UNIVERSITY OF GHANA POLITICAL BRAND RELATIONSHIP WITH VOTERS IN GHANA BY STANLEY NELVIS GLATE 10442596 THIS THESIS IS SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF MARKETING AND CUSTOMER MANAGEMENT, UNIVERSITY OF GHANA BUSINESS SCHOOL, UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY MARKETING DEGREE JUNE, 2015 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ii DECLARATION I, Stanley Nelvis Glate, do hereby declare that this thesis is the result of my own work and has neither in whole nor in part been presented to this University or any other University for the award of any degree. All references used in the work have been fully acknowledged. I bear sole responsibility for any shortcomings relating to this thesis. ………………………………….. ………………………………….. Stanley Nelvis Glate Date 10442596 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh iii CERTIFICATION I hereby certify that this thesis was supervised in accordance with procedures laid down by the University. ………………………………….. ………………………………… PROF. ROBERT E. HINSON DATE (SUPERVISOR) ………………………………….. ………………………………… DR. KOBBY MENSAH DATE (CO-SUPERVISOR) University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh iv DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to my parents; Mr. Allan Nelson Glate and Madam Gladys Gadonu. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh v ACKNOWLEDGMENT First, I give praise to the almighty God for how far he has brought me. Indeed, without Him I can do nothing. Next, my profound gratitude goes to my supervisor Professor Robert E. Hinson. His comments, guidance and critical criticisms have been very constructive and useful to this thesis. Professor One, Thank you. I wish to also thank Greater Accra Regional Director of Electoral Commission, Mr. Alex Akubia for his support. I also thank the Head of Department of Marketing and Customer Management, Dr. Bedman Narteh for his inspiration and Dr. Kobby Mensah, my co- supervisor. I would also like to acknowledge the support of my fiancée, Anita for assisting in checking my references. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to all persons who accepted to provide information to support this thesis. I wish all contributors to this work God‟s blessings. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh vi ABSTRACT The relevance of political brand relationship has been widely acknowledged in political marketing. This work is an extension of brand relationship theories to electoral markets. The study seeks to determine relationship variables and to examine their influence on voter relationship with political parties. This study attempts to identify and categorise relationship forces using an approach that is based on Fournier‟s brand relationship frameworks. The thesis applies qualitative approach. The study was also exploratory in nature. Purposive sampling technique was employed in selecting ten (10) respondents for the study. Data was collected by the use of an in-depth interview for analysis and findings. The study confirmed that passion, self-concept, personal commitment, behavioral interdependence, intimacy and partner quality are important variables that influence voter political brand relationship. The study also found that discrimination, failure to fulfill campaign promises, voter neglect, and the desire for change; weak party position and corruption are determinants of disassociation from political parties by the voter. These variables evoke negative feelings and avoidance or negative effects-desires resulting in voter dissatisfaction. Therefore, their existence drives the voter away from a political party or the candidate. A quantitative research approach that employs statistical techniques with representative sample could produce conclusive findings that can be used to generalize for building political brand relationship with voters in Ghana as recommended by the study. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh vii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ................................................................................................................ ii CERTIFICATION ............................................................................................................ iii DEDICATION ................................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGMENT .................................................................................................... v ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................. vii LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... xi ABBREVIATIONS .......................................................................................................... xii CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................... 13 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 13 1.1 Background of the Study ....................................................................................... 13 1.2 Problem Statement ................................................................................................. 16 1.3 Aim and objectives of the Study ............................................................................ 17 1.4 Research Questions ................................................................................................ 17 1.5 Research Methodology .......................................................................................... 18 1.6 Significance of the Study ....................................................................................... 19 1.7 Chapter disposition ................................................................................................ 20 CHAPTER TWO .............................................................................................................. 21 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................. 21 2.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 21 2.1 Conceptualization of Consumer-Brand Relationships........................................... 21 2.2 Operationalization of political-Brand Relationships ............................................. 24 2.3 The Concept of Political Brand Relationship ........................................................ 25 2.4 Are Political Parties Brands? ................................................................................. 26 2.5 Consumer Motivation to Develop Political Party Personality (PPP) .................... 27 2.6 Politician Personalities ........................................................................................... 29 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh viii 2.7 Brand Users and Endorsers .................................................................................... 30 2.8 Partisanship and Political Party Personality (PPP) ................................................ 31 2.9 Do political parties behave as commercial companies do in modern politics? ..... 32 2.10 The Political Marketing Department .................................................................. 33 2.11 Political Marketing in Practice ........................................................................... 34 2.12 The Ghanaian Factor .......................................................................................... 35 2.13 Models in Political Brand Relationships ............................................................... 37 CHAPTER THREE .......................................................................................................... 41 CONTEXT OF THE STUDY .......................................................................................... 41 3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 41 3.2 Brief Biography of Ghana ..................................................................................... 42 3.3 Ghana‟s Political History ....................................................................................... 45 3.3.1 The Political and Constitutional Provisions ................................................... 54 3.4 The Post Rawlings Events ..................................................................................... 55 3.5 Arms of Government ............................................................................................. 56 3.5.1 Executive Branch ........................................................................................... 56 3.5.2 Legislative Branch .......................................................................................... 57 3.6 An Overview of the Electoral Commission of Ghana ........................................... 58 3.6.1 Departments .................................................................................................... 58 3.6.2 Regional Offices ............................................................................................. 58 3.6.2 District Offices ............................................................................................... 59 3.6.3 Election Officials ............................................................................................ 59 3.7 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 60 CHAPTER FOUR ............................................................................................................ 62 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................... 62 4.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 62 4.1 Research Approaches ............................................................................................. 62 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ix 4.2 The Research Design ............................................................................................. 64 4.4 An Exploratory Research Design .......................................................................... 65 4.5 Types of Exploratory Qualitative Research Methods ............................................ 65 4.5.1 Focus group .................................................................................................... 65 4.5.2 The Projective Technique ............................................................................... 66 4.5.3 The In-Depth Interview .................................................................................. 66 4.6 Sampling Technique and Sample size ................................................................... 67 4.7 Sources of Data ...................................................................................................... 69 4.8 Data Collection Instruments .................................................................................. 69 4.8.1 Pretesting of Interview Guide ......................................................................... 70 4.9 Data Analysis Techniques ..................................................................................... 70 4.10 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 72 CHAPTER FIVE .............................................................................................................. 73 ANALYSIS OF THE IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS ........................................................... 73 5.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 73 5.1. Understanding Voters Association with a Particular Political Party ..................... 73 5.2 Political Brand Membership as a Leverage for Voter Preference fora Party or Candidate .......................................................................................................................... 82 5.3 Advise given to political parties regarding relationship building with the voters. 90 5.4 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 92 CHAPTER SIX ................................................................................................................. 94 SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................. 94 6.1 Summary ................................................................................................................ 94 6.2 Major Findings....................................................................................................... 95 6.3 Conclusions............................................................................................................ 95 6.4 Contribution to Knowledge ................................................................................... 97 6.5 Further Contributions............................................................................................. 99 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh x 6.5.1 Future Research Direction ............................................................................ 100 6.6 Limitations of the Study ...................................................................................... 100 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 102 APPENDIX..................................................................................................................... 113 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh xi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 Brand Relationship Quality (BRQ) Model ............................................... 38 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh xii ABBREVIATIONS UTAG University Teachers Association of Ghana NUGS National Union of Ghana GNAT Ghana National Association of Teachers TUC Trade Union Congress NPP New Patriotic Party NDC National Democratic Congress US United States UK United Kingdom CLOSSAG Civil and Local Government Service Staff Association of Ghana BC Brand Commitment BA Brand Association BRQ Brand Relationship Quality PPP Political Party Personality University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 13 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the Study The development of consumer-brand relationship has been a focus of branding theory in recent years (Fournier, 1998; Franzen, 1999). Through brand-related communications, the brand acts as a mechanism in engaging both buyer and seller in a long-term consumer brand relationship (Oliver & Brodie, 2000; Fournier, 1998; Keller, 1993, 1998). This relationship does not only occupy a critical position in the mental stage of a brand ( Dyson, Farr, & Hollis, 1996; Keller, 2001), but it also engenders the state of greater sales, less price susceptibility, better loyalty, and higher margin ( Duncan & Moriarty, 1998; Franzen, 1999). Relationship marketing has prompted brand managers to seek innovative ways to create mutually beneficial relationships with consumers (Mitchell & Orwig, 2002). Previous studies on political–brand relationships were mainly focused on the relationship formulation (e.g., Bagozzi, 1995; Duncan & Moriarty, 1997; Fournier, 1998; Peterson, 1995), relationship development (e.g., Fajer& Schouten, 1995; Fournier, 1998; Franzen, 1999), relationship pattern (e.g Fournier, 1998; Kaltcheva & Weitz, 1999), relationship scheme (e.g., Blackston, 1992; Duncan & Moriarty, 1998; Fournier, 1994; Franzen, 1999; Hess, 1998), and the response effects of brand relationship (e.g., Kaltcheva & Weitz, 1999; Park & Kim, 2001). According to Schmitt (1999), experiential marketing has proven itself to be a good starting point for studies on political-brand relationship. Franzen (1999) stated that the political–brand relationship is in the final stages of the mental brand responses. He also University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 14 claimed that the political-brand relationship is formed by voters experience and political party knowledge (or brand meanings). According to Monga (2002), the use of relationship metaphors in political party–brand context facilitated the understanding of brand loyalty, in-depth information about voters‟ needs and wants, and thereby assisted parties to improve better policies and marketing activities. Furthermore, Nebel and Blattberg (2000) defined political brand relationships as an integrated approach to establish, maintain, and enhance relationships between a brand and electorates, and to continually strengthen these relationships through interactive, individualized and value added contacts, and a mutual exchange and fulfillment of promises over a long period of time. Also, Aggarwal (2004) stated that people sometimes form a very intimate bond with brands and, in some extreme cases, a passion that is often associated only with a close circle of friends and family. In the view of Hess and Story (2005), another relationship variable, called relationship commitment was developed and proposed a model called trust-based relationship commitment model, in which relationship commitment was the major construct defined by personal and functional connections, which are in turn caused by trust and satisfaction. Continuing with the same line of thinking, Swaminathan et al. (2007) synthesized two brand-related concepts such as self-concept connection and country-of origin connection and stated that the political–brand relationship can be formed on the basis of individual concept or group-level connection. Also, Veloutsou and Moutinho (2009) examined the role of brand reputation and tribalism on the strength of political- University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 15 brand relationships. Huber et al. (2010) studied the role of brand misconduct on political- brand relationships. The authors defined brand misconduct as the behavior of the brand that disappoints the voters‟ expectations. Smith et al. (2006) studied the role of political brand personality in political–brand relationships and stated that there exist relationships between political party brands and electorates and for that matter voter. Consequently, Hayes et al. (2006) added a new conceptualization in between brand personality and brand relationships. According to Hayes et al. (2006), “the brand personality partner quality connection depends to a degree on the brand‟s perceived attractiveness. Also Hinson (2012) opined that building brand relationship consist of respect and politeness. In addition, Zhou et al. (2012) in their study examined the intermediate mechanism that translates brand communities into the formation of consumer-brand relationships in the Chinese context. Furthermore, Valta (2013) examined the role of relationship norms or “principles of right action binding upon the members of a group and serving to guide, control, or regulate proper and acceptable behavior”. Similarly, Sweeney and Chew (2002) studied the role of relationship metaphors in consumer services. Likewise Nyadzayo et al. (2011) examined how the brand relationship can be used to leverage brand citizenship behavior and to improve brand equity in franchising. J and Lu (2009), using interpersonal literature and relationship metaphors, developed a theoretical model of consumer– brand relationships in the Chinese context. An important stream of research in political marketing has focused on modeling how voters learn about political parties and make voting decisions based on this information University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 16 (Newman, 1999; O‟Cass and Pecotich, 2003; Cwalina et al., 2004). By adopting a political-oriented perspective for explaining and analyzing political parties as brands we are also following the vast majority of the extant academic branding literature over the last twenty years (Keller and, Lehmann, 2006). This is based on the premise that customers have the motivation character learning and deciding on brands knowing whether to spend or not (vote or not). 1.2 Problem Statement The relationship perspective has become increasingly popular as a theoretical lens for understanding political‐brand interactions (Aaker, Fournier, and Brasel 2004; Escalas and Bettman, 2005; Fournier, 1998). Consumers (voters) according to Mensah (2009) are known to form strong relationships with those political brands that have values and personality associations that are congruent with voters‟ self‐concepts (Sirgy, 1982). In this way, political brand relationships can be viewed as expressions of voters‟ identities (Escalas and Bettman, 2005; Reed, 2004). The relevance of political marketing and electoral victory has been highlighted by Hinson and Tweneboah-koduah (2010).There is a particular focus in their work on understanding political marketing communication issues pertaining to the 2008 Ghanaian presidential elections with a twist on political brand relationship. Another stream of research suggests that brand relationships can furnish participants with a social identity (Weiss et al, 1974; Wright, 1974). Consistent with this idea, voter research has shown that political brands can be used to communicate and reinforce national identity (Shimp and Sharma, 1987). The relevance of building brand relationship with voters in Ghana cannot be overemphasized since the foremost goal of every political party is to win and hold onto the support of voters. This research aims at addressing the shortcoming of University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 17 political brand relationships with voters specifically for the area of political marketing. It has been argued by Bannon (2003) that a relationship marketing approach in the political sphere is under-researched but is potentially fruitful from an applied as well as a theoretical perspective. In Ghana, several scholars such as Mensah (2011), Hinson and Tweneboah-Kodua (2010), Gyampoh and Obeng-Odoom (2009) and Debrah (2008) all looked at political party brand and voter choice in Ghana as well as its corresponding trends. The focus of this study therefore is to build on these studies by exploring ways by which political brand relationship can be developed with the Ghanaian voter. 1.3 Aim and objectives of the Study The aim of this research aids in developing conceptual framework of political relationship marketing by discussing existing, as well as potential, applications of relationship marketing within the political sphere. The following objectives are pursued: 1. To understand why voters associates with a particular political party in Ghana. 2. Ascertain whether the understanding of political brand relationship can be used to leverage voter preference. 3. To ascertain whether the relational model can be used in building political brand relationship. 1.4 Research Questions Building a political relationship with voters in Ghana using the relational model approach has resulted in the formulation of research questions that aids in the realization of research objectives. 1. What are the reason(s) for which voters associate with a particular political party? University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 18 2. Is there possibility of leveraging voter preference with political brand relationship through understanding of political brand? 3. Can the relational model be used in building and strengthening political brand relationship for voter acquisition? 1.5 Research Methodology This study will make use of primary data. The primary data would be gathered by administering questionnaires and interviewing members of four trade unions namely UTAG, TUC, GNAT as well as members of NUGS across in Accra. The literature observes that the party/voter relationship has moved on beyond ideological leanings (Baines et al., 2002; Needham, 2005; Reeves et al., 2006). According to Mensah (2011), the obligation to forge relationships with voters has become necessary to political parties so as to understand well the voters „needs. In reference to Farquhar and Herr„s brand-to-associate and associate-to-brand approaches (1993), it was noted that corporate decisions on which values of the brand would appeal to the customer and through which means to communicate those values require understanding the customer„s needs, which in turn demand the forging of relationships, thus the choice of the above groups. Analysis of data collected was based on qualitative approach. Qualitative approaches to this research include the use of interviews, observation, and descriptive measures. For the purpose of this research, the qualitative approach is adopted. This is because since there is a limited understanding of the phenomenon under investigation, qualitative research was more appropriate as it provides the researcher more descriptive space University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 19 (Cooper et al., 2006). The choice of a qualitative approach is also in line with Hussey‟s (1997) views who defined qualitative research as “a subjective approach which includes examining and reflecting on perceptions in order to gain understanding of social and human activities. Thus researchers use qualitative approach to explore the behavior, perspectives, feelings, and experiences of people and what lies at the center of their lives. Based on the appraisal of the critical approaches above, the study based on informed preference, adopts the qualitative approach to understand the political brand relationship with voters in Ghana. 1.6 Significance of the Study Incumbent political parties, like the providers of commercial goods and services, are seeking to secure repeat sales at a time when voter loyalty is under threat from proliferating choice and social realignment. As with other large and infrequent purchases, parties need to use marketing not only to win a sale (an election) but also to minimize post-purchase dissonance and encourage brand loyalty so that consumers will buy their product in the future. Successful parties develop brand attributes in their leaders to maintain relationships with supporters beyond the initial transaction, although in doing so they create problems for leadership succession. The study will contribute to existing literature on the efforts being made to address political brand relationship strategies by political parties from a developing country perspective; specifically Ghana. It will also provide an empirical insight into the branding and relational issues of political parties and its impact on voter‟s preference for political party candidates and programs. In effect, it will also contribute to academic University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 20 discourse on political brand relationship and also serve as a source of reference for further studies. 1.7 Chapter disposition This thesis will be partitioned into 6 chapters. Chapter one will be introduction whilst Chapter two will focus on the Literature Review and conceptual Framework. The next chapter will focus on the context of the study; whilst the fourth chapter highlights the philosophical Approach and methodology adopted for the study. Chapter five will present and discuss the findings of the thesis whilst Chapter six showcases the summary, conclusions and Recommendations of the study findings. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 21 CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.0 Introduction The purpose of this chapter is to provide a detailed review of the relevant literature. A discussion is made of the correlation between political brand relationship on one hand and the basis for conceptualizing consumer (voter) relationships with branding being the central paradigm of the study on the other. It also review political parties as a brand, personalities of politicians, behavior of political parties, issues of political marketing department with regarding the Ghanaian factor and the conceptual framework adapted for the study. 2.1 Conceptualization of Consumer-Brand Relationships In brand management literature, considerable studies have been conducted to conceptualize consumer-brand relationships through establishing the characteristics of brands, such as personality (Aaker, 1997; Durgee, 1988; and Smothers, 1993). This attempt at personification of brands has now reached its new height with the introduction of strong and deep-rooted interpersonal characteristics, such as love (Batra, 2012), attachment (Thomson 2005; Park, 2012), and the integration of negative and positive aspects of emotional and non-emotional interpersonal characteristics (Park, 2013). In effect, majority of these extant literatures in consumer branding conceptualized the concept of consumer brand relationship as equivalent as interpersonal relationships by assuming these characteristics, which adds brands a character and allows the brand to be seen as a person who can engage in a mutual and reciprocal exchange relationship Park(2013). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 22 The original development of political–brand relationship concept can be attributed to Blackston (1992) who argues that brand relationships are the logical extension of brand personality, which is more or less similar to the relationship between people. The conceptualization of political-Brand Relationships context, temporarily explains that relationships between brand and voter happen only through a series of repeated interactions (Blackston, 1992). Perceived commitment explains that relationship ranges across several dimensions and takes many forms, but they all provide possible benefits for their participants and therefore willing to continue a relationship (Neuendorf, 2002). In branding context, perceived commitment explains that the relationship between brand and voter may take several forms and types and this will ultimately lead to intention to stay with the brand. This mapping of common characteristics across disciplines using metaphors helped the researchers in branding to develop specific relationship constructs such as, brand commitment (BC), brand love, passion interdependency, and brand attachment (BA) (Fournier, 1998). To an extent, the use of metaphoric transfer also helped the marketing community to implement the brand relationship elements in brand building. Monga (2002) stated that the use of relationship metaphors in voter-brand context facilitated the understanding of brand loyalty, in-depth information about consumer needs and wants, and thereby assisted companies to improve better products and marketing activities. Followed by the above-mentioned qualities of interdependency, temporality, and perceived commitment, there were a series of conceptual and empirical works on the topic of consumer-brand relationships published in different contexts. Fournier (1998) used human relationship metaphors to explain voter-brand relationships and stated that there exist relationship qualities between consumer and brands. Fournier (1998) extended University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 23 these three qualities further into four conditions that exist to satisfy consumer-brand relationships. First, voter-brand relationships exist when there are reciprocal exchanges between political brand and voter. Second, the interactions between political brand and voters are purposive. Third, the relationships between political brand and voters take different forms and types. Finally, the relationships between political brand and voters are a process phenomenon; these relationships change according to contexts. Backed by the above-mentioned four conditions, Fournier (1998) defines brand relationships as a voluntary or imposed interdependence between a person and a brand, characterized by a unique history of interactions and an anticipation of future occurrences, that is intended to facilitate socio-emotional and instrumental goals of the participants, and that involves some types of consolidating bond. While extending the conceptualization, Nebel and Blattberg (2000) defined political brand relationships as an integrated approach to establish, maintain, and enhance relationships between apolitical brand and its voters, and to continually strengthen these relationships through interactive, individualized and value added contacts, and a mutual exchange and fulfillment of promises over a long period of time. Similarly, Aggarwal (2004) posits that people sometimes form a very intimate bond with brands and, in some extreme cases, a passion that is often associated only with a close circle of friends and family. This position was supported by Breivik and Thorbjornsen (2008) based on the understanding of political brand relationship through conceptualization and investigation of relationships between voters and their preferred political brands in a close circle. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 24 2.2 Operationalization of political-Brand Relationships The studies in political-brand relationship literature used different approaches for the operationalization of the construct. Aaker (2004), Kaltcheva and Weitz (1999), Monga (2002), and Park and Kim (2001) followed a completely quantitative approach. At the same time, Fournier (1998), Ji (2002), Kates (2000), and Olson (1999) used in-depth interviews and text analysis as their data collection and analysis method. The focus of these studies varies from operationalizing the previous conceptualization through further exploration, scale development, identifying specific relationship constructs, examination of the identified relationship constructs in different contexts, and assessment of gender differences in consumer-brand relationship formation. Studies were carried out to operationalize the construct through the development of scales to measure the construct. Kim (2005) conducted a study, which aimed to develop a scale to measure Brand Relationship Quality (BRQ). In the work of Kaltcheva and Weitz (1999) the role played by the dimensions were examined. Although Fournier‟s (1998) work is considered to be the base study for operationalization of political-brand relationship, the details of the study are not mentioned in this section of operationalization; instead it has been presented in models of political-brand relationships, such as mediation and reciprocity on the attributions for intention and selfishness that the voters make during pleasant and unpleasant experiences with the political brand. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 25 2.3 The Concept of Political Brand Relationship Brands are identifiable attributes, physical marks, emotional markers and cognitive triggers used to create a differentiated promise of future experiences based on prior offers of value through memories of prior product experience, or assumptions of future experiences based on the reputation of the product, provider or service (Dann & Jensen, 2007). The brand is a complex combination of the manufactured elements of the marketing communications toolkit to create a set of differentiating promises that reside in the mind of the consumer (Ahmed & Zairi, 1999; Okazaki, 2006). The functional purpose of branding within marketing is to communicate a set of differentiating promises about the value offering in the mind of the consumer through a bundle of key attributes (Ahmed & Zairi, 1999; Agres & Dubitsky, 1997, de Chernatony & Dall‟ Olmo Riley, 1997). Marketing principles of branding can and have been successfully applied to political marketing O‟Cass (1996), Lees-Marshment (2001), and Needham (2006) demonstrates that successful parties develop brand attributes in their leaders to maintain relationships with supporters beyond the initial vote-transaction. Political branding has also explored the domain of personal branding, celebrity endorsement and brand community engagements to develop a more complex model of engagement between candidates and the voter marketplace (Hughes & Dann, 2009). The application of the principles of branding to the conscious and deliberate development of personal reputation is well established formally and informally within the political marketing and management literature. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 26 The personal brand consists of four elements of attributes, promised benefits, values and personality (Plummer, 2000; Kapferer 1992; Keller, 1993) with brand personality being of interest for this study. Personal brand attributes and promised benefits have been measured previously via the use of proxy variables of celebrity attributes (trustworthiness, attractiveness, credibility) in studies of political brand communities (Eagar, 2009). Of interest to the present research is the role of values and personality in personal and party political brands. Brand personality also ties into the consumption of products to conjure meanings (Seetharaman, Nadzir & Gunalan, 2001; Levy, 1959). Brand personality ties into the congruency of brand association, product preference, brand loyalty and the consumption of products which are congruent with the consumer‟s self-image (Escalas & Bettman, 2005; Kumar, Luthra & Datta, 2006; Seetharaman, Nadzir & Gunalan, 2001). In short, when voters assign or identify a series of personality traits to a political brand they vote for, the brand is believed congruent with the type of person with whom the voter would want to associate congruency in the political branding sense is often colloquially expressed as “the candidate you would want to have a beer with” as an expression of the desire to associate socially with the brand. 2.4 Are Political Parties Brands? Brand knowledge is made from individual pieces of information (called nodes) that link together in memory to form more complex associative networks (Collins & Loftus, 1975; Wyer & Srull, 1989). Information is recalled from memory when a node is stimulated from the rest by a process known as activation (de Groot, 1989). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 27 Brand personality can also be utilized by voters to reduce the perceived risk of voting for the wrong party. Politics according to Mahajan and Wind (2002) is a so-called credence service in that, at the time of purchase (voting), it is very difficult to know whether policy promises will be delivered. Brands affect how voters evaluate political parties and candidates. Political brands, according to Keller (1993), are not physical but intangible, being the knowledge about a particular object that is held in the memory of voters. 2.5 Consumer Motivation to Develop Political Party Personality (PPP) There remains some contention over the appropriate use of the brand concept because of differences between political and commercial markets. Lock and Harris (1996), for example, point out that party differs from other brands in the complexity of their range of product offerings (from promises on education, health, overseas aid, defense, immigration, etc.). According to Keller (1993), in voting, the individual is required to accept all or none of a party‟s policies. In addition, the policies „„bought‟‟ from a party at the time of voting are more mutable than those for other services, as parties may compromise on them in the face of political conditions once elected (Butler & Collins, 1999). Explaining the process by which personality is built up in memory does not shed much light on why voters are motivated to develop a complex associative network of information about a political party (Butler and Collins, 1999). Faced with a credence service and similar parties in policy terms, Butler and Collins (1999) argues it is likely that undecided voters in particular will seek to differentiate and University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 28 reduce risk by supporting the party most trusted to implement their promises. They emphasize that in the absence of any objective way to determine trust; trust in the perceived personality of the leader and his/her party acts as a surrogate measure. For many voters, gathering political information is viewed as costly in terms of the effort needed to assimilate it versus the motivation to do so (Downs, 1957). Moreover, British political parties, in seeking to occupy the middle ground, increasingly offer valence products to the electorate, where all parties agree on the ends (such as the need to invest in public services) and differ only on the means of achieving them (Nelson, 1984). This according to Popkins (1976) increases the effort needed to differentiate the parties, and faced with these learning costs, voters can save time and energy by using informational shortcuts to help them reach their voting intention. Having identified why voters learn the personality of politicians and parties, Keller (1993) affirmed that the wider marketing literature identifies important benefits that may be obtained by an organization (such as apolitical party) from a positive brand personality. A distinctive brand personality as observed by Johnson, Soutar, and Sweeney (2000) can help create a set of unique and favorable associations in consumer memory. As a result of this differentiation, brand personality has a critical role in directing consumer preference and choice as argued by Batra, Lehmann, and Singh (1993). In politics, too, the ability of personality in directly influencing voting intention has been noted by Newman (1999).Arguments and discussions above suggests that branding the personality of politicians and political parties would increase the zeal of the voter (consumers) to be attached to them and thus strengthening their relationships. Personality is defined by Allen and Oslo (1995) as „„the set of meanings constructed by an observer to describe the „inner‟ characteristics of another person, and brand University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 29 personality according to Aaker (1997) is „„the set of human characteristics associated with a brand‟. From a voter learning perspective, therefore, the personality of a political party is viewed as an associative network of the human characteristics relating to that party, held in memory and accessible when stimulated from the memory of a voter. There is a general acceptance in the marketing literature that brand is one of the main assets of an organization (Aaker, 1991; Keller, 1993; Kapferer, 2004). It is axiomatic that political parties are organizations in which politicians seek to exchange ideas and promises for electoral support, thus the steady stream of papers accepting political parties and or politicians as brands (Kavanagh, 1995; Kotler, 1999; Schweiger & Adami, 1999; White & de Chernatony, 2002; Needham, 2005). A voter-oriented perspective was adapted by Keller (2006) to investigating how and why voters learn about political brands. More specifically, Smith (2001) based on the premise that voters have an innate motivation to learn about and decide about political brands, both to know where to spend their money (or cast their vote) and to cope with the increasingly complex and over-communicated world in which they live, came out with a view of political branding, as a learning process adopted by the electorate as a means to help them decide on which party, if any, to vote for. 2.6 Politician Personalities Personality traits are created in memory by inference based on observation of the behavior of another person. If a person is seen kicking a dog, it can be inferred that he/she is cruel. Brand personality formation according to Keller (2002) is determined by the same process as human personality. It involves the personification of the brand based University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 30 on that brand‟s observed behaviors, allowing human traits to be inferred from action or stated intended action. Political parties and politicians in the view of Skarzynska (2004) have already been shown to have discernible personalities which are particularly powerful in personality terms because, self-evidently, it is easier for voters to learn their personality traits than those of an inanimate entity, such as a party. It has been argued by Schneider (2004) that politics is increasingly about symbolism as opposed to policy implementation and image rather than content. As such, politicians can be viewed as „„actors‟‟ as posit by O‟Shaughnessy (2003) performing in a purposive way to achieve predetermined party political objectives. 2.7 Brand Users and Endorsers Brand users and endorsers have also been identified by Aaker (1997) as a possible influence on the personality of the brand. To him, Party members, as stereotypical „„users‟‟ of the brand, can provide strong clues to the wider public as to the personality of the party overall. The Conservatives in the U.K for example, have been stereotyped by their membership as an aging, white, middle-class party, with concomitant negative party personality connotations. To avoid such associations, parties increasingly manage their conferences to portray themselves as businesslike, organized and disciplined even surrounding the leader with an ideal mix of their supporters (by age, sex, ethnicity, etc.) (Needham, 2006). Ohanian (1991) emphasized that an increasingly used source of personality associations is derived from endorsers who have celebrity gained outside the realm of politics. According to him, their strength in influencing Political Party Personality is determined by their attractiveness, credibility, and trustworthiness. These criteria according to University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 31 Beckett (2006) apply to the likes of Bob Geldof (ex-musician and third-world poverty activist) and Zac Goldsmith (green campaigner) that have been recruited to David Cameron‟s policy review process. Celebrities from the view point of McCracken (1989) are valued by party strategists because they possess personality traits different from professional politicians. Those mentioned above as described by Street (2001) are more associated with personality traits such as trendy, exciting, cool, and young than are most, if not all, politicians. To Street (2001), these associative meanings have been shown to be able to transfer from one brand (the endorser) to another (the political party) even though they are in different markets. 2.8 Partisanship and Political Party Personality (PPP) It is clear that not everyone has the same level of interest in party politics. In markets generally, the level of involvement with a brand has been shown to affect the way that information about that brand is processed and stored in memory (Petty, Cacioppo, & Schumann, 1983). The more involved, the more information is sought and elaboration (issue-relevant thinking) takes place. In politics, preference for a candidate according to Petty et al. (1983) has been shown to affect the way that information on a party and its politicians is interpreted. More specifically, preference for a candidate leads to a filtering of information. Biased processing of information that does not agree with currently held views as postulated by Klein and Ahluwalia (2005) takes place through „„various defense mechanisms, such as generation of counterarguments, information distortion, source derogation, and even selective avoidance of inconsistent information‟‟ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 32 As theorized by Beckett (2006) the more partisan a voter, the more positive their perception of the personality of the party should be. 2.9 Do political parties behave as commercial companies do in modern politics? In an opening statement of a book on „understanding marketing, expert solutions to everyday challenges‟ published by the Harvard Business School Press (2010), a rhetorical question was posed: “What is the first thing you think of when you hear the word marketing”? The answer to this question according to Doyle (1987) was that perhaps one would imagine a salesperson pitching „their company„s products to its potential customers. Marketing was thus defined by Wilson and Fook (1990) as a managerial orientation which recognizes that the eventual success of an organization is primarily dependent on the identification and satisfaction of changing customer needs and developing products and services that match these needs better than those of the competition. Gilligan and Wilson (2003) illustrated that the latter concept of the voter-orientation, is an introspective concept that only examines political performance and improvements in key operating ratios. According to Hutt and Speh (1998), a voter-driven organization stays close to the electorates and well ahead of the political competition so as to structure its internal systems with the aim of impacting on its external environment to make the management of both environments interactive, each impacting on the other. The absence of this interactivity according to Day (1994) will thus result in a dysfunctional political organizational system and will lead to a failure. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 33 Hutt and Speh (1998) continued that, for this to happen, the political organization should possess two distinctive capabilities: voter-sensing capabilities and political-linking capabilities. The former capability suggests effective, efficient, and continuous analysis of opportunities and threats, as well as spotting prevalent voter trends in order to respond to them well ahead of other political parties and to the benefit of the customer. The latter capability suggests a strategy of engaging the customer in a long-term, close-up relationship. In the application of marketing techniques and tools, the first capability involves the use of market research and intelligence-gathering, such as advertising tracking, competitor intelligence, surveys, and focus group research. The second capability involves activities such as segmentation, targeting, and the manipulation of the marketing mix instruments in positioning the offering for the customer (Hut and Speh, 1998). 2.10 The Political Marketing Department As conjectured by Blondel (1974) political parties are coalitions with diffuse power bases to a much greater extent than are commercial organizations such that the atmosphere within the party political structure may limit even the influence of the party leader in determining the party„s position on certain key issues, such as sub regional integration. As posited by Lock and Harris (1996) that even in office, the complexities of modern government leaves the head of state with limited influence over individual ministries hence, although a party leader may be at the core of the party image, his or her ability to influence policy direction is constrained by the need to construct a series of informal coalitions. If such is the level of influence wielded by other party organs upon even the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 34 party leader, one could only imagine the extent of influence these coalitions, including the leader, would have on mere functionaries such as a political marketing department and its staff‟, if such a structure exists in a party. The existence of coalitions and diverse interests within the party as hypothesize by French and Smith (2010) makes it difficult to assume that voter interests are dominant in political parties; just as customers interests are dominant in the pursuit of profitability, in the case of the commercial firm. In the commercial firm, it was observed by Neil and Hooper (2003) that the pursuit of profitability is consequential to the pursuit of the satisfaction of the customer, and so the attitudes and behaviors of the commercial staff are geared towards these inseparable goals. From Blonde‟s description of the internal power struggles that are manifested in the party, one could argue that there may not be a collective attitude after all that is geared towards the interests of the voter in the party, as it is for the consumer in the firm. 2.11 Political Marketing in Practice Theoretically, Henneberg (2004) observes that our increasing quest to demonstrate that marketing works in politics has resulted in the increasing use of the managerial and operational concepts of marketing to explain the political marketing sub domain. Lock and Harris (1996) on their part, bemoan the failure of political marketing to develop its own theory and the attempt to wean itself from the mainstream marketing. O„Shaughnessy (2001) agrees with Lock and Harris that political marketing needs to develop its own theoretical framework. O„Shaughnessy argues that political marketing and commercial marketing are separate entities, which makes our continuous comparison of these two inaccurate: University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 35 Marketing to Kotler (1999) is a business discipline whose relevance lies primarily in business and that we should not assume that political contexts are invariably analogous to business to the extent that methods can be imported and used with equal effect. 2.12 The Ghanaian Factor In a developing nation like Ghana there are other subdivisions such as ethnicity, religion, and other subtle constructs (Anebo, 1997; Ayee, 1997, 2000; Gyimah-Boadi, 2001; Nugent, 2001; Youde, 2005; Ninsin, 2006) that underlie the more generic political divide as we know them in Western democracies. The decision to vote in a particular direction becomes even more crucial when the individual electorate is faced with a candidate who is from his or her ethnic group but knows that the economic conditions nationally are not of the best and are affecting his or her livelihood. This individual/community dichotomy of interests that prevails upon the voter when making district, parliamentary, or presidential electoral choice becomes a measure of intense purchasing decision-making activity (Anebo, 1997; Ayee, 2000; Gyimah-Boadi, 2001).the decision as to whether to go for a local political actor who the voter knows well and can trust, or to go for one with potentially promising agenda for the wider economy but does not know well and as a result does not trust as much is often a difficult one. In addition, Ayee (2000) posit this to be one of the several purchasing decision points that face the Ghanaian electorate due to the nature of the political environment after years of non-delivery and mismanagement since independence. To him, Politicians are notoriously known for their non-delivery, much as they are known for discrimination in University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 36 development projects, usually focusing attention on their local regions. In short, equitable development agenda gives way to tribal allegiance in development. Voters in Ghana according to Gyimah-Boadi (2001) thus need to negotiate with themselves internally, between these interests and reality, before deciding which way to cast the vote. To him, this purchasing (or voting) decision-making process could take place either at the polling day or before. In Britain, the assumption that most voters predetermine their vote far in advance of elections (Worcester & Baines, 2004) raises questions. According to Needham (2006) in politics, just like the marketplace, voters must negotiate the conflicts between loyalty to trusted brands and the novelty of the new while making sense of complex and conflicting product information. Research has shown that the majority of the less sophisticated political voters still cannot make their minds up even at the polling day. Most of them according to Needham (2006) are believed to have changed their minds at the point of marking the ballot paper, including younger voters who tend to break away from parties of their ancestors; those that their parents and grandparents support . “The political party or candidate is a complex intangible product which the voter cannot unbundle. As a consequence most voters have to judge on the overall packaged concept or message” (Lock & Harris, 1996). The above quote draws the chapter to the heart of this thesis, political brand relationship with voters in Ghana. It becomes the platform on which the thesis „conceptual framework, was introduced and explored. In the above quote, Lock and Harris argue that because voters are unable to unbundle the electoral product offering, the majority choose on the basis of the overall University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 37 political package, concept, or image. In this regard, Lock and Harris (1996) suggested that the party assumes prominence amongst the various knowledge structures, such as the candidate and specific policies based on which voters make electoral decisions. This means voters are most likely to base their electoral decisions on the party image as against candidate image or policy issues. They argue that, beyond very broad generalization, voter‟s perceptions of party characteristics can be blurred and their knowledge of specific policies low. They supported this argument by contrasting voter perception and low knowledge of policies in politics with consumer knowledge in commerce, where consumers have remarkably homogeneous perceptions of product characteristics (Lock & Harris, 1996, p.14-15). 2.13 Models in Political Brand Relationships Fournier (1998), based on a qualitative research using several interpersonal theories introduced a model in political-brand relationship setting, called BRQ (Brand Relationship Quality) model. This BRQ model aimed to measure the strength and depth of consumer relationship with brands. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 38 Fig. 2.22 Conceptual framework using the BRQ model Figure 1 Brand Relationship Quality (BRQ) Model (Fournier, 1998) For identifying the underlying dimensions of consumer-brand relationships, the author used a series of in-depth interviews with three women participants. The data analysis was carried out through detailed textual analysis of the transcripts and its coding. The results of detailed text analysis helped the authors to come up with the six dimensions of consumer–brand relationships. These six dimensions or facets are: partner quality, intimacy, behavioral interdependence, personal commitment, self-concept connection, and love/passion. These dimensions identified by the author explained the forms of relationships that exist between consumers and brands. During the analysis, the theoretical origin of behavioral interdependence traced back to Kelley and Thibaut‟s (1978) interdependence theory, and the self-concept construct originated from self-expansion model. Love/passion and University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 39 personal commitments originated from the theories of attraction as postulated by Rusbult (1980). It is considered that BRQ is theoretically richer and more informative because it integrated several interpersonal theories (Breivik & Thorbjornsen, 2008). The brand relationship dimensions introduced by Fournier (1998) are given below in detail: Love and passion This dimension is considered to be the core of all relationships; it is based on affective grounding supported brand relationship endurance. The presence of this dimensionality was evident from respondent statements that “something was missing,” when they (consumers) were not interacted with the brand for a while (Rusbult, 1980). Self-Connection This dimension explains the extent to which brand delivers on important identity concerns, tasks, or themes, thereby expressing an important aspect of self (Rusbult, 1980). Interdependence This dimension emerged out of three ways: (a) frequent brand interactions, (b) increased scope and diversity of brand-related activities, and (c) heightened intensity of individual interaction events (Rusbult, 1980). Commitment Commitment has been defined as the intention of the consumer to behave in a manner that supports relationship longevity (Rusbult, 1980). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 40 Intimacy When consumers bonded toward a brand, he/she develops strong elaborative knowledge structures around it supported by richer layers meaning that reflects intimacy (Rusbult, 1980). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 41 CHAPTER THREE CONTEXT OF THE STUDY 3.1 Introduction It is suggested that political marketing is today a global phenomenon (Schafferer, 2006; Lilleker & Lees-Marshment, 2005; Scammell, 1999; O‟Cass, 1996) where parties from all corners of the world manage their campaigns and other strategic political activities, such as manifestos and fund-raising, based on results of intelligence gathered through market research (Lilleker & Lees-Marshment, 2005). Although literature proclaims political marketing's global reach, the adaptation of the phenomenon in practice has not been a smooth one in most countries. Research in the United Kingdom and Australia, for example, (O‟Cass, 1996; Scammell, 1999; Lilleker & Lees Marshment, 2005) highlights the concerns of political practitioners on the use and effect of marketing-orientation on political leadership, principles, and practice. Such concerns question the holistic fit of the marketing theory to the political world. Nevertheless, research also suggests that political marketing has become a necessary activity engaged by politicians as a result of certain national, transnational, and global influences affecting political communities v/worldwide, with the mention of democracy as the chief factor as posit by O‟Cass, (1996). The democratic process assumes that individual citizens have the capacity to hold elected officials accountable (Curran et al., 2009) and in practice such accountability, according to Curran et al. (ibid.) requires a variety of institutional arrangements including free and frequent elections, presence of strong political parties, and of importance to political University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 42 marketing, a media system that makes available the political product to the exchange partner, who is the voter. It is thus necessary, as pointed out by Henneberg (2004), for political marketing research to include the three main systems of multi-party democracy: the political system, the party system, and the media system, as units of analysis that support the two main variables of the marketing concept, which are competition and exchange. In this chapter, therefore, the research introduces these systems in Ghanaian politics and explains their consequences for party organization and management and how they are shaping the emergence of political marketing in Ghana. It compares that with global trends in political marketing as reported in the literature. 3.2 Brief Biography of Ghana Ghana, also known as the “Gateway to Africa,” is a country located on the Western Coast of Africa. Ghana shares its boundaries with Cote d‟Ivoire to the west, Togo to the east, Burkina Faso to the north and the Gulf of Guinea to the south. Ghana‟s population is estimated at twenty-two million people representing over one hundred different ethnic groups, with different cultures and languages. However, through colonization, the lingua franca of the country is English (Ghanaweb, 2010). Ghana is divided into ten administrative regions. These regions are similar to internal colonial boundaries that were drawn by colonialists before independence in their attempt to maintain the coherence of traditional states and tribes (Oelbaum, 2004). The major ethnic groups represented in Ghana are the Akan, Mole- Dagbani, Ewe, Ga- Adangbe, Guan and the Gurma (Ghanaweb, 2010). The Akan ethnic group that makes up 49.1 percent of the population, is itself divided into many different sects. The Mole- University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 43 Dagbani group, which is found manly in the northern part of the country, constitutes 16.5 percent of the population and is also sub- divided into smaller sects. The Ewes constitute 13 percent of the population and are mostly found on the eastern part of the country (Asante & Gyimah- Boadi, 2004). Following the Ewes as the fourth largest group in the country is the Ga- Adangbe constituting 8.3 percent of the population followed by the Guan that make up 3.7 percent and the Gurma that make up 3.5 percent. Numerous other small ethnic groups account for 11.4 percent of the Ghanaian population (Chazan, 2001). Ghana has a complex ethnic structure that is constantly changing as seen from census data in which the ethnic group sizes and constructs are always changing. The many different ethnic groups are not secluded to certain portions of the country, but are found in sizable numbers in other regions. Apart from the spread of the different ethnic groups in multiple regions, we also come to find that through intermarriages many Ghanaians find themselves belonging more than one of the major ethnic groups (Asante and Gyimah- Boadi, 2004). According to Chazan (2001) socio- economic disparities in Ghana between the different ethnic groups contribute an essential class aspect to ethnic determination. Ethnicity in Ghana tends to intermingle with cultural, geographical, income and developmental variables that transform political commentary into ethnic expression. It is important to understand that even between the different sects within ethnic groups, there has been some history that has caused some disparity- especially within the Akans, which will be seen again in the 2008 elections. Although it is assumed that most Akans always vote as a block, we come to find that other sects such as the Fantis, Akyems and Brongs do not always align themselves with the Asantes because of imperialist tendencies exhibited by Asantes in the pre- colonial period. During this period, the ambitions of the Asante King University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 44 to expand his empire and have direct access to the British at the coast caused conflict amongst Akans found in the south of Ghana. In 1958, the CPP passed the Emergency Powers Act that separated the Brong Ahafo region for the Ashanti region, making it an independent region allowed to control its political and administrative affairs, which the Asantes disapproved. This was another cause of conflict between the Brong Akans and the Asante Akans (Asante & Gyimah-Boadi, 2004). These inter-ethnic conflicts are not just limited to the Akans, but in the Northern part of Ghana, many inter- ethnic and intra- ethnic conflicts have also been experienced from pre- colonial times. These conflicts are noted to arise from smaller ethnic groups vying for power for themselves, and to be alleviated from their positions as second-rate citizens that have no political or traditional sway. Conflicts between the different groups have also arisen over land and resources, which is similar to that within the Akan group. In present day, as noted by Asante and Gyimah- Boadi (2004), some Brong- Akans will show more favor towards an Ewe or Ga as compared to an Asante or Akyem. Asantes themselves will have a stronger affinity towards a Ga or Dagomba, than towards a Fante or Akyem, however, this is not reserved to Akans alone. In Ghana, the term northerner is used to refer to all people that hail from the north of the country. It has become a term of identification, and sometimes is interchanged with the ethnicity of a person from the north; although it is not an ethnic group. In the northern part of Ghana, there is estimated to be over fifteen ethnic groups, which have different traditions, languages and customs; but are noted to share some similar social and cultural traits (Asante & Gyimah- Boadi, 2004). Since colonial times because the British focused more on the developing the urban and southern areas in Ghana, there has always been a University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 45 dissimilitude between the north and south, and rural and Urban Ghana. In northern Ghana and in rural areas, there is little access to electricity, running water, medical and health services, schools and other essential social services that southern Ghanaians and urban dwellers do not have. After independence, northern leaders demanded some measures be put in place to safeguard themselves in fear that due to the underdevelopment in their regions they will not be able to achieve as much. However, after independence, these inequalities are still somewhat present, however it has not led to conflict due to the strategic maintenance of a north- south balance seen in the political and civil service spheres in Ghana. 3.3 Ghana’s Political History Ghanaian politics it seems has always been ethnically underlined. According to Bogaards, democratization of African states and multi- party politics brought about the politicization of ethnicity, which is seen through Ghana‟s history and continues to affect politics today (2008). Chazan (2001) also noted that ethnicity in Ghanaian politics became pronounced through different regimes and the different intensities in which they politicized ethnicity through their policies and varying successes. In Ghana, pre- independence voting patterns have replicated themselves between the Danquah-Busia group, seen mainly as Asantes and the Nkrumahists through the military and civilian governments in Ghana (Morrison & Lindenberg, 2008). J.B. Danquah and Kwame Nkrumah ran these two parties respectively (Asante & Gyimah-Boadi, 2004). Both these parties were ideologically different, one catering to the elite and thought of as being ethnically exclusive (catering to the Asantes and the Akyems) -UGCC- and the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 46 other more ethnically inclusive and left- winged, it was considered a party for the people- CPP. In present time, the NPP and the NDC have been noted to follow these traditions. The NPP has been closely linked to the Danquah/ Busia tradition that stems from pre- independence, and the NDC support base and ideologies have been said to resemble that of the CPP (Witfield, 2009). Pre-independence, we come to find that Ghanaian politicians were already drawing ethnic lines, and using ethnicity as a common factor and a means of gaining support from the masses. Most of these ethnically aligned parties, formed as a strong opposition to the CPP, entering into alliances, to against the ruling party. The CPP won the general elections in 1952, 1954, and 1956. From 1954, there was an emergence of many political parties that formed along ethnic and regional lines to contest in the elections (Ghanaweb, 2008). Examples of these parties were the Northern People‟s Party (NPP), which was formed to protect the interests of the northern people by its chiefs and elites. Another of these parties was the Togoland Congress formed in 1951 to unify both the British and the French mandated territories of the Togoland (Asante & Gyimah-Boadi, 2004). An Asante nationalist movement emerged in 1954, three months after the elections under the National Liberation Movement (NLM). The leadership of this organization was in the hands of the Asante people, and was formed to safeguard Asante people and their institutions. The NLM was vying for national power, and to this it sought alliances with the Northern People's Party and the Anglo Youth Association in the Volta Region (Allman, 1990). It has been noted that the rise of the NLM brought about some problems in Ghana. With the NLM came an era of instability and violence in the Ashanti region University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 47 and its environs, and there was the problem of whether there will be elections held before independence, and what kind of constitution will be adopted by independent Ghana. The NLM pushed for elections on the basis that they had emerged after the 1954 elections, and therefore new elections needed to be held for people to determine the popularity of either party (Asante & Gyimah- Boadi, 2004). In 1956, the CPP won the elections. However, it did not do as well in the Asante, Volta and Northern regions that encouraged the NLM to continue to advocate for a federal system of government. There continued to be unrest in the Togoland as southern Togoland boycotted the independence celebration, in Accra, there were tensions between the CPP and the Ga that led to the formation of the Ga-Shifimokpee (The Ga-Standfast Asssociation) in 1957. The Ga-Shifimokpee joined the opposition against the CPP. The opposition sent a delegation to London to oppose the CPP, however both parties decided that Ghana will remain a unitary state with more power granted to the regions in the form of regional assemblies (Asare, 2002). In December 1957, the Avoidance of Discrimination Act was passed, which prohibited the formation of parties along ethnic, regional or religious lines. Through the passage of this act, the question of federalism was suppressed along with the National Liberation Movement and the Togoland Congress Party. In 1959, the quasi- federalist regional assemblies that were formed under the 1957 Independence Constitution were also dissolved. The CPP ordered the dissolution of the NLM and ordered an investigation into their activities. Nkrumah also appointed Chief Regional commissioners from the CPP in place of the British (Asante & Gyimah-Boadi, 2004). In January 1958, Nkrumah also passed the Emergency Powers Act that allowed him the power to separate Brong Ahafo University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 48 giving it its own House of Chiefs. This led to the continuous tensions between the Asantes and the Brongs that is still present today. Nkrumah also at this time recognized all the chiefs in the Ashanti region that were pro- CPP, making them Paramount Chiefs (Asare, 2002). Ghana‟s First and Second Republics were also plagued with ethnic tensions, and the politicization of ethnicity continued to cause separations between ethnic groups. In 1957, the opposition united to form the United Party (UP), led by Kofi Abrefa Busia (Akan). In 1966, there was a coup led by Major Afrifa (Asante) and Colonel Kotoka (Ewe), however this union was temporary. In 1967, there was an attempted coup that was orchestrated by Akan junior officers during which Kotoka died. That same year Afrifa managed to take over the military government and the National liberation Council without Kotoka which marked the genesis of the separation between the Akans, especially the Asante and the Ewe (Hettne, 1980). The separation became more pronounced in 1969 when the NLC handed over to Busia‟s. Ewes felt extremely unrepresented in Busia‟s cabinet, the leader of the National Alliance for Liberals, K.A. Gbedemah, an Ewe was disqualified, and the removal of 568 public servants under the Transitional Provisions of the 1969 constitution, due to what was said to be the overrepresentation of Ewes as senior public servants; all served to deepen tensions (Asante & Gyimah-Boadi, 2004). From the time of the Popular Front Party (PFP) that was led by an Ashanti, Victor Owusu who the Ewes voted massively against due to his alleged comments about the Ewes being inward looking people, the Ewes have voted against presumed Akan-based parties (Oelbaum, 2004). Both the Volta and Ashanti regions have been referred to in University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 49 many Ghanaian newspaper articles as the „World Banks‟ of votes for the National Democratic Congress and The New Patriotic Party respectively in Ghana‟s Forth Republic. Ghana after 1969 went through many phases in which the ruling coalitions or parties tried to remove themselves from the ethnic politics that surrounded the country. However, we come to find that on more than one occasion, ethnicity reemerged on the political scene. This is important to understanding ethnicity and politics during my focus period, the Fourth Republic as a means of understanding the important role of the elite and the ruling party in determining the intensity of ethnic politics in Ghana. In 1972, the NRC came to power under I.K. Acheampong and drastically tried to curtail the role of ethnicity in Ghanaian politics. The banned the activities of the ex-CPP and ex- Progress Party, and constrained political dissent and activity. The NRC in a n attempt to control the problems caused by tribalism in Ghanaian politics banned the word „tribe‟ from all official documents and advocated against expressions of ethnicity to foster national unity (Chazan, 1982). In the scheme of things, the NRC tried to go a step further in promoting ethnic unity by recommending that ethnic surnames and tribal facial markings be banned as well. I.K. Acheampong was noted to have created the most ethnically balanced government in Ghana, however, even then Acheampong relations with Ewes in Ghana and the problematic relations he had with Togo due to his rejection of their aspirations, pushed Ewes away and caused extreme dissatisfaction. In the same manner most regimes in Ghana came to an end, the fall of Acheampong and the NRC came in 1975 after successive coup attempts. After the fall of the NRC, the Supreme Military Council came to power through the coup. In coming to power, the SMC‟s motive was to destabilize the political center that University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 50 Acheampong had created; and instead created a secluded ruling coalition to govern the country. This new form of government threatened clientelistic ties people depended on, and separated people from their direct or indirect access to the decision-making apparatus, which they depended on (Chazan, 1982). This served to consolidate the different ethnicities, and evoked class and ethnic responses. The Ewe, Akan (Asnate, Fante, Brong, Akyem), the Ga and some groups in the north expressed their discontent, but the hotbed of the opposition to the SMC was said to stretch from the coast to Kumasi. The discontent under the SMC regime also caused another aspect of society to become politicized. Local community groups begun to become politicized and joined in the political activism. In 1977, there were three main factors that caused the ethnic forces that had been in opposition to finally mobilize against the government. They protested the dwindling availability of resources and wanted compensation, they protested the falling benefits from policies enacted by the government, and protest their separation from the core of state activity (Chazan, 1982). Although the impression given off sometime in the literature on Ghanaian ethnic cohesion makes it seem as though certain ethnic groups are unable to ever be in agreement, in some cases as encountered in Ghanaian history, the Ewe and Asante, we come to find that ethnic groups, and people in Ghana in particular, hold more highly their access to power and the importance of patron ties, over ethnic divisions, as seen here. Economic development in this time and even in present Ghana and government abilities to fulfill their tasks and promises to the electorate are instrumental to a regime success and the main reason why the Supreme Military Council faced so much opposition. The ethnic urban elite played a huge role as the leading voices in the protest for policy changes during the SMC regime. The protests against the government came in many forms. There were petitions sent, increased public discourse and criticism, and professionals withheld their services in protest. During this University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 51 period, we come to find that although there was ethnic solidarity, ethnic divisions and conflict arose as the different ethnic groups lobbied for their individual needs that were usually narrow and came at the expense of other ethnic groups. The mounting discontent in Ghana forged a sense of unity in Ghana that eventually led to the birth of the “Union Government” concept, or what became known as “Unigov” in Ghana in October 1976. The main goal of the “Union Government” was to “a democratically sanctioned non- party incorporation of major horizontal (class-linked) and vertical (ethnically based) groups, including the military and the police”. The SMC initiated the idea of “Unigov” in an attempt to return the reigns of power back into civilian rule, and in January of 1977, created a committee and appointed Justice Koranteng-Addow as the head of the committee. The proposal to form a Union Government backfired and the ethnic elite finally found a common issue to unite on, and mobilized communal disputes that lasted well in to the Spring of 1978 (Chazan, 1982). Discontent for the “Unigov” spread across class and the Ewe, Ga and Akan regions became the center of anti- “Unigov” organization. The AFRC were open to restoring a civilian government, and accepted a draft constitution submitted to them with some amendments that they included. They allowed presidential and vice- presidential elections that were already in place to be held between June and July to continue, made public the new constitution, and after the elections, stepped down and allowed the new president and parliament of the Third Republic to take power on September 24, 1979. The new president was Dr. HillaLimann, a northern diplomat, who was tied to the Nkrumah tradition and was a candidate of the PNP. During his time in power, he struggled with stabilizing Ghana's democracy; however, he upheld University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 52 the newly established democracy and unlike the previous regime, respected people's human rights. Limann‟s rule was short- lived, and with the dissatisfaction caused by the failing economy, there was little resistance to a coup that took place on December 31, 1981, led again by Fit. Lt. J.J. Rawlings and a group of enlisted and former soldiers to remove Limann and his cabinet from power. Fit. Lt. J.J. Rawlings then formed the Provisional National Defense Council (PNDC), which was made up of seven members, with Rawlings as its chairman. In coming into power, the PNDC suspended the 1979 constitution; formally removed the president and his cabinet, adjourned Parliament, and barred all existing political parties, forming what was known as a unitary government. The PNDC encouraged people to exercise their political power through defense committees that were established in people‟s communities and places of work. However, in December 1982, the PNDC decided that they were going to decentralize the government from Accra and move it into different districts, regions and local communities. They decided that there would be district and regional secretaries appointed to exercise executive powers and to also chair regional and district councils. In 1984, the PNDC wanted another change and established the National Commission on Democracy to research the steps necessary to create a participatory democracy in Ghana. By July 1987, a “Blue Book” was created, which outlined the steps for district-level elections that took place between late 1988 and early 1989 for the creation district assemblies (Bureau of African Affairs). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 53 Through international and domestic pressure to return to democracy, a Consultative Assembly was formed that was made up representatives from the different geographic districts and civic or business organizations. The Consultative Assembly‟s task was to draw up a draft constitution taking into consideration PNDC proposals in order for the establishment of the Fourth Republic. When the constitution was done, the PNDC accepted the constitution and held a referendum on April 28, 1992 and the constitution gained a 92% approval. In May 18.1992 the ban on party politics lifted to prepare for multiparty elections. The constitution came into force on January 7, 1993. After this, the PNDC tried to detach itself from what it was before and along with its supporters created the NDC, which has been noted as being linked with Nkrumah's ideals. The opposition NPP was also formed along the Busia/Danquah lines, and is still considered up to present day as being an Akan party. It is important to understand the history of Ghana because as Nugent and other scholars with a strong grasp of Ghanaian politics sated, Ghana even in the Fourth Republic continues to maintain its alignments from the Busia/ Danquah and Nkrumah days. Although the NDC is considered an Ewe party because of its founder, Fit. Lt. J.J. Rawlings, it is still closely tied to the Nkrumah tradition and this has caused many groups to be drawn to it as well. Through the coups, the ethnic politics that was played in some regimes and the influence of the elite in creating impressions about ethnicity and rounding up support for their causes, a strong background has been created to explore ethnicity in Ghanaian politics; and how the elite manipulate it for their personal gains. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 54 3.3.1 The Political and Constitutional Provisions A new constitution, based on the US model, was approved by national referendum in April 1992. Ghana is a unitary republic with an executive presidency and a multiparty political system. The national legislature is the unicameral Parliament, whose 275 members are elected by universal adult suffrage every four years. Parliament was enlarged from 230 to 275 members before the elections of 7-8 December 2012. The President, who is head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, is elected by universal suffrage for a maximum of two four-year terms. If no presidential candidate receives more than 50 per cent of votes, a new election between the two leading candidates must take place within 21 days. The President appoints a Vice-President and nominates a council of ministers, subject to approval by the parliament. The constitution also provides for two advisory bodies to the President: a 25- member council of state, composed mainly of regional representatives and presidential nominees, and a 20-member national security council, chaired by the Vice-President. Ten regional ministers, one for each region, are each assisted by a regional coordinating council. There are 138 administrative districts, each having a district assembly, headed by a district chief executive. Regional colleges, which comprise representatives selected by the district assemblies and by regional houses of chiefs, elect a number of representatives to the council of state. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 55 3.4 The Post Rawlings Events After 19 years at the helm, President Jerry Rawlings was barred by the constitution from seeking another term of office in the December 2000 presidential election. For the first time in Ghana‟s history there was a democratic transfer of power, after National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate Vice-President John Atta Mills was defeated in the second round of the presidential contest by New Patriotic Party (NPP) leader, John Kufuor. The NPP also won the parliamentary elections held on the same day in December 2000 as the first round of the presidential election. Kufuor won the December 2004 presidential election gaining an outright majority in the first round with 53.4 per cent of the votes. His main rival, Atta Mills of the NDC, received 43.7 per cent and the turnout was 83 per cent. In parliamentary elections on the same day the NPP took 128 seats, the NDC 94, People‟s National Convention (PNC) four and Convention People‟s Party (CPP) three. Kufuor promised to make reducing poverty his priority in his second term. The parliamentary and presidential elections in December 2008 were very close. The NDC won the general election but just fell short of an overall majority; the NDC took 115 seats, NPP 108, PNC two, CPP one and independents four. In the second round of the presidential election, the NDC‟s Atta Mills (50.2 per cent) narrowly beat the NPP‟s Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo (49.8 per cent), reversing the first-round result of Akufo-Addo 49.1 per cent and Atta Mills 47.9 per cent. Commonwealth observers were present. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 56 Following the death of President Atta Mills on 24 July 2012, Vice- President John Dramani Mahama was sworn in as President, in accordance with the law. At the December 2012 elections, when turnout was more than 80 per cent, the NDC won 148 of 275 seats in the enlarged Parliament and the NPP 123. The NDC‟s candidate, the incumbent President Mahama, won a very close presidential contest in the first round with 50.7 per cent of votes cast, the NPP‟s Akufo-Addo securing 47.7 per cent and the other six candidates the remaining 1.6 per cent. The elections were conducted in the presence of Commonwealth observers led by former Lesotho PM Pakalitha Mosisili, who said that the election had been generally peaceful but that the level of women's participation as candidates, and thus as representatives, was very low. 3.5 Arms of Government 3.5.1 Executive Branch Executive authority is established in the Office of the Presidency, together with his Council of State. The president is head of state, head of government, and commander in chief of the armed forces. He also appoints the vice president. According to the Constitution, more than half of the presidentially appointed ministers of state must be appointed from among members of Parliament. The outcome of the December 2012 elections which declared John Dramani Mahama as President of Ghana by the Ghana Electoral Commission was challenged by Nana Akuffo Addo, Bawumia and Jake Obetsebi Lamptey at the Supreme Court of Ghana of which the Supreme Court came out with the verdict that the President, John Dramani Mahama legally won the 2012 presidential election. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 57 3.5.2 Legislative Branch Legislative functions are vested in Parliament, which consists of a unicameral 275- member body plus the Speaker. To become law, legislation must have the assent of the president, who has a qualified veto over all bills except those to which a vote of urgency is attached. The members are elected for a four-year term in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote. As is predicted by Duverger‟s law, the voting system has encouraged Ghanaian politics into a two-party system, which means that there are two dominant political parties, with extreme difficulty for anybody to achieve electoral success under the banner of any other party. Elections have been held every four years since 1992. Presidential and parliamentary elections are held alongside each other, generally on 7th December. The structure and the power of the judiciary are independent of the two other branches of government. The Supreme Court of Ghana has broad powers of judicial review. It is authorized by the Constitution to rule on the constitutionality of any legislation or executive action at the request of any aggrieved citizen. The hierarchy of courts derives largely from British juridical forms. The courts have jurisdiction over all civil and criminal matters. They include the Superior Courts of Judicature, established under the 1992 Constitution, and the Inferior Courts, established by Parliament. The Superior Courts are, from highest to lowest, the Supreme Court of Ghana, the Court of Appeal, the High Court of Justice, and the ten Regional Tribunals. The Inferior Courts, since the Courts Act 2002, include the Circuit Courts, the Magistrate Courts, and special courts such as the Juvenile Courts. In 2007, Georgina Wood became the first ever female chief justice of the Ghanaian Supreme Court. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 58 3.6 An Overview of the Electoral Commission of Ghana The Commission is located at the Head Office in Accra, even though by law the Commission can meet anywhere in Ghana designated by the Chairman. The Commission is required to meet at least once in every two (2) months, that is, six (6) times a year. The seven (7) members of the Commission collectively constitute the policymaking and management body of the organization and exercise general supervision over the activities of its staff. Section 7 of the Electoral Commission Act, 1993 (Act 451) empowers the Commission to appoint such Committees as it considers necessary for the discharge of its functions. Such committees may include persons who are not members of the Commission, but must be chaired by a member of the Commission. The decisions of such committees are not binding on the Commission. In relation to the Commission's officers and other employees, all the seven Commissioners have the same powers. On a day-to-day basis, the Commission is represented by the Chairman and the two (2) Deputy Chairmen, who are permanently situated at the Head Office. Collectively or individually, they perform the managerial functions of the Commission on its behalf. 3.6.1 Departments There are seven (7) departments at the Head office. Each of these departments is headed by a Director. The departments are: Elections, Finance, Information Technology, Human Resource and General Services, Research and Monitoring, Training and Public Affairs. 3.6.2 Regional Offices A Director, assisted by a Deputy Regional Director, heads a regional office of the Commission. Unlike the Head Office, a Regional Office and its staff are not formally University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 59 organized into functional divisions and departments. A Regional Director and his staff combine both operations and Finance and Administration functions. As a result, a Regional Director reports to the Commission through the Head Office Directors, as the case may be. In most of the ten regions, the Commission is making the effort to locate its offices in its own buildings. The physical separation of the Commission's office from the offices of government department is intended to provide adequate office space and storage facilities for the Commission's work. But the separation also has significance in terms of the public's conception and perception of the independence of the Commission. 3.6.2 District Offices A District Electoral Officer (DEO) reports directly to his or her Regional Director, and heads a District Office of the Commission. Like a Regional Office, a District Office has no functional divisions or departments. 3.6.3 Election Officials During elections, the Commission engages thousands of officials of various categories in temporary elections duties. They are not formally part of the Commission, but their services are so vital to the work of the Commission that they must be regarded as an informal part of the structure of the Electoral Commission. The District Electoral Officer (DEO) recruits and works closely with these officials. In this connection, the DEO is required to: • Recruit the best persons available for the job at hand. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 60 • Organize and supervise their proper training. • Instill in them the correct attitude towards electoral work (impartiality, probity and Accountability) and to maintain the integrity of the Commission. • Co-ordinate their activities in the spirit of team work; and • Accord them, the importance, respect and dignity that they deserve. 3.7 Conclusion There are three important things to note about the structure of the Electoral Commission. First, it shows clearly that the Commission constitutes a system in the true sense of the word. You can see that it is made up of several parts, but you can also easily see that these parts must necessary interlink and lean on each other if the functions of the Commission are to be performed efficiently and effectively. Every part, every officer, permanent or temporary, forms a vital link in a chain. For this reason, a lapse in performance by any part or officer negatively affects the entire Commission, just as an ache in a person‟s tooth or foot affects the whole body. The second thing to note is that the structure depicts the reporting relationships and line of communication within the Commission. These must be faithfully observed. In this regard, a DEO‟s first point of official contact with the Commission must always be his or her Regional Director. Finally, it is to be noted that the formalized reporting and communication relationship strictly apply only in an ascending order of seniority in the Commission. It is true that, in practice, a senior officer will very often follow the descending order of relationship in dealing with subordinate officers. But a senior officer does not have to do so all the time. A senior officer is not required to pass through the officer immediately below him or her University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 61 in order to give instructions or directives to an officer further below. This means, for example, that a Co-coordinating Director does not have to pass through a Director in order to give instructions or directives to a DEO, nor a Deputy Chairman through a Co- coordinating Director in order to give instructions to a Director or DEO. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 62 CHAPTER FOUR RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 4.0 Introduction In this chapter the various methods adopted by the study in successfully achieving its aims and objectives. Specifically, the chapter commences with overview of qualitative research. This is then followed by the discussion of research methods and techniques and modes of analysing and interpreting the primary data generated from the field. The discussions contain theoretical perspectives and practical relevance of the approaches to the study. 4.1 Research Approaches Creswell (2009) proposes three research approaches. They include quantitative, qualitative and mixed method approaches. Quantitative research is a means for testing objective theories by examining relationships among variables (Creswell, 2009). According to Zikmund and Babin (2010), quantitative research involves measuring concepts that either directly or indirectly provides numeric values. Kothari (2004) describes quantitative research as involving the generation of data in quantitative form which can be subjected to rigorous quantitative analysis in a formal and rigid fashion. However, he has further argued that mere quantification, when the underlying behaviour of interest is not well understood will not lead to meaningful results. Creswell (2009) corroborates the argument where he posits that quantitative research can provide information on relationships but cannot tell why people respond the way they did, the deeper thoughts and behaviour that governed their responses. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 63 Mixed method research is an approach to enquiry that combines or associates with both quantitative and qualitative forms (Creswell, 2009, p.4). He further argues that mixed method investigators look to many approaches of collecting and analyzing data. Despite these strengths, mixed methods have been criticized by some research scholars. According to Teddlie and Tashakkori (2009), mixed methods research can be more expensive than qualitative and quantitative alone due to increased data gathering, analysis and interpretation. Qualitative research on the other hand is a means of exploring and understanding the meaning individuals or groups ascribe to social or human problem (Creswell, 2009). Malhotra and Dash (2011) posits that qualitative research is an unstructured, exploratory research methodology based on small samples that provides insights and understanding of the problem setting. According to Mason (1996), qualitative researchers are interested in how the social world is interpreted, understood and experienced by participants in the study. All three definitions appear to stress the relevance of the research setting and the meaning the participants ascribe to their behaviour and motivations when it comes to qualitative research. With regards to the understanding of the above three approaches of research, the study adopted the qualitative approach. Thus the researcher used qualitative approaches to explore the behavior, perspectives, feelings, and experiences of people (voters) with regards to their relationship with political parties. It is also important to mention that this approach does not limit the study to rigid definable variables and continues to allow the examination of complex questions that can be impossible with quantitative research. The approach ensures that the researcher is able to interact with voters (the citizenry) to University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 64 probe more into their relations and affiliations with a particular political party. The study however does not use the quantitative approach in achieving its objectives since it does not include any statistical or hypothetical presentation and analysis. 4.2 The Research Design This section of the research outlines the research designs employed in the study. It is important to distinguish between research designs. The function of a research design is to make sure that the evidence obtained from the study enables the researcher to effectively address research problem logically and unambiguously as possible (De Vaus, 2006).The research propose and objectives determines the type of research design employed for a study. Malhotra and Dash (2011) categorising research based on the purpose of a study suggests that research can be exploratory, descriptive or causal. Descriptive/diagnostic research describes characteristics of a particular individual or a group. It also involves the determination of the frequency with which something occurs or its relationship with something else (Kothari, 2004). In descriptive studies quantifiable data is obtained through surveys. This study is not intended to describe the characteristics of voters nor is it possible to use quantifiable data to understand voter motivation. This makes the descriptive design which adopts strategies like the sample survey inappropriate for the study. Experimental/causal research involves testing the hypothesis (Zikmund & Babin, 2010, p. 133) or causal relationship between variables. There has been no earlier systematic research that links voter needs and motivation suggesting that there is no hypothesis to be tested by this work. The causal design is also therefore, not appropriate. The exploratory design remains the more obvious option. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 65 4.4 An Exploratory Research Design Exploratory research provides insights into and an understanding of problems confronting the investigator (Malhotra & Dash, 2011, p. 46). Zikmund and Babin (2010) argue that exploratory research uses qualitative methods. Qualitative approach is most often used in exploratory research design (Zikmund & Babin, 2010, p. 134). A number of factors explain why the work has adopted exploratory qualitative approach. First, there has been no systematic research works in the field of brand relationships especially in the Ghana; a reason Creswell (2009) finds to be good justification for a qualitative work. Also, the existing relationship models do not adequately capture the phenomenon relating to voter brand relationships in electoral markets of developing nations. Malhotra and Dash‟s (2011) argument that information regarding emotional drives and relationships can best be obtained through qualitative research provides strong support for the choice of exploratory qualitative approach for the study (p. 135). Jick (1979) aptly summarizes the relevance of qualitative approach to a study of this nature where he argues that qualitative data are apt to be superior to quantitative data in density of information, vividness, and clarity of meaning. The researcher obtained clear meanings people attribute to their motives and rationale as voters in elections. 4.5 Types of Exploratory Qualitative Research Methods The following methods have been proposed for exploratory research. They are namely depth interview, projective techniques, focus group and literature search (Kothari, 2004). 4.5.1 Focus group According to Malhotra and Dash (2011) a focus group is an interview conducted by an experienced moderator in a non-structured and natural manner with a small group of University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 66 purposively selected respondents (p. 137). It is usually direct and non-disguised. The interviewer observes respondents' verbal and nonverbal responses. The study did not use this method because political issues are very sensitive and most people are unwilling to disclose their real political affiliations. The presence of other people could influence responses. 4.5.2 The Projective Technique This method has been classified as indirect and disguised. It is an unstructured method of questioning and probing that allows respondents to project their underlying motivations and feelings regarding an issue. According to Malhotra and Dash (2011), the more ambiguous the situation, the more respondents project their emotions, needs, motives and values (p. 153). Other forms of projective techniques include word association, sentence completion, story completion and picture response. The technique was not used because as Malhotra and Dash (2011) have argued, analysis and interpretation can be very difficult in fee case of the technique. It can also generate large volumes of data that do not relate to the work at hand. 4.5.3 The In-Depth Interview A depth interview is unstructured, direct, personal interview in which a single respondent is probed by highly skilled interviewer to uncover underlying motivations, beliefs, attitudes and feelings on a topic (Malhotra & Dash, 2011, p. 149). According to Pope and Mays (1995) in-depth interview is the face-to-face conversation with the purpose of exploring issues or topics in detail. The interview is usually shaped by a defined set of issues. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 67 This thesis employed depth interview. Datta (2004) in a study on pull-push motivation factors used in-depth interview that produced insightful findings. Datta‟s (2004) work provided some initial guide regarding what the sample size of the study would be (i.e. 21 respondents). According to Britten (1995), much qualitative research is interview based which is normally interactive and sensitive to the language of the interviewee. This study had been interactive and sensitive to the issues of the interviewees. The depth interviewing allowed the researcher to achieve number goals. First, the researcher had the opportunity to interact with and experience the environment of the interviewees. This was even more effective because the interaction was done twice. An initial interaction was followed by the substantive interview meetings. It also offered the researcher an opportunity to identify and contact persons with varying background in terms of demography, economics and socio-culture. 4.6 Sampling Technique and Sample size The study used purposive sampling technique. Creswell (2009) has argued that purposive sampling is used in qualitative research. According to Patton (2002) purposive sampling focuses on information-rich cases whose study will illuminate the questions under study (p. 230). Ideally, studying information- rich cases yields insights and in- depth understanding rather than theoretical generalizations. Patton (2002) has proposed a number of strategies for purposive sampling namely maximum variation, deviant case, intensity, typical and critical case sampling strategies to mention but a few. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 68 The maximum variation strategy used in the study aims to capture the central themes that cut across the study (Patton, 2002). Where participants are heterogeneous as in the case of voters in Ghana (rural, urban, men, women, young adults and adults, literates and illiterates) the strategy becomes appropriate (Creswell, 2009). The strategy ensured that some level of representativeness was achieved in the data collection process (Merriam, 1988; Patton, 1990). The need to ensure maximum representation was because according to Temple and Young (2004) when people cannot give voice to their needs they become dependent on those who can speak to speak for them. In the opinion of the researcher the only person who understands individual political brand relationship motives for example in a union, is the person belonging to that union or group. In both cases the snowball approach supported the purposive sampling technique to ensure that the right contacts were established. Two (2) respondents each were selected from four national unions namely the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Trade Union Congress (TUC), National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) and the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG). One representatives each (secretaries) of the two major political parties in Ghana, National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) were also included in the sample. These constitute a total sample size of 10 respondents covered by the study. These unions were chosen because they encompass almost all Ghanaians where their interests are seriously manifested. These unions and groups reflect unique characteristics that affirm the attributes of human relationships as a conduit for an effective political brand relationship building with the Ghanaian voter. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 69 The existence of these human elements among the people in the respective unions provides fertile context for the study of political brand relationship with voters. However interviewees comprising only people above the age of 18 years who are constitutionally eligible to vote were included in the in-depth interview for the study. 4.7 Sources of Data Data used for the study was collected from a primary source. Primary data for the study was also obtained from the field through depth interviews. In order to do the actual field work a team of 6 Higher National Diploma (HND) final year students from Accra polytechnic was constituted. They were given orientation before the start of the field work. Their presence also served as assurance for interviewees who felt safe to discuss a rather sensitive topic with a stranger. 4.8 Data Collection Instruments An interview guide was used to collect the data. The depth interview offered an opportunity for face-to-face encounter. Each instrument had 8 open-ended questions. The questions in the interview guide were formulated based on the research questions and relevant literature relating to voter political brand relationship. The researcher used an average of twenty minutes for each interview session. The data recording was done in two forms. First, the oral interviews were recorded. The interviewer sought permission in all cases before the recording was done. In addition to the recording the researcher took short notes. The note taking focused on very pertinent University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 70 point the interviewees made during the interview. It took 7 days to visit all respondents in the interview list. 4.8.1 Pretesting of Interview Guide The Pilot testing helped to confirm the appropriateness of the questions for the study (Creswell, 2009). Yin (2003) recommends pilot testing to refine data collection procedures and develop appropriate line of questions. A pilot population size of 3 people purposively chosen from a team of lecturers at the University of Ghana participated in the exercise. It took just one day to carry out the pilot testing. 4.9 Data Analysis Techniques The analysis focused on the raw qualitative data generated in the course of the in-depth interview. The thematic technique for qualitative data analysis was used for analyzing the data. According to Braun and Clarke (2006), thematic analysis is a method for identifying, analysing and reporting patterns (themes) within data. In their view it must be a foundational method for qualitative analysis. It involves thermalizing meanings with a view to gaining understanding from raw qualitative data. In other to use the approach it was important to transform the raw data into a form capable of being analysed. The first task involved the researcher transcribing the interviews for study and analysis. Patton (1990) has proposed two methods of transcribing data. They are full and partial transcriptions. For purposes of this work the researcher used the partial transcription method. The volume of data and time would not permit the researcher to use the full transcription method. In using the partial transcription, the interviews recorded were compared with University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 71 the short notes taken during the interview. This allowed the researcher to identify very relevant quotations and comments by interviewees. Also, the repeated readings of the notes helped the researcher to identify inconsistencies and contradictions in the responses which formed part of the data cleaning process. The analysis identified the two broad segments of the data which reflected the key concepts in the study; which are brand relationship and political party personality. In doing the thematic analysis the thematic network was adopted (Attride-Sterling, 2001). Using this approach data coding can be done on the basis of theoretical interest guiding the work or on the basis of important issues that arise from the text (Attride- Sterling, 2001). In this study, the coding was based on recurrent words in the text and on the theoretical constructs the researcher wanted to explore. Boyatzis (1998) and Braun and Clarke (2006), providing further guide for coding and analysis explained that it can be guided by semantic content or latent. Hence the study employed both. In particular, the latent allowed the researcher to move beyond the surface meaning of what respondents said (semantic content) to the underlying ideas (latent). The latent level analysis helped the researcher to make some inferences regarding responses. For example, what the respondent has said, will that cause him to act positively, negatively or not to act? The latent level analysis therefore, helped the researcher to be able to understand the direction and intensity of needs and motivation. The categorized data was sorted and carefully examined to identify themes. Applying the codes to the data the researcher identified relevant passages, quotations and words judged to be necessary for a particular analysis. The study identified several codes University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 72 based on their relevance to the researcher‟s theoretical interest and on the extent of recurrence in the text. Using the approach suggested by Attride-Sterling (2001) the codes and the several text segments were reduced to themes. It became possible to focus explanatory attention not on the basis of only frequency of occurrence but on common and popular themes that were of relevance to this work. 4.10 Conclusion The chapter discussed various approaches and designs of good research. The strengths of exploratory research design for the work is highlighted. In-depth interview method used in exploratory qualitative research was discussed with a view to pointing out its relative relevance to this work. The chapter concluded with discussions on how the thematic qualitative data analysis technique was applied to condense and analyse the large volume of data obtained from the field. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 73 CHAPTER FIVE ANALYSIS OF THE IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS 5.0 Introduction The chapter involves analysis of the in-depth interview. The in-depth interview was designed to achieve two goals. First, it was to offer the researcher the opportunity to interact directly with the respondents so that a clear picture could be gained regarding their political party motivation. The in-depth interview was also aimed at allowing respondents to provide information regarding political brand relationship with voters using their opinions and personal experiences. To ensure maximum variation in the views and opinions, respondents with varying background across five national unions in Ghana were chosen and interviewed. 5.1. Understanding Voters Association with a Particular Political Party This first question is intended to help understand the reason why voters in general tends to associate themselves with a particular political party in order to vote for or against a party and the underling voter requirements in electoral markets. In order to adequately address the question it was found prudent to first establish factors that the electorate thinks play important roles in influencing their electoral inclinations. Therefore, the first task to understand the reasons that accounts for voter associations in the study area. 5.1.1 Important Voter Needs in Electoral Markets In the depth interview socialization/relationship, education and construction needs emerged as dominant motives across all segments when the respondents elaborated on the question regarding what their party or candidate choice in an election and reason for University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 74 their association. Ideally, human beings are social beings. They always desire to belong to groups and associations. People may find joining political parties an effective way of satisfying the need for belongingness. Commenting on reasons why voters join a political party, a respondent had this to say: We associate ourselves with the party that listens to us. The view is corroborated by both the representative from TEWU and the representative from GNAT all at their respective headquarters in Accra and also shared by majority of respondents in the study. For example the GNAT representative added that he will certainly support and vote for the party that associates and shares in their objectives. Regarding relationship as an indicator mentioned by the respondents as a conduit for meeting his association requirements, it was noted that relationship contributes to the building of strong political ties with citizens in so many ways. The citizens in the communities through relationships are able to develop closer bonds with their political party of interest or association. It makes them participate meaningfully to the political process. Commenting on relationship as a requirement for party choice, a respondent said she will choose the candidate or party that concentrate on relationship building. Explaining her reason, she had this to say: Relationship is the pivot for a happy communal life Respondents commenting on how voters associate themselves with political parties and whether the structures have been established for voters and members of the organization to associate themselves with parties of their choice, incentive packages, recognition of their demand and at times making it as an input in the party manifesto, appointment of members of their unions to serve in government especially when that political party is in University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 75 power has been cited. Good physical and social infrastructure is relevant for drawing people closer, but incentives, recognition and involvements has positive impact and serve as the structures for building political relationship with voters. Some members of NUGS feel recognition is a basic motive. A respondent emphasizing the relevance of relationship had this to say: ……………our voices must be heard. We need more of our members in the various political parties to assure us of a long lasting relationship In the depth interview majority of the respondents said they will identify with a party that support their interest and makes it a priority. The GNAT representative corroborates the view where he says that his choice of party has been influenced by their ability to share in his organization‟s interest. In fact, over half of the respondents share similar views regarding the question on the motive for party or candidate association. In voter behavior literature Tweneboah-kodua et al (2010) opined that the major political parties are not managed properly as brands. The political parties studied also do not invoke salient mental associations nor intense emotional effects with voters as power brands do with consumers. Therefore, the views of the respondents appear to agree together with those expressed by scholars regarding political brand associations. Answering the same question regarding the motive for party choice physiological and economic needs also emerged as equally important motives among respondents in the study. It was however, noted that the strength of each motive depended on the personal circumstance of the respondents. For example, physiological needs were more important among some respondents who see themselves as people belonging to the low class when it comes to class stratification; the following comments by two respondents with University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 76 different but relevant backgrounds could help illustrate the point better. A respondent said this when she was commenting on her motives for selecting a party or candidate. There is joy in the stomach, then I stay with the source of joy……………. In a sharp contrast, a teacher in the same school commenting on the same question was concerned about party candidate personality, prudent economic policy and stable work environment. Another respondent a civil servant is concerned about competence to manage the affairs of the state on the part of the party and political candidate. Her most pressing needs according to her are food and shelter. The educated respondents have taken a broader view of the situation. Majority of them indicated that their most pressing concerns have to do with stability in the macroeconomic environment and will associate with the political party that promises them this and more. 5.1.2 Fulfillment of Political Party Promises to Electorate Having been able to establish from respondent‟s point of view indications of political party promises to voters, the next but more important task had been to explore the relationship between the fulfilled promise and the voters‟ perspectives on the political party‟s claim as the subject matter. In chapter three, it was argued that just as a political party‟s performance can lead a person towards an object, they can also lead people away from target objects (Hoyer &Madnnis 1997; Blyte 2008; Rauschmayer, 2005). It has also been argued that the influence of performance on building relationship with voters depends on the former‟s intensity and direction. Political party performance in terms of walking the talk directly influences a voter positively, negatively or will have null effects (Murray, 1937; Herzserg 1968; Van Raaj & Wandwossen, 1978; Blythe, 2008). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 77 This section attempted to find out if the relationships identified in literature are consistent with actual voter experiences and opinions. In the in-depth interview respondents answering follow up question how do the indicators you mentioned affect your political inclination intimated that recognition, achievement, socialization and involvement are intrinsic or positive-effects indicators that results in positive effects on their voting patterns and political brand affiliations. A young student in one of the universities confirmed that family and social ties have caused him to accept identity and vote for a party. One of the general secretaries of the party‟s in a reply to a question what are your expectations of the party you want to affiliate with emphatically mentioned the attractiveness of the party. One of the general secretary‟s expectations was underpinned by the desire for recognition, achievement and acquisition. He is implying that his desire for power, recognition and personal achievement are what drive him toward the party he votes for or the candidate he supports. These assertions suggest positive relations between the political party promises and the government‟s ability to fulfill those promises especially when they are in power. A respondent revealed this when he elaborated on the effect of political party promise fulfillment on political brand relationship with the votes. If in doubt about whether there is blood in the body of a parrot, then talk a look at the tail. In human behavior literature it has been widely accepted that political delivery, listening to the electorates, recognition result-oriented and relationship building positive influence on voters (Hinson & Tweneboa-Kodua, 2010; Van Raaij & Wandwossen 1978; Herzberg, 1968; Maslow, 1970). In voter behavior literature Bob-Miller (2012) has indicated people will join parties because of economic benefits, recognition, safety and power. Therefore, views expressed by the respondents agree together with evidence in human behavior and in the areas of University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 78 relationship building. A respondent at mentioned this regarding political brand personality of party candidate. ………….. I will support the one physical appealing fit in my eyes for political voter electoral victory and long standing relationship. 5.1.3 Understanding of Political Brand by Voters Having been able to establish from respondent point of view relevant issues that constitute political brand personality the next task had been to explore the relationship between the meaning of political brand. Smith (2011) posited that the political party identity can lead a voter towards the party. This section attempted to find out if the political brand is constant with actual voter experiences and opinions. Revelations from the in-depth interview confirms that respondent‟s voter‟s identification and differentiation of a political party from one another have positive effects on their voting motivations and candidate‟s choices. In other words the brand moves them towards a party or a candidate in an election. It was also confirmed by respondents that political brand of a party have caused them to accept, identity with and vote for a party. A lecturer in a reply to a question on his expectations from a political brand of the party you voted for emphatically mentioned economic freedom and the desire to share. Expectations are also underpinned by the desire for economic emancipation, social status and safety. It is implying that his desire for power, recognition and personal achievement, economic freedom, social status and others drive people toward the party University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 79 they vote for or the candidate they support. These assertions suggest positive relations between the political brand and the voter‟s expectation from the brand. Regarding brand dominance the general secretary of the NPP expatiating on things that lead people toward a party opined that some groups affiliate with political parties because of their desire to become dominant groups in society. In other words, they see the political party as a brand with perpetual continuity capabilities and hence will associates with it. They regard political brand as the party that is first among equals. A respondent had this to say when he elaborated on the understanding of political brand; NPP always cater for their own, they create and share and so they vote for them. The NDC only knows each other while in opposition In political brand relationship literature, Acker (2000) and Keller (1998) have developed seminal models of political brand equity that have directed subsequent thinking in this area. Both Acker and particularly Keller identify the critical importance of a brand image in creating value for the voter. Applied to politics this value generation takes two forms. The first is the provision of value to politicians in the form of greater loyalty to a party and competitive advantage. This loyalty and advantage should then lead to greater partisanship amongst the electorate when voting. Secondly image also provides value to the customer by enhancing the interpretation of the party brand through processing of information about the party and increasing confidence in the voting decision (Aaker, 1991). With these potential benefits in mind, a more detailed analysis of those factors that most influence the image of political brand clearly positions it for favorable responses from the electorates. In the study, personal interactions, the desire to help the voter, the fulfillment of promises, creation and sharing of wealth and safety issues are of paramount concern to University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 80 the voter which must be considered critically in any efforts aimed at building relationship with the voter. Respondents mentioned these interests as a response to questions on their desires regarding a political brand. For example insecurity, poverty, dependence care and freedom were dominant issues and concerns and appeared among segments and across places where these forces were prevalent. Insecurity was mentioned as a key driver of negative voting among civil servants and trade unionist. A respondent in one of these sectors had this to say when he commented on insecurity: …………..through I want to see holistic development in Ghana, I also prioritize my job safety first before any other considerations when I appear before the ballot box. Another respondent answering a question regarding what would cause him to become dissatisfied with a party mentioned that: If the party engages in controversial issues against public interest…… Safety and positive brand image were recurrent issues among respondents. In fact, all of the respondents in the categories mentioned order and safety. One of the respondents shared the view that party involvement in the welfare of electorates can have positive inclinations to political brand relationship building but show of disinterest could cause dissatisfaction resulting in negative voting response against the party. 5.1.4 The relevance of relationship with parties and voters One of the lecturers in the study commenting on whether relationship with party and voter is relevant or otherwise disclosed that: Like my party, they believe in building relationship with voters. It is the bedrock for organizational survival and substance: University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 81 Commenting on the relevance, a respondent also unveiled that: If the party cannot build lasting political relationship with voters, then they are jokers….. A NUGS member in the University of Ghana expressing his take on the relevance of relationship building by political parties with voters and student leaders in particular mentioned that: If it is not relevant, why would political parties do everything within their power to influence student activities through their leaders? Why would they sponsor students to take up positions on their respective campuses? My brother, it is very relevant to establish relationship with voters since it is the surest antidote for repetitive electoral victories. 5.1.5 Benefits to be derived from relationship with voters. The responses highlighted the relevance of relationship building with voters. Typical among them are avoidance of doubt, better governance when the political party is in power, availability of information, ease of communication and channels of addressing grievances. To them it brings leadership to the doorstep of the electorates and ensure quick response to issues. It also serves as a means of channeling their feedback emphasizing that messages from parties have been received and appropriately decoded. The TUC representative pointed out that: There wouldn’t be any demonstrations if parties have developed close relationship with members of this union simply because they understood the party’s position on matters relevant to their livelihood. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 82 A political system cannot function without political attributes of which positive political brand relationship is worthy to note. The nature of the relationship must also be of concern, especially in an era of keen political competition among parties and candidates. Whether the political brand relationship should be casual, personal, intimate or otherwise must be clearly established. The NDC General Secretary declared that: In this political game of ours, there is no definite political brand relationship building strategy. It depends on the one you are building the relationship with. A combination of all these types with specific application of the desired method is the key……….. A member of GNAT also disclosed that: If it is intimate, the experience is everlasting…………… Majority of respondent were of the opinion that a combination of all is ideal. 5.2 Political Brand Membership as a Leverage for Voter Preference fora Party or Candidate In the opinion of majority of respondents the electorates will reject and avoid parties that fail to establish relationship with them. In other words the tendency of reject and neglect by parties will have negative implication for voter preference against a political party. In political brand relationship literature Bratton et al. (2012) have argued that for collective grievance, groups will vote against political parties they believe are associated with these negative tendencies. Arguably, intrinsic or positive actions on the part of political parties towards building relationship with voters will serve as a pull factor to bring voters close to that particular party. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 83 A UTAG member said: ……..When you involve me, I will understand and appreciate you better. This affirms the position that moving your electorates along and taking them through series of party activities will in a long way help them understand your political brand and develop lasting relationship with them. When asked whether they consider political candidates in deciding which party to vote for, majority of interviewees responded positively saying they vote based on the candidates personality. To them, the following attributes is what they look for in the candidate. i. Humility The ability of the candidate to show how humble he is even in times of unnecessary criticisms to the respondent‟s shows he is someone who can be trusted with power since he won‟t take his followers for granted. Elaborating on what they meant by humility, a respondent noted that: “Humility draws me closer to political leaders; I tend to see them as my parents in whom I trust. Over three quarter of respondents attributed their party choice to the individual characteristics of the political party candidates. An administrative assistant at GNAT Head Office had this to say: I voted for John Kuffour because he is humble and gentle in 2000, I did same for John Attah Mills in 2008 and repeated it for Mahama in 2012. Aside humility, care, patience and respect for others emerged as important attributes expected from political party candidates when building political relationship with voters. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 84 Another respondent commenting on the attributes expected from the candidates had this to say: When you invite someone to dinner in your house with cutlasses in the hand, will the person come? This view is supported by a respondent who also revealed that: When you love me and want to be with me, let your action show not your words. It was however noted that respect for others emerged as a stronger factor of consideration among the elite groups comprising of, GNAT, TUC, UTAG and NUGS. In the interview, patience also emerged as a positive requirement for building political brand relationship with a lecturer from the University of Ghana business school saying: “The patient dog eats the fattest bone” ii. Other considerations The character and personality of the political candidate can influence voting for a particular party (Anebo, 1997; Mensah 2011). A candidate may be voted for based on factors such as likeability, physical attributes, religion and career background (Alsamydai & Al Khasaawneh, 2013). In the in-depth interview, over half of the respondents mentioned the personality and character of the candidate when they further elaborated on things that motivate their party choice. A closer examination of responses revealed that young respondents provided answers such as, I just like the candidate, the candidate has good personality. For example, a young interviewee answering a question on what accounted for his interest in the party/candidate he voted for said bluntly: University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 85 I just like the candidates’ personality. It matters most to me. The civil servant in a related development intimated that a party candidate must be attractive. In the study over half of respondents mentioned candidate personality and characteristics as what influenced their voting decision and relationship choice. In fact, negative candidate personality and characteristics have been noted to have reverse effects. For example that UTAG chairman of one of the universities in the country commenting on why he voted against his preferred party in the 2012 elections has this to say: The party’s choice of presidential candidate, his personality is the only reason why I voted against my own party. The other candidate is more appealing. The same respondents answering a question on whether the party he does not support can influence him to vote for them said yes. When asked to mention what the party can do to influence his choice, he remarked: All I want is a good and presentable candidate. The quotation attributed to the UTAG chairman and corroborated by half of the respondents in the study provided evidence to support the arguments that the candidate personality can attract and also muddy any relationship building effort by the party with voters. The relevance of the candidate in influencing voting behavior has been highlighted by Newman (1995). He notes that by crafting a candidate‟s image through the media emphasizing on certain personality traits, the candidates appeal to the electorates is enhanced. Therefore, the evidence from the interview appears to be consistent with evidence in voter political brand relationship literature. Candidate University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 86 personality and character can drive voter political relationship positively or negatively in electoral markets. 5.2.1 Voter association with political brands In chapter three it was pointed out that the electorate can be satisfied by the desire to be associated with especially the party in power through appointments and government contracts as asserted by Bob-Miller (2012). In the study it was found that personal and societal recognition and achievements are strong drivers of voter political brand relationship. Majority of respondents providing more information on their interest and desires towards a political party indicated that they associated with and support parties that showed respect and recognize them on their individual interest areas. A respondent mentioned that: They have recognized our role in promoting them towards political power hence have appointed one of us to the position of minister of state. Over half of the respondents believe that when a party demonstrates or shows respect and interest in a group there will invariably be reciprocal effects. In other words, voters were inspired to associated and identify with parties that did things to project/dignify them or their communities. An interesting observation that was made was that, the politically active wanted power and access to resources at the disposal of the state. 5.2.2 Possibility of political brands associating with voters Related to the above argument has been the issue of associating political brands with voters in a relationship. In chapter three, it was argued that relationship can be developed University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 87 with voters politically through analysis of their voting pattern and their motivation to vote vis-à-vis their expectation. In the in-depth interview, political relationship building with the voter became the center of attraction and the basis for a consistent and sustained electoral victory. This was noted from interviewee‟s responses to a follow up question; would you support a party that hasn‟t established relationship with you? One of the general secretaries commenting on his party‟s contribution to the situation revealed that the party became his family and prioritizes it in high esteem when it comes to issues. This view was corroborated by the lecturer at the University of Ghana who also revealed that the party adopted him as a child and made him who he is today. This was what he has to say: If it wasn’t the party that adopted me, where would I have been today? Another respondent had this to say: Relationship does it all; it fulfills all utilitarian needs of the individual. According to the TUC staff, he continues to accept and identity with the party because it has offered him the opportunity to feel loved after all seems to be lost. 5.2.3 Becoming a lifetime voter for a party by political brand relationship In chapter three, some factors were identified as bellwethers. They distort a political party‟s efforts to build relationship with voters thereby vitiating any political relationship moves by the political party or candidate. The consequences are that the voter is driven or pushed away from the party (Harron and Mokhtar, 2010, Hartley, 1995). These vitiating factors result from political mistakes of commission and omission. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 88 i. Inability to fulfill political promises Parties that fail to fulfill their platform promises will face dire consequences (Newman, 1995). In the depth interview, all of the respondents answering the question what will cause you to become dissatisfied or refuse any relationship with a political party mentioned unfulfilled platform promises. For example, an interviewee who is a student in the university registered his frustration when he said: The MP promised to pay my school fees if he wins the elections. I mobilized my friends and we supported him to win. When I got the admission, he asked me to go and work to pay my fees. How can I have a relationship with such a person who can’t be trusted? Another respondent had this to say regarding why he voted against the party he belongs to: Am I a fool to establish a relationship with a political party that is made up of greedy individuals? In the depth interview majority of the respondents opine that leaders who fail to fulfill promises are really the agents of despair, leading voters away from their party. As one interviewee had aptly put it: ……… it is a slap in the face. In traditional marketing, trust is noted to play very important role in promoting consumer loyalty (Morgan & Hunt, 1994). In political brand relationship literature, Alsamydai & Al Khasaawneh (2013) posited that candidate and party credibility and trustworthiness are factors that promote good political brand relationship with voters. Therefore the responses by respondents are consistent with evidence in literature. A voter will be University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 89 inspired to enter into a political relationship with political party if that party proves to be credible and trustworthy. Relating to platform promises, over half of the respondents in the study said they are comfortable with the party based on convincing platform promises and messages. Paradoxically an equal number of respondents said they reject any form of relationship with parties because of some platform promises. An aggrieved respondent had this to say: We developed a political brand relationship with the minister towards the 2012 election but don’t want to have anything to do with him because, he failed to fulfill any of the promises he made to us workers. Arguably, the promises that made the minister looks as if he is hardworking were the same that took him out of ministerial position. To the respondents, becoming a lifetime voter for a party out of political brand relationship is possible; it all depends on the orientation of the political party. The respondent concluded that trust and credibility are important tools in building political brand relationship. ii. Past political party relationship building with voters. In the in-depth interview, over half of the respondents can‟t remember any relationship building with voters in the past. To them, this inaction has driven them away from their respective parties. Commenting on what will cause him not to have anything to do with parties if they come to build political brand relationship with them; a respondent had this to say: ……………….Will they even come? University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 90 Another respondent, a GNAT member had this to say regarding attempt to build political brand relationship with them voter: They only know the relevance of the word when election is near, after that, you hear of them no more. 5.2.4 Relationship model as a conduit for building political brand relationship with voters In the in-depth interview respondents seem not to be conversant with the model but understand and commented on the individual variable within the model. Passion self-concept, personal commitment, behavioral interdependence, and intimacy, partner quality as identified in literature. 5.3 Advise given to political parties regarding relationship building with the voters. In the in-depth interview, the following advises were given to political parties in their quest to build political brand relationship with voters. i. The need to respect and accord voters the recognition that they deserve. This appears to be significant factor in voter-political brand relationship building. It is a dominant factor which emerged as an all-encompassing object of passion so dear to their heart. This is because in the opinion of the researcher, little has been done to accord the electorate the place they deserve in the agendum of political parties. A respondent had this to say: Every human being is created by God for unique purpose, not as object of convenience and deception by politicians, the faster they change, the better……… University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 91 One of the lecturers in the study believes political brand relationships are very important in a democracy. It can be destructive if it is taken away. Gyimah-Boadi (2011) has emphasized the re-democratization and decentralization process through establishing closer ties with voters in Ghana. ii. Being truthful Political parties and candidates owe the electorates the duty of care and for that matter, walk the talk. The view is supported by both general secretaries of the NDC and NPP and shared by many other respondents. For example a respondent had this to say when asked to share his view on the issue. Parties have the mandate to tell us the truth. If they want us to be with them and follow them all the time, then they must first win our trust through their actions. Several other respondents also made similar comment regarding what in their view can actually have relationship building characteristics. The proponents of “uniqueness” further argued that when political parties/governments do things that are part for their platform messages, people are motivated to trust and follow them. The argument is consistent with the views widely expressed in political relationship building literature that core or expected products benefits (necessary products attributes) do not win voter confidence (Van Raaj & Wandwossen, 1978). It is only the augmented or unexpected necessary. Evidence in voter political relationship literature and the outcomes of the analysis of the in-depth interview confirmed 10 human desires as relevant voter requirements for a University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 92 successful political brand relationship building. These desires developed in the study have been categorized based on evidence from existing literature and outcomes from the analysis of primary data. The categories include positive-effect, negative effect and natural-effects needs. Based on the analysis and available literature, three categories of desire dimensions towards political brand relationship have been developed. They are positive desires (constant dimensions) negative desires (drifting dimensions) and neutral desires (inaction dimension). It has been pointed out that these desires influence political parties‟ efforts in building political brand relationship with voters. In the study, the evidence suggests parallel relationship between the desires and the relationship building efforts. For example, it has shown that positive-desires influence positive dimensions of relationship building with the voter. The same holds true for negative and neutral desires. The positive desires will induce positive political relationship with voters whiles the negative desires will induce negative relationship behavior full of despair. The neutral desires will not induce any relationship behavior changes but when absent can cause relationship behavior to become negative. 5.4 Conclusion The chapter focused on analyzing data obtained from the in-depth interview. The approach had been to consider and attempt to address the three research questions in the study. First, focusing on the data from the in-depth interview, the study identified both desires and relationship dimensions in the electoral markets of Ghana. In order to verify the data from ordinary respondents, five experts from the field of politics and related disciplines were included in the list of interviewees. In general, responses from the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 93 experts agreed together with those of the ordinary voters on most of the issues. There were a few differences that in part, could be attributed to differences in backgrounds. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 94 CHAPTER SIX SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS 6.1 Summary In chapter one it has been argued that political brand relationship is relevant to voter behavior. It has also been pointed out that political brand personality and trust are central to voter political brand relationship building in electoral markets just as they are to consumers in commercial markets. Consistent with this line of argument, the study sought to examine voter desires from a political brand relationship perspective. Specifically, the work attempted to answer three key questions. First, are there reason(s) for which voters associate with a particular political party? Second, is there possibility of leveraging voter preference with political brand relationship? And third, can the relational model be used in building political brand relationship? To answer these questions respondents from four national unions and representatives of the two major political parties in Ghana were selected for the study. The study used the qualitative research approach because political brand relationship building with voters is theoretical constructs that do not lend themselves to easy quantitative manipulation. Voter behavioral studies have been aptly associated with qualitative research (Malhotra & Dash, 2011). To obtain data from the relevant population the study employed an in-depth interview. Using the maximum variation strategy of the purposive sampling technique the study selected and interviewed 10respondents with varying backgrounds across the unions selected and the political parties in the national capital city of Ghana. The participants comprised Academics, trade unions, student unions, and the general secretaries of NPP and NDC. The thematic technique for qualitative analysis was used to analyse the data. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 95 6.2 Major Findings The study found that building political brand relationship with voters is an essential requirement and therefore drive the electorate toward a party or a candidate. This confirms the popular view in literature that relationship building has positive impact on voter attraction. The study also found that Based on the analysis and available literature, three categories of desire dimensions towards political brand relationship have been developed. They include positive desires (constant dimensions), negative desires (drifting dimensions), and neutral desires (inaction dimension). It has been pointed out that these desires influence political parties‟ efforts in building political brand relationship with voters. This has also been confirmed by evidence in literature that inability to manage these voter desires can cause dissatisfaction and therefore, have negative effects on a political party‟s effort to build relationship with voters. This research has however made an important finding that, contrary to the Fournier‟s view; relationship outcomes are unidirectional. It was observed in this study that the absence of some variables in the model could negatively affect the relationship quality which will in turn affect the outcome. In other words these variables if missing will not inspire voters to make choices favourable to political party are which will cause voter dissatisfaction resulting in negative voting behaviour. 6.3 Conclusions Brand relationship as a field of knowledge has their roots in industrial psychology. The extension of brand relationship theories to consumer behaviour is creating unending debate and controversy among behavioural scholars. The extension of these theories to University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 96 voter behaviour would deepen the debate. Despite the disagreement, most scholars think that the extension will deepen party understanding of the electorate and result in better party-voter relationships. This study primarily sought to determine how political brand relationship influences voter choice so that the electorate votes for or against a party in an election. The qualitative research approach used in the study proved very effective in measuring brand relationship outcomes. The study confirmed that Passion, self-concept, personal commitment, behavioral interdependence, intimacy and partner quality are important variables that influence voter behaviour. The study found that financial and material incentives, socio-cultural ties, party tradition, party candidate personality, party manifesto (platform promises), care and recognition and voter personal interest are determinants of positive voter inspiration in the study area. These factors evoke positive feelings and satisfy voter growth or positive effect- needs. Therefore, when they exist, they drive the voter toward the political party or the candidate. The study also found that discrimination, failure to fulfill campaign promises, voter neglect, and the desire for change; weak party position and corruption are determinants of disassociation from political parties by the voter. They evoke negative feelings and avoidance or negative effects-desires resulting in voter dissatisfaction. Therefore, when they exist, they drive the voter away from a political party or the candidate. It was further revealed that, Political parties and candidates owe the electorates the duty of care and for that matter, walk the talk. They need to respect and accord voters the recognition that they deserve. This appears to be a significant factor in voter-political brand relationship building. It is a dominant factor which emerged as an all- University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 97 encompassing object of passion so dear to their heart. This is because in the opinion of the researcher, little has been done to accord the electorate the place they deserve in the agendum of political parties. The view is supported by both General Secretaries of the NDC and NPP and shared by many other respondents. Their absence however, creates serious state of deprivation and discomfort and consequently pushes the voter away from the party or a candidate. The study found in particular, that platform promises and candidate personality are both determinants of voter inclination to their political party of preference. 6.4 Contribution to Knowledge This study has made a number of contributions to the field of political marketing and voter political brand relationship building. First, the bulk of the literature on voter relationship relate to voters in developed democracies such as the US and the UK. The literature on voter relationship in Ghana has focused on voting pattern and mass rallies in Ghanaian elections (Anebo, 1997; Takyi et al., 2010; Osei, 2012). The only work that has focused on politics in Ghana broadly investigated ideology, regionalism, self-interest and election patterns in Ghanaian politics. That work however, was not empirical. This study explores the aspirations of voters in Ghana from a purely consumer brand relationship perspectives. Prior to this work studies have explored voter-political relationship in Ghana from a political science perspective. The current work seeks to explore the view that voters in Ghana like other voters in other democracies behave much the same way as consumers in commercial markets. Therefore, the electorate in Ghana must be viewed by political parties as consumers of political products. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 98 Another level where the work makes contribution is that it attempts to extend and apply brand relationship models to voter response behaviour. In traditional voter relationship literature, relationship models have not been used to analyse and understand voter response. According to the marketing concept (Lee-Marshment, 2003; Newman, 1999), voters have needs and interest that must be identified and properly satisfied if parties want to build relationship with them as enshrined in relationship marketing literature in order to make them act positively. This forms the bases for attempting to extend brand and relationship models to voter response. In line with this view, the work identifies a direct relationship between political brand and voter requirements of that brand. Voter need satisfaction results in positive voter aspiration and thus votes and maintains lasting political brand relationship with the party before, during and after an election. Another contribution is that the study explores the direction and dimension of voter political brand relationship building. Integrating a number of relationship-need variables, the study develops a political brand personality model. Another contribution is the attempt to expand on the debate regarding whether political brand positive image alone is adequate to guarantee electoral victory without meticulous relationship program with the electorates in political marketing. It was realized that the absence of political brand relationship creates voter dissatisfaction resulting in negative voting patterns but its presence is taken for granted by almost all political parties in Ghana and therefore does not excites the electorate. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 99 6.5 Further Contributions Voter aspirations and needs in Ghana are dynamic and constantly changing. In order to track/monitor the changes in aspirations and needs, political parties must undertake regular marketing research with a view to obtaining current information regarding what voters want. Their needs and expectations should guide the manifesto as well as the party policy and program development process. Different voters have different needs, desires and aspirations in Ghana. The differences could be used as the bases for segmenting the political markets. Politicians must segment, target and position their parties/candidates properly in the political markets. The urgent call for electoral marketing segmentation and targeting is due to the fact that voters like consumers are similar; and are different. The wide variety of needs and interest highlighted in this work means that voter segments can be created so that different political marketing programs are developed for each segment based on their needs and other unique characteristics to set the stage for a lasting political relationship. Arguably, mass rallies are gradually becoming irrelevant in electoral markets. In the study, failed promises emerged as a poor inspiration to attract voters to a party. Mere rhetoric and lies could create mistrust and voter disquiet. It is recommended that politicians avoid making promises they cannot fulfill. The study noted that politicians use short term inducements and money (a transaction- based approach) to influence voter behaviour in most of the unions and groups in Ghana. Parties visit and know their relevance during elections only. This transactional approach must give way to a relationship-based approach. The latter approach will provide a platform for regular exchanges between voters and parties. This is the only way parties can build and sustain voter loyalty. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 100 The study noted that the way voters identify and differentiate a political party from one another has positive effects on their voting motivations and candidate choices. In other words the brand moves them towards a party or a candidate in an election. They will pardon party mistakes, analyse party performance more subjectively (Bartle & Griffiths, 2002) and defend party policies at all times. The political parties are advice to develop a unique identity of pride and prestige in order to make voters continue to remain loyal to the party. 6.5.1 Future Research Direction Regarding future research direction the study recommends that a quantitative approach that uses more rigorous statistical approach would produce more conclusive work that can allow researchers to generalise for voter-political party brand relationship building in Ghana. Also, research attention could be directed at looking at voter relationship dynamics in Ghana. Such a study could produce findings that will deepen researcher's understanding of the Ghanaian voter political brand relationships. 6.6 Limitations of the Study The study has not been without limitations. The limitations will be discussed from two levels namely conceptual and methodological. From the conceptual point of view two important dimensions will be considered. Political marketing is a marriage between marketing on one hand and political science on the other hand. Like all forms of unions between disciplines there are bound to be conceptual differences/ disagreements. The argument that the principles underpinning consumer relationship can be extended to political marketing is not entirely correct. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 101 Some major differences have emerged in literature. Therefore, the application of consumer relationship principles to electoral market must be done with caution. Another conceptual limitation is that brand relationship models were traditionally developed for workplace and employee productivity. The extension of these models to voter aspirations has not been without challenges. For example workplace aspirations look at employee satisfaction and productivity but voter aspirations looks at satisfaction and vote choices. A voter can decide not to take part in election but a worker cannot decide not to go to work. These examples illustrate the challenges associated with extending relationship principles beyond consumer markets to voter markets. From a methodological stand point the first limitation of the study has been one relating to sampling issues. A total of 10 respondents were chosen from six unions in Ghana. Given the size and the diversity of these unions, the sample could not be adequate. To deal with this problem the study used the maximum diversity strategy relating to purposing sampling. This made it possible to select information-rich respondents from different backgrounds. Despite this effort it is important to acknowledge the fact that it will not be possible to generalize for the country Ghana using this study. Notwithstanding this assertion it is still believed that the work has been insightful and lays foundation for more confirmatory future study. Another methodological challenge had to do with the data collection process. People were unwilling to frankly disclose their political interest. Another issue is that some people were not even aware of their true political affinity. To overcome this limitation the study did not ask respondents questions that require them to disclose their party identity. Also, the open ended questions allowed for more detailed probing. This approach proved very useful. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 102 REFERENCES Aaker, J. L. (1997). Dimensions of brand personality .Journal of Marketing Research, 347-356. Aaker, J., Fournier, S., & Brasel, S. A. (2004). When good brands do bad. Journal of Consumer Research, 31(1), 1-16. Aggarwal, P. (2004). The effects of brand relationship norms on consumer attitudes and behavior. Journal of Consumer Research, 31(1), 87-101. Agres, S. J., & Dubitsky, T. M. (1996). Changing needs for brands. Journal of Advertising Research, 21-30. Ahmed, P. K., & Zairi, M. (1999). Bench marketing for brand innovation European. Journal of Innovation Management, 2(1) 36-48. Alsamydai, M. J., & Al Khasawneh, M. H. (2013). Basic criteria for success of electoral candidates and their influence on voter‟s selection decision. Advances in Management and Applied Economics, 3(3), 105-127. Anebo, F. K. (1997). Voting Pattern and Electoral Alliances in Ghana‟s 1996 Elections. African Journal of Political Science/Revue Africaine de Science Politique, 38-52. Anebo, F. K. (1997). Voting Pattern and Electoral Alliances in Ghana‟s 1996 Elections African Association of Political Science, 2(2), 38-52. Arndt, J. (1983). The political economy paradigm: foundation for theory building in marketing. The Journal of Marketing, 44-54. Attride-Sterling, J. (2001). Thematic networks: an analytic tool for qualitative research Qualitative Research,1(3), 385-405. Ayee, J. R. (1997). Ghana‟s 1996 general Elections: A post-mortem (Vol. 1). African Association of Political Science. Ayee, J. R. A. (2000). Decentralization and good governance in Ghana. Unpublished paper of May. Bagozzi, R. P. (1995). Reflections on relationship marketing in consumer markets. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 23(4), 272-277. Bannon, A. (2003). Journey to a Woman.Journal of Consumer Research, 31(1), 87-101. Bartle, J. & Griffiths. (2002). Social Psychological, economic and marketing models of voting behavior compared: the Idea of Political Marketing. USA: Praeger Publishers. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 103 Batra, R., Lehmann, D. R., & Singh, D. (1993). The brand personality component of brand goodwill: some antecedents and consequences. Brand equity and advertising, 83-96. Beckett, A. E. (2006). Citizenship and vulnerability: disability and issues of social and political engagement. Palgrave Macmillan. Blackston, M. (1992). Observations: building brand equity by managing the brand‟s relationships. Journal of Advertising Research, 32(3), 79-83. Blondel, J. (1974). Contemporary France: Politics, society, and institutions. University Paperpacks, 549. Blumler, M. A. (1996). Ecology, evolutionary theory and agricultural origins. The origins and spread of agriculture and pastoralism in Eurasia, 25-50. Blythe, J. (2008). Consumer behavior (1sted.). London: Thomas Press. Bob-Milliar, G. M. (2012). Political party activism in Ghana: Factors influencing the decision of politically active to join a political party. Democratization, 19(4), 668- 689. Bolton, R. N., Lemon, K. N., & Verhoef, P. C. (2004). The theoretical underpinnings of brand tribalism. Journal of Business Research, 62(3), 314-322. Boyatzis, R. E. (1998). Transforming qualitative information: Thematic analysis and code development. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Bratton, M., Bhavnani, R., & Chen, T. (2012). Voting intentions in Africa: Ethnic, economic, or partisan? Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, 50(1), 27-52. Braun, B., & Carke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101. Breivik, E., & Thorbjørnsen, H. (2008). Consumer brand relationships: an investigation of two alternative models. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 36(4), 443-472. Britten, N. (1995). Qualitative interviews in medical research. BMJ, 311: 251-3. Bryan Hayes, J., Alford, B. L., Silver, L., & York, R. P. (2006). Looks matter in developing consumer-brand relationships. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 15(5), 306-315. Collins, A. M., & Loftus, E. F. (1975). A spreading-activation theory of semantic processing. Psychological Review, 82(6), 407. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 104 Cova, B., & Cova, V. (2002). Tribal marketing: The tribalisation of society and its impact on the conduct of marketing. European Journal of Marketing, 36(5/6), 595-620. Creswell, J. W. (2009). Editorial: Mapping the field of mixed methods research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 5-33. Curran, J., Iyengar, S., Lund, A. B., & Salovaara-Moring, I. (2009). Media System, Public Knowledge and Democracy: A Comparative Study. European Journal of Communication, 24(1), 5-26. Data, P. (2004). Push-pull factors of undocumented migration from Bangladesh to West Bengal: A perception study. The Qualitative Report, 9(2), 335-358. Day, G. S. (1994). The capabilities of market-driven organizations. The Journal of Marketing, 37-52. deChernatony & Dall‟Olmo Riley, F. (1997). Branding in the service sector. FT Mastering Management, 18-22. De Groot, A. M. (1989). Representational aspects of word image abilityand word frequency as assessed throu5gh word association. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 15(5), 824. Downs, A. (1957). An economic theory of democracy, New York: Harper. Duncan, T., & Moriarty, S. E. (1998). A communication-based marketing model for managing relationships. The Journal of Marketing, 1-13. Durgee, J. F. (1988). Interpreting consumer mythology: a literary criticism approach to Odyssey informant stories. Advances in Consumer Research, 15(1), 531-536. Dyson, P., Farr, A., & Hollis, N. S. (1996). Understanding, measuring, and using brand equity. Journal of Advertising Research, 36(6), 9-21. Eagar, T. (2009). Defining the Brand Hero: Explorations of the Impact of Brand Hero Credibility on a Brand Community. Association for Consumer Research, 488-493. Electoral Commission of Ghana (2012). Election results: 2012 results. (Retrieved fromwww.ec.gov.gh). Escalas, J. E., & Bettman, J. R. (2005). Self‐construal, reference groups, and brand meaning. European Journal of Marketing, 44(3/4), 460-477. Fournier, S. (1998). Consumers and their brands: Developing relationship theory in consumer research. Journal of Consumer Research, 24(4), 343-353. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 105 Franzen, G. (1999). Brands & advertising: How advertising effectiveness influences brand equity. French, A., & Smith, G. (2010). Measuring political brand equity: a consumer oriented approach. European Journal of Marketing, 44(3/4), 460-477. Gadzekpo, A. (2009). Missing links: African media studies and feminist concerns. Journal of African media studies, 1(1), 69-80. Gilligan, C., & Wilson, R. M. S. (2003). Strategic Marketing Planning. Goh, S. C. (2002). Managing effective knowledge transfer: an integrative framework and some practice implications. Journal of Knowledge Management, 6(1), 23-30. Gyampo, R. E., & Obeng-Odoom, F. (2009). Youth Participation in Local and National Development in Ghana. The Journal of Pan AfricanStudies, 5(9), 129-150;134- 135. Gyimah-Boadi, E. (2001). A peaceful turnover in Ghana. Journal of Democracy, 12(2), 103-117. Haron, M. S., & Mokhtar, K. S. (2010). Political marketing mistakes: lessons drawn from the Malaysian political competition. Malaysia;UniversitySains. Harris, P., & Lock, A. (2001). Establishing the Charles Kennedy brand: a strategy for an election the result of which is a foregone conclusion. Journal of Marketing Management, 17(9-10), 943-956. Hayes, S. C., Luoma, J. B., Bond, F. W., Masuda, A., & Lillis, J. (2006). Acceptance and commitment therapy: Model, processes and outcomes. Behaviour Research andTherapy,44(1), 1-25. Henneberg, M., & Thorne, A. (2004). Flores human may be pathological Homo sapiens. Before Farming, (4), 2-4. Hess, J., & Story, J. (2005). Trust-based commitment: multidimensional consumer- brand. Journal of Consumer Research, 34(2), 248-259. Hinson, R. & E. Y. Tweneboah-Koduah. (2010). Political Marketing Strategies in Africa: Expert Opinions of Recent Political Elections in Ghana. Journal of African Business, 11(2), 201-218. Hinson, R. E. (2012). Service marketing excellence: With a twist of corporate social responsibility, Ghana Sedco Publishing. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 106 Huber, F., Vollhardt, K., Matthes, I., & Vogel, J. (2010). Brand misconduct: Consequences hydroxytryptamine (serotonin) in storage pool disease and albinism. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 54(2), 421. Hussey, J., & Hussey, R. (1997). Business research: A practical guide for undergraduate and post graduate students. New York:Palgrave, Macmillan. Hutt, M. D., & Speh, T. W. (1998). Business marketing education: A distinctive role in the undergraduate curriculum.Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing, 5(1-2), 103-126. ICCV (2005). Tenth IEEE International Conference on IEEE. 1417-1423. Jick, D. T. (1979). Mixing qualitative and quantitative methods: Triangulation in action. Administrative Science Quarterly, 24(4), 602-611. Kaltcheva, V., & Weitz, B. (1999). The effects of brand-consumer relationships upon consumers‟ attributions and reactions. Advances in Consumer Research, 455-462. Kapferer, J. (1992). Strategic Brand Management: New Approaches to Creating and Evaluating Brand Equity. Kogan Page, London. Kapferer, B. (2004). Ritual dynamics and virtual practice: Beyond representation and meaning.Social Analysis, 35-54. Kates, S. M. (2000). Out of the closet and out on the street: Gay men and their brand relationships. Psychology & Marketing, 17(6), 493-513. Kavanagh, D. (1995). Election campaigning: The new marketing of politics. Blackwell. Keller, K. L. (1993). Conceptualizing, measuring, and managing customer-based brand equity. The Journal of Marketing, 1-22. Keller, K. L. (2002). Branding and brand equity.Handbook of marketing, 151-178. Kelley, H. H., & Thibaut, J. W. (1978). Interpersonal relations: A theory of interdependence . New York: Wiley. Kim, H. S. (2005). Consumer profiles of apparel product involvement and values. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 9(2), 207-220. Klein, J. G., & Ahluwalia, R. (2005).Negativity in the evaluation of political candidates. Journal of Marketing, 69(1), 131-142. Knapp, D. E. (2000). The Brand Mindset. Management, 17(9-10), 943-956. Kothari, C. R. (2004). Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques (3rd ed.). Delhi: New Age International. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 107 Kotler, P. (1999). Princípios de Marketing (12th ed.).São Paulo: Pearson Prentice Hall. Kotler, P. (2003). Marketing Management (11thed.). New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Kotler, P. Keller. (2006). Marketing management. Larvie, J., & Badu, A. (1996). Elections in Ghana 1996, Part 1. Electoral Commission of Ghana. Lees-Marshment, J. (2001). The product, sales and market-oriented party: How Labour learnt to market the product, not Just the presentation. European Journal of Marketing, 35(9/10), 1074-1084. Lees-Marshment, J. (2005). Political Marketing: How to reach that pot of gold. Journal of Political Marketing, 2(1), 1-32. Levy, S. J. (1959). Symbols for sale. Harvard Business Review, 34(94), 117-24. Levy, F. (1969). Spontaneous magneto elastic effects in some rare earth compounds. Physik der kondensitertenmaterie, 10(1), 85. Lilleker, D. G., & Lees-Marshment, J. (2005). Conclusion: towards a comparative model of party marketing. Lilleker, D. & Negrine, R. (2003). Not Big Brand Names But Corner Shops: Marketing Politics to a Disengaged Electorate. Journal of Political Marketing, 2(1), 55–74. Lock, A., & Harris, P. (1996). Political marketing-vive la difference. European Journal of marketing, 30(10/11), 14-24. Mahajan, V., & Wind, Y. (2002). Got emotional product positioning? There‟s more to positioning than just features and benefits. Marketing Management, 11(3), 36-41. Malhotra, N. K. & Dash, S. (2001). Marketing Research: An applied orientation, (6th ed.). USA: Prentice Hall. Mason, J. (1996). Qualitative Researching. Thousand Oaks, USA: Sage Publications. McCracken, G. (1989). Who is the celebrity endorser? Cultural foundations of the endorsement process. Journal of Consumer Research, 310-321. Mensah, K. (2009). Segmentation and brand development: an African perspectivein Political Marketing: Principles and Applications. Oxon and New York: Routledge. Mensah, K. (2011). Political brand management: Forms and strategies in modern party politics, University of Sheffield. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 108 Merriam, S. B. (1988). Case study research in education: A qualitative approach. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Mills, G., & Handley, A. (2001). Ghana after Rawlings. South African Institute of Monga, A. B. (2002). Brand as a relationship partner: gender differences in perspectives. New York Academy of Sciences, 237(1), 129-136. Monga, A. B. (2002). Brand as a relationship partner: gender differences in perspectives. Advances in Consumer Research, 29(1), 36-41. Morgan, R. M., & Hunt, S. D. (1994). The commitment-trust theory of relationship marketing. The Journal of Marketing, 58, 20 – 38. Mori, G. (2005). Guiding model search using segmentation. Tenth IEEE International Conference on IEEE, 2, 1417-1423. Muniz Jr, A. M., & O‟guinn, T. C. (2001). Brand community. Facts which support the concept of need or drive. The Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary and Applied, 3(1), 27 – 42. Needham, B. (2006). Planning, law and economics: the rules we make for using land. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. Needham, C. (2005). Brand leaders: Clinton, Blair and the limitations of the permanent campaign. Political Studies, 53(2), 343-361. Negrine, R. M., & Stanyer, J. (2007).The political communication reader. Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. Nelson, D. G. K. (1984). The effect of intention on what concepts are acquired. Journal of verbal learning and verbal behavior, 23(6), 734-759. Neuendorf, K. A. (2002). The Content Analysis Guidebook (Vol. 300).Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Newman, P. (1999). On the structure and solution of the simultaneous localisation and map building problem. Doctoral dissertation, University of Sydney. Ninsin, K. A. (2006). Introduction: the contradictions and ironies of elections in Africa. Africa Development, 31(3), 1-10. Nugent, N. (2001). The European Commission. Palgrave. Nyadzayo, M. W., Matanda, M. J., & Ewing, M. T. (2011). Brand relationships and brand of the Academy of Marketing Science, 32(3), 271-292. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 109 O‟Cass, A. (1996). Political Marketing and the Marketing Concept. European Journal of Marketing, 30(10/11), 45-61. O‟Cass, A., & Pecotich, A. (2005).The dynamics of voter behavior and influence processes. European Journal of Marketing, 4-10. Ohanian, R. (1991). The impact of celebrity spokespersons‟ perceived image on consumers' intention to purchase.Journal of Advertising Research. Olson, C. M. (1999). Nutrition and health outcomes associated with food insecurity and hunger. The Journal of Nutrition, 129(2), 521-524. Osei, A. (2012). Political Parties in Ghana: Agents of Democracy? Journal of Contemporary African Studies, 31(4), 543 -563. O‟Shaughnessy, J. A. (2003). Pegylated liposomal doxorubicin in the treatment of breast cancer. Clinical Breast Cancer, 4(5), 318-328. Park, L. (2013). Opening the black box: Reconsidering needs theories through psychoanalysis and critical theory. Journal of Consumer Research, 84-91. Patterson, M., & O‟Malley, L. (2006). Brands, consumers and relationships: A review. Irish Marketing Review, 18(1/2), 10. Patton, M. Q. (1990). Qualitative evaluation and research methods (2nd ed.). London: Sage. Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, London: Sage Publications. Peterson, J. (1995). Decision‐making in the European Union: towards a framework for economic development. Petty, R. E., Cacioppo, J. T., & Schumann, D. (1983). Central and peripheral routes to advertising effectiveness: The moderating role of involvement. Journal of Consumer Research, 135-146. Pine, B. J., & Gilmore, J. H. (2011). The experience economy. Harvard Business Press. Plasser, F., & Plasser, G. (2002).Global political campaigning: a worldwide analysis ofpoliticsto a disengaged electorate. Journal of Political Marketing, 2(1), 55-75. Plummer, J. T. (2000). How personality makes a difference? Journal of Advertising Research, 40(6), 79-83. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 110 Pope, C., & Mays, N. (1995). Reaching the parts other methods cannot reach: an introduction to qualitative methods in health and health services research. British Medical Journal, 311(6996), 42. Popkin, W. D. (1976). Effect of Representation in Non-adversary Proceedings-A Study of postgraduate students. Houndsmills: Macmillan research, 4(2), 161-178. Rusbult, C. E. (1980). Commitment and satisfaction in romantic associations: A test of the investment model. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 16(2), 172- 186. Saunders, M., Lewis, P. & Thornhill, A. (2009). Research methods for business students (5th Edition), Edinburgh Gate, England: Pearson Education Scammell, M. (1999). Political marketing: Lessons for political science. Political studies. Scammell, M., & Harrop, M. (1997). The press. The British Election of 1997, 156-85. Schafferer, C. (2003). The power of the ballot box: political development and election campaigning in Taiwan. Lanham, Md.: Lexington Books. Schiffman, L. T., & Kanuk, L. L. (2009). Consumer behavior (9th ed.). Pearson International. Schmitt, B. (1999). Experiential marketing. Journal of Marketing Management, 15(1- 3),53. Schneider, L. C. (2004). Bracken fern invasion in southern yucatán: a case for land‐change science. Geographical Review, 94(2), 229-241. Schweiger, G., &Adami, M. (1999).The nonverbal image of politicians and political parties.Handbook of Political Marketing, 347-364. Seetharaman, A. Nadzir, Z. A. V. M., & Gunalan, S. (2001). A conceptual study on brand évaluation. Journal of Product and Brand Management, 10 (4), 243-256. Shimp, T. A., & Sharma, S. (1987). Consumer ethnocentrism: construction and validation of the CETSCALE. Journal of Marketing Research, 280-289. Sirgy, M. J. (1982). Self-concept in consumer behavior: A critical review. Journal of Consumer Research, 287-300. Skarżyńska, K. (2004). Politicians in Television: The Big Five in Impression Formation. Journal of Political Marketing, 3(2), 31-45. Smith, G., & Alan F. (2009). The Political Brand: A Consumer Perspective. Marketing Theory, 9(2), 209-26. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 111 Smith, N. (2008). Uneven development: Nature, capital, and the production of space.Georgia Press. Smith, S. M. (2002). Fast robust automated brain extraction. Human brain mapping, 17(3). Smothers, N. (1993). Can products and brands have charisma? Brand Equity and Advertising: Advertising‟s role in building strong brands. Street, R. L. J. (2001). Active patients as powerful communicators. The new handbook of language and social psychology, 541-560. Swaminathan, V., Page, K. L., & Gürhan‐Canli, Z. (2007). “My” Brand or “Our” Brand: The Effects of Brand Relationship Dimensions and Self‐Construal on Brand Evaluations. Sweeney, J. C., & Chew, M. (2002). Understanding consumer-service brand relationships: A case study approach. Australasian Marketing Journal (AMJ), 10(2), 26-43. Takyi, B. K., Opoku-Agyeman, C., & Kutin-Mensah, A. (2010).Religion and the public sphere: Religious involvement and voting patterns in Ghana‟s 2004 elections. Africa Today, 56(4), 62-86. Teddlie, C., & Tashakkori, A. (2009). Foundations of mixed methods research: Integrating quantitative and qualitative approaches in the social and behavioral sciences. (eds.). Sage Publications Inc. Temple, B., & Young, A. (2004). Qualitative research and translation dilemmas. Qualitative the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Ghana. Thomas, D. R. (2006). A general inductive approach for analyzing qualitative evaluation data. American Journal of Evaluation, 27(2), 237-246. Tweneboah-Koduah, E. Y., Akotia, M., Akotia, C. S. & Hinson, R. (2009). Political party brand and consumer choice in Ghana. Journal of Management Policy and Practice, 11(5). Valta, K. S. (2013). Do relational norms matter in consumer-brand relationships? Journal of Business Research, 66(1), 98-104. Van Raaji, W.F., & Wandwossen, K. (1978). Motivation-need theories and consumer behavior. Advances in Consumer Research (5th Edition). Kent Hunt, Ann Abor, MI: Association for Consumer Research, 590 – 595. Veloutsou, C., & Moutinho, L. (2009). Brand relationships through brand reputation and brand tribalism. Journal of Business Research, 62(3), 314-322. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 112 Weiss, H. J., Tschopp, T. B., Rogers, J., & Brand, H. (1974). Studies of platelet 5hydroxytryptamine (serotonin) in storage pool disease and albinism. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 54(2), 421. Westbrook, R. A., & Oliver, R. L. (1991). The dimensionality of consumption emotion patterns and consumer satisfaction. Journal of Political Marketing, 1(2-3), 45-52. Wilson, R. M. S., & Fook, N. Y. M. (1990). Improving marketing orientation. Marketing Business, 11, 22-3. Worcester, R. M., & Baines, P. R. (2004). Two Triangulation Models in Political Marketing: The Market Positioning analogy. In Elections on the Horizon Conference, British Library, London. Wright, R. H. (1974). Predicting factory quality from far infrared spectra, Annals of research. Journal of Consumer Research, 24(4), 343-353. www.statesmanonline.com Wyer, R. S., & Srull, T. K. (1989). Social intelligence and cognitive assessments of personality (Vol. 2). Psychology Press. Yin, R. K. (2003). Case study research: Design and methods (3rd ed.). Applied Social Research Series,(5). London, Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Youde, J. (2005). South Africa, AIDS, and the development of a counter-epistemic community .In International Studies Association Conference, 1-5. Zhou, Z., Zhang, Q., Su, C., & Zhou, N. (2012). How do brand communities generate brand relationships? Intermediate mechanisms. Journal of Business Research, 65(7), 890-895. Zikmud, W. G. & Babin, B. J. (2010). Exploring Marketing Research (10th ed.). South Western: Cengage Learning. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 113 APPENDIX INTERVIEW GUIDE Briefly thank him/her for participation, introduce myself (name and occupation) define the situation for the interview (confidential, recording, about 10 minutes, plus a short discussion afterwards) briefly state the purpose of the interview and ask if the interviewee has any questions before the interview Name of Interviewee: _____________________________________________________ Title: _____________________________________________________ Organization: _____________________________________________________ Length of Service: _____________________________________________________ Date of Interview: _____________________________________________________ Time Started: ___________________ Time completed:____________________ Objective 1 To understand why voters associates with a particular political party in Ghana. 1. Give reasons why in your opinion, you think voters associate with a political party ………………………………………………………………………………………… 2. What are the indicators per your understanding thatshows a political party is meeting the requirement as enumerated in Q.1. ………………………………………………………………………………. 3. How do voters associate themselves with political parties? Have the parties per your opinion, created the structures for voters and for that matter members of University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 114 your organization to follow in associating themselves with the political parties of their choice? …...……………………………………………………………….. 4. Do political party ideologies influence the voters association with political parties? …………………………………………………………………………………… 5. As a union or party, what messages from political parties excites you and your members most? …………………………………………………………………………….. 6. In the past has these messages or promises been fulfilled by any? …………………………………………………………………………………… 7. What do you understand by the term “political brand”? …………………………………………………………………………………….. 8. Is relationship between voters and political parties necessary? If no, why, if yes prompt further ………………………………………………………………………………………… 9. Do you have an idea about the benefits to be derived from relationship with voters? …………………………………………………………………………………... 10. What kind of relationship do you expert from your party leaders i.e. casual, intimate, personal or otherwise? …………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………… University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 115 Objective 2 To ascertain whether political brand relationship can be used. Is there a possibility of leveraging voter preference with political brand relationship? 11. To what extent can political brand relationship influence voter‟s choice of a political party? ………………………………………………………………… 12. Do you consider political candidates in deciding which party to vote for?…………………………………………………………… 13. What attributes do you expert in a party candidate? …………………………………………………………………………………… 14. Is it possible for political brands to be associated with voters in a relationship? Probe …………………………………………………… 15. Can political brand relationship with voters make them life time voters for that party?………………………………………………………………… 16. In your estimation, what instruments can be employed in building political brand relationship with voters. …………………………………………………………………………………… 17. Has there been any attempt in the past or present by political parties building relationship with voters in Ghana. …………………………………………………………………………………… University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 116 Objective 3: To ascertain whether the relational model can be used in building political brand relationship with voters in Ghana. 18. Show the relational model with the variable …………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………….. 19. Can the variables lead to a positive relationship outcome as postulated by the framework? (show framework) Are the variables enough to build political brand relationship with the Ghanaian voter? If yes, probe if no ask why? …………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………….. 20. What advice can you give to political parties regarding relationship building with the voters? ……………………………………………………………………… Any further comments? …………………………………………………………………………………. Thank you University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh