Abstract
Drawing on the branding and leadership theory, this paper explores the sources of political human brand equity from the voters’ perspective as a representation of the value that citizen–voters ascribe to a political leader. Following a critical realist mindset, the study adopts a qualitative research design, based on interviews with citizen–voters to explore the sources of political human brand equity from their perspectives. The study proposes the adaptation of four established dimensions of brand equity, suggesting awareness, associations, loyalty, and perceived leadership quality as core dimensions of the voter-based political human brand equity construct. The exploration of the sources underlying each dimension suggests that this adaptation may lead to a better understanding of the functionalities and prognosis of human brand opportunities in political environments. Voter-based political human brand equity can be applied to support the strategic building of political brands, to complete election forecasts, and to structure communication processes in political surroundings. The study proposes for the first time the concept of voter-based political human brand equity and develops a conceptual framework to aid its understanding and future measurement.
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Atzger, B., Sá, E.S. & Silva, J. Exploring sources of voter-based political human brand equity. J Brand Manag 27, 481–494 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41262-020-00192-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41262-020-00192-9