Investigating political brand reputation with qualitative projective techniques from the perspective of young adults

Abstract

Capturing and understanding the images and reputations external stakeholders assign to brands can be confusing and challenging. This is reinforced by explicit calls for more pragmatic tools and methods to comprehend the external orientation of brands. We respond by investigating the applicability of qualitative projective techniques in exploration of the external current image and long-term reputation of the UK Conservative Party corporate brand from the perspective of young voters aged 18–24 years. This is achieved by comparing and contrasting the external brand images prior the 2015 UK General Election with the findings collected before the 2010 UK General Election. We demonstrate that qualitative projective techniques are useful applications to capture, deconstruct, and understand current image and long-term reputation of political brands. Organizations including those beyond the political context will be able to use this article as a guide to generate a deeper understanding of their brands image and consistency of their reputation.