vote bank, which has

been predominantly exploited by PPP over the years

after the founding leader Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was

An evidence from May 2013 general elections 141

Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J. Public Affairs 16, 140–155 (2016)

DOI: 10.1002/pa