Political relationship marketing and loyalty intentions of voters: Empirical study of the major political parties in Ghana

Abstract

This article examines the effect of political relationship marketing on the loyalty intentions of voters in Ghana. The research employed a quantitative survey design and purposive sampling technique to analyse data from 503 respondents across 5 electoral regions of Ghana. Structural Equation Modelling in AMOS was used to test five research hypotheses. The findings indicate that political relationship marketing practices among Ghana’s two major political parties influence voters’ loyalty intentions. The study further finds that psychological contract fulfilment exerts the most potent effect on voters’ loyalty intentions. The paper extends the Social Exchange Theory into the political relationship marketing domain. Further, it validates a theoretically inspired model using narratives from Ghana, an emerging democracy that has successfully conducted eight presidential elections. This article contributes to the political relationship marketing literature as one of the few studies empirically examining the political relationship marketing practices of leading political parties. Based on the findings, the study recommends that the two major parties’ strategists pay unreserved attention to honour their social obligations. Leadership must also find the need to communicate trustworthy messages and engage voters in continuous interactions via virtual and personal channels to induce favourable voting intentions and loyalty.