Marketing Scholars and Political Marketing: the Pragmatic and Principled Reasons for Why Marketing Academics Should Research the Use of Marketing in the Political Arena

The marketing discipline needs to pay more attention to political marketing. Marketing has permeated deeply into the heart of elections and government. Numerous political players, including presidents and prime ministers, politicians, and parties, as well as government departments and councils turn to marketing in their pursuit of political goals. While media coverage of recent issues, such the Trump campaign’s use of big data, has shone a spotlight on commercial marketing techniques in the political and governmental arena, scholars from multiple disciplines (marketing, political science, and communication) have been exploring cross-disciplinary research on political marketing for several decades. This article argues that it is time for the marketing discipline to embrace political marketing more openly than before. This article will make the case by outlining the broad scope of political marketing in practice and research, providing examples of political marketing, and then discussing the significant ethical implications of marketing politics. Finally, it will provide reasons for why marketing scholars should research this dynamic and profoundly impactful area.