3. The value of the political brand: the political
brand-capital
Applying the concept of brand capital to the policy area has
three major interests.
First, it is necessary to evaluate the value of the political
brand (thanks in particular to the development of a scale for measuring the
brand-specific capital of the political brand). The next step is to verify
empirically that the brand concept applies to the political domain and the
operationality of the concept of political brand capital. Finally, the
identification of associations with the political brand must enable us to
determine what the concept of a political brand covers in the voters'
memory.
Why did we choose to focus our research on the concept of brand
capital? On the one hand, it is necessary to justify the choice of this concept
(and not that of other close concepts) and on the other hand to propose a
definition of the capital-political brand based on a perceptual approach.
3.1 Brand capital, a global and operational concept
for studying the political brand
When you look at the brand, several concepts immediately come to
mind: brand personality, brand identity, brand image ... A brief reminder of
what each of these concepts cover will justify our choice of concept Of brand
equity.
The brand's personality concept can be defined as "the set of
human characteristics associated with a brand" (Aaker, 1997: 347). This concept
may seem at first sight relevant to studying the political brand, given that we
are studying a political brand of which one constituent is a candidate (ie a
person).
Several reasons have led us, however, not to favor this concept.
First of all, we try to determine all the associations to the political brand
held in the memory of the voters. The brand personality is only one component
of the image brand. Secondly, we seek to validate the dual hypothesis of the
political brand: it is therefore necessary not to limit oneself to its related
human
characteristics in order to determine its other components.
Finally, our study aims to measure the value of the political brand.
The concept of brand identity is defined by Aaker (1996: 68) as
"a unique set of mental associations that the brand strategist wishes to create
or maintain". This notion of strategy, a voluntarist approach on the part of
the company, distinguishes brand identity and brand image: identity is a
concept of emission, while image is a concept of reception (eg Kapferer, 1988).
In other words, "identity is the way the brand wants to be perceived, as
opposed to the image, which is the way the brand is actually perceived by
consumers" (Michel, 2004, 42) .
In our research, we are interested in the political brand as
perceived by the voter and not in the
way in which the political brand wants to be perceived: we thus
situate on the side of the receiver and not the transmitter, the brand identity
does not appear relevant as a key concept.
Brand image is defined as "perceptions of a brand as reflected by
brand associations held in the consumer's memory" (Keller, 1993). Or, as
Korchia (2001: 4) summarizes: "Brand image is all that a consumer can associate
with a given brand." The brand image together with the
"Brand awareness" the two components of brand awareness (Keller,
1993).
If we did not retain the identity of the brand as a concept of
emission, the brand image is fully in our research since we are on the receiver
side. However, we have chosen to study the image of the political brand as a
component of brand capital as defined by Keller (1993) for two main reasons. On
the one hand, our research aims to evaluate the added value of the brand: if
our research is naturally concerned with branding, it is necessary to
distinguish among all associations constituting the brand's network those which
represent the Branded by their contribution to the development of a specific
additional performance provided by the brand. On the other hand, besides brand
image, the other component of brand awareness as defined by Keller (1993) -
"brand awareness" - is an essential element in the study of the brand its brand
equity.
If branding is an integral part of our research, we have chosen
to work on brand-based capital, which is a more global concept and relevant to
the purpose of our study.
3.2 Brand capital from the point of view of the
consumer
Among the evaluation tools and management of the political brand,
our research is therefore centered on the concept of brand capital. While most
research in politics focuses on the behavior of voters, our work focuses on the
voter's relationship to the political brand based on the idea that "the
emotional and behavioral dimensions Of the concept of brand-capital would be
the manifestation in the preference and choice of the existence, in the memory
of consumers, of associations possessing certain characteristics conferring
value on them "(Changeur and Dano, 1998, p.1 ). The objective is to evaluate
the power of the political brand on the voter.
Branded capital from the point of view of the consumer - or CBBE
- is defined as "the
differential effect of brand knowledge on the consumer's response
to brand marketing" (Keller, 1993: 1). "Consumer response" refers to consumer
perceptions, preferences and behavior with respect to the branded product (or
service) (Keller, 1993: 8). In other words, "according to the CBBE model,
knowledge of the brand directly influences the creation of brand capital,
insofar as it generates the differential effect that governs its development"
(Keller, Fleck and Fontaine, 2009).
Transposed to the political domain, for example, a voter may
react more or less positively to a program on a political party according to
the perception - positive or negative
- that he had previously this party (French and Smith, 2010,
p.6). This is one of the objectives of
The voting deferral mechanism makes it possible to clarify
this notion of positive accumulation, whether between politicians (in the case
of a primary, for example) or between parties (as in the
our research on political brand capital: to evaluate the
differential effect of knowledge of the political brand on the response of the
voter.
As mentioned earlier, our research is part of the perceptual
approach initiated by Keller (1993). In this approach, brand capital
corresponds to a set of perceptions (e.g. Aaker 1991, Keller 1993, Krishnan
1996).
The literature on brand capital based on a perceptual approach
adopts the conceptualization of Keller (1993 and 1998) and recognizes two main
sources of brand value: brand awareness and the existence of specific
associations in memory Long-term consumer. Indeed, not all associations with
the brand have the same interest (Aaker, 1991). Of all the associations that
make up the brand's network, only some generate the differential effect of the
brand in the perceptions, preferences and choice of consumers with regard to a
branded product (Keller, 1993). These associations
Have three main characteristics: they are strong, positive /
favorable and dominant (unique) (e.g. Keller, 19937 and 1998, Krishnan, 1996,
Changer and Dano, 1996 and 1998, Changer, 1999 and 2002, Korchia, 2001 and
2010).
Thus, according to Keller (1993), a brand has a positive brand
capital for a consumer when he is familiar with the brand (that is, he knows
it) and has strong associations in memory, Favorable and dominant (unique)
vis-à-vis this brand.
High brand equity brings many advantages (eg Aaker, 1991; Keller,
1993; Aaker, 1994): it helps consumers interpret, process and store the
enormous amount of information they receive about brands and Products; It is
likely to influence the existence of a positive consumer attitude towards the
brand (which is reflected, in particular, in an increased preference for the
brand's products); It increases the likelihood that the consumer will choose
the brand; It increases the fidelity of the consumer ...
3.3 Political Brand Capital from the Point of View of the
Elector
By adopting Keller's definition of brand capital (1993) and
adapting it to the political brand, we propose the following definition of
political brand capital: "the differential effect from the knowledge of the
political brand on the response of the voter to the marketing of the political
brand ".
In the case of the political brand, a high political brand
capital helps voters deal with the enormous amount of political information
they receive, is likely to influence the existence of a positive attitude of
the voter and In fine its choice, increases its fidelity ...
case of an alliance of parties ).
When Ségolène Royal called for a vote in favor of
François Hollande in the second round of 2012 Presidential elections,
the latter holds a political brand capital that it transfers to another
candidate in order to influence the electoral choice. Even if not all voters
are going to follow the voting instructions, it is a question of transferring
their own personal political capital to another candidate. Conversely, when
Arnaud Montebourg declares voting in the second round for François
Hollande but in personal capacity while refusing to give a vote consignee there
is no real postponement of the capital-political brand of the first on the
second. Similarly, in the case of an alliance between parties such as the Left
Front, 8 the Communist Party, for example, transfers the political capital it
holds to a candidate who is not a member of its ranks, To influence the choice
of communist voters.
As mentioned above, we adopt a dual conception of the political
brand and its brand capital in our research. According to Phipps, Brace-Govan
and Jevons (2010), the brand's overall brand-name is influenced by two brand
capitalists (which interact with one another and can also compete): corporate
brand capital Of the party and the individual brand / personal capital of the
candidate.
It is therefore necessary to study and compare the way in which
political brands are structured between the candidate's personal brand and the
"corporate" brand of the party. For each brand we propose a series of
assumptions concerning the brand equity of the political brand (and more
specifically the corporate brand capital of the party and the individual brand
/ personal capital of the candidate) The cases according to the links between
the personal brand of the candidate, the corporate brand of the party and the
congruence between the two. Three scenarios can thus be distinguished:
- if the brand equity of the candidate is much higher than the
brand equity of the party,
? then there is a strong relationship between the candidate and
the voter and a weak relationship between the party and the voter, which does
not require a congruence between the personal brand of the candidate and the
corporate brand of the party,
- if the brand equity of the candidate is much lower than the
brand equity of the party,
? then there is a weak relation between the candidate and the
voter and a strong relationship between the party and the voter, which does not
require a congruence between the personal brand of the candidate and the
corporate brand of the party,
- if the brand equity of the candidate and the party of the party
are both high,
? then there is a strong relationship between the candidate and
the voter and a strong relationship between the party and the voter, which
necessitates a congruence between the candidate's personal brand and the
"corporate" brand of the party.
These different scenarios must make it possible to create a
typology of political brands according to how they are structured between the
candidate's trademark and the party's trademark. The interest is to be able to
propose a management of the political brand according to its structure.
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