POLITICAL MARKETING in a TURKISH CONTEXT: VALUES and PRACTICES

Political marketing shares much in common with marketing in the business world and benefits from sociology, political phycology and of course mostly takes advantage of communication almost at its all levels. At its very simple description, politicians through political marketing just as done in the business marketing, tells what they have for people, why they should elect them as their representatives and explain them their future promises and guarantees if the follower faces any problem. The communication managers at this publicising process, direct the marketing steps, tell the politicians which services to use and what communication methods (e.g. advertising, social media activities) to practise. At the same time, they have a further strategy which depicts the support they might have in return and the voter loyalty they will receive if their strategy works. Throughout the election campaign, runners convey their promises and explain their future performances in exchange for the votes and supporters’ contributions. However, although political communication strategies look similar in different countries, the local culture, traditions and values force politicians to develop new ways of election campaigns special to that indigenous demands which will attract the voters and make them feel that the politician is one of them. Therefore, this conceptual paper while giving mostly a theoretical background for political marketing in general terms, it also tries to explore the relationship and benefits gained by practicing cultural traditions and the local outlines the politicians mostly apply in their communication campaigns. The outcomes of the study suggest that the political communication campaigns in Turkey have local patterns but also are particularly carrying the similar futures of American strategies