Journal of Political Marketing

ISSN: 1537-7857 (Print) 1537-7865 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/wplm20

Political Impression Management: How

Metaphors, Sound Bites, Appearance
Effectiveness, and Personality Traits Can Win
Elections

Christ'l De Landtsheer , Philippe De Vries & Dieter Vertessen

To cite this article: Christ'l De Landtsheer , Philippe De Vries & Dieter Vertessen (2008)
Political Impression Management: How Metaphors, Sound Bites, Appearance Effectiveness,
and Personality Traits Can Win Elections, Journal of Political Marketing, 7:3-4, 217-238, DOI:
10.1080/15377850802005083

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15377850802005083

Published online: 12 Dec 2008.

Submit your article to this journal

Article views: 5147

View related articles

Citing articles: 15 View citing articles

Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at

http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=wplm20

Download by: [110.138.226.22] Date: 30 December 2016, At: 07:04

 ARTICLES

Political Impression Management:

How Metaphors, Sound Bites,
Appearance Effectiveness, and
Personality Traits Can Win Elections
Christ’l De Landtsheer
Philippe De Vries
Dieter Vertessen
University of Antwerp, Belgium

Christ’l De Landtsheer is a Professor of Communication Sciences at the

University of Antwerp, Belgium, and Director of the Political Communi-
cation Research Unit, which focuses on psychological, technological, and
linguistic aspects of political communication. Among her recent books are
Metaphorical World Politics (2004), edited with Francis A. Beer, and Beyond
Public Speech and Symbols: Explorations in the Rhetoric of Politicians and
the Media and Politically Speaking: A Worldwide Examination of Language
Used in the Public Sphere (2000 and 1998), edited with Ofer Feldman.
Philippe De Vries is a Guest Lecturer in Political Communication at the
Faculty of Political and Social Sciences at the University of Antwerp,
Belgium. He received his PhD and MA in communication sciences and
his BA in law at the University of Antwerp. His research focuses on aspects
of candidate image as part of a political impression management project by
the Political Communication Research Unit that is supported by FWO
(Belgian National Foundation for Scientific Research).

Journal of Political Marketing, Vol. 7(3=4) 2008

Available online at http://www.haworthpress.com
# 2008 by The Haworth Press. All rights reserved.
doi: 10.1080/15377850802005083 217
218 JOURNAL OF POLITICAL MARKETING

ABSTRACT. This article introduces the concepts of political

impression management and perception politics. It furthermore dis-
cusses results from empirical case studies by the authors using experi-
ments and applying recent research models. Three main points of
interest will be addressed: sound bites, the effects of appearance in
politics, and personality profiles in the media. According to the view
of political impression management, politicians and political parties
control the impression they make on the audience (De Landtsheer,
2004). But first and foremost, this article tries to bridge the domain
of political impression management with the domain of political mar-
keting. The article concludes with some critical thoughts on the influ-
ences between political impression management and democracy.

KEYWORDS. Belgium, democracy, perception politics, political

impression management, political marketing

INTRODUCTION
Within the scope of an inquiry, 50 political marketing experts from
all parts of Europe were questioned about their professional opinions
and attitudes. Not surprisingly, three-quarters of them indicated the
political candidate to be the focal point of each campaign, underlin-
ing political campaigns’ need to establish a clear profile for each
political product. Candidate image—a distinct and unambiguous
profile conveyed to voters—is of capital importance. Furthermore,
these political marketing experts stress that candidates must be aware
of their self-presentation in order to be successful (Plasser, Scheucher,
and Senft, 1999; Newman, 1999a). These conclusions indicate the

Dieter Vertessen holds an MA in communication sciences and is cur-

rently a PhD candidate in political communication at the Faculty of Polit-
ical and Social Sciences, University of Antwerp, Belgium. His doctoral
research on political metaphor and sound bites is part of a political
impression management project by the Political Communication Research
Unit that is supported by FWO (Belgian National Foundation for Scientific
Research).
Address correspondence to: Christ’l De Landtsheer, University of
Antwerp, Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Sint Jacobstraat 2,
2000 Antwerpen, Belgium (E-mail: christl.delandtsheer@ua.ac.be).
 De Landtsheer, De Vries, and Vertessen 219

strong ties between the domains of political impression management

and political marketing, which will be argued in this article.
This article approaches the research domain of political
impression management from political marketing theory and con-
tains a brief state of the art in this increasingly popular research.
New empirical data and recent results from Belgian and Dutch stu-
dies in this exciting research domain are presented. It is important
to note that this overview will not deal with campaigning techni-
ques, political Web sites, or live debates, which are also important
aspects of political impression management (McGraw, 2003; De
Landtsheer, 2004).
The first section of the article will map perception politics and
political impression management while bridging these concepts with
political marketing. After this theoretical introduction, research in
three different aspect of political impression management will be
presented. First, the power of rhetoric will be addressed. Second,
the impact of the physical appearance in politics will be examined,
before touching the role of political personality. This article con-
cludes with some thoughts and remarks on the area of tension
between political impression management, political marketing, and
democracy.

FROM PERCEPTION POLITICS OVER POLITICAL

IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT TO
POLITICAL MARKETING

Perception Politics
Over the past decades, politics turned into perception politics. This
modernization of politics must be understood as a trend toward com-
mercialization, globalization, and a visual culture in which mass
media—television in particular—and new media play an important
role. As a result of the modernization of politics, new dynamics in
political communication can be distinguished, in which dramatization
of politics according to the rules of media logic takes place. Style has
become increasingly important, at the expense of content. This trend
is held responsible for turning politics into perception politics. Fur-
thermore, this dynamic, which will gain importance throughout the
21st century, includes the expanding phenomena of infotainment,
220 JOURNAL OF POLITICAL MARKETING

the mixture of entertainment and information, and politainment,

the mixture of politics and entertainment (De Landtsheer, 2004;
Norris and Holz-Bacha, 2001; Esser, 1999; Grabe, Zhou, and
Barnett, 2001; Leroy and Siune, 1994).
Perception politics encourages voters to form intuitive impressions
of political candidates based on certain cues such as language style,
appearance characteristics, and nonverbal behavior instead of well-
considered opinions based on arguments. In terms of the ‘‘elaboration
likelihood model’’ of Petty and Cacioppo (1986), the fall in political
involvement translates into voters using the peripheral route (cues)
rather than the central route (arguments) of information processing.
These cues guide the perception politicians leave with the public. This
dramatic trend magnifies the role and importance of style, appear-
ance, and personality, thereby turning politics into perception poli-
tics. Furthermore, this peripheral route emphasizes the ‘‘emotive
factor’’ and turns the focus from rational arguments to emotional
cues (Marcus, 2002, 2003). Emotions are proven to be strong predic-
tors of voter preferences. Multiple studies reveal exceptional out-
comes concerning the role of emotions in both political behavior
and voter preferences (De Vries and De Landtsheer, 2005).
Wattenberg (1987) emphasizes that almost one third of voters have
strong feelings toward political candidates even though they know
almost nothing about them. Research by Aronson, Wilson, and
Akert (1994) concluded that people tend to vote with their hearts
rather than with their minds (Falkowski and Wojciech, 1999).

Political Impression Management

Politicians, political parties, and especially political consultants are
extremely aware of these trends and engage in political impression
management. The view of political impression management holds
that it is possible for politicians and political parties to improve the
impression they register with the audience (McGraw, 2003; De
Landtsheer, 2004). The distributor of these messages can be con-
sidered the manager of these overall impressions. Politicians, political
parties, and consultants cocreate these images and impressions, ulti-
mately trying to persuade the voter audience of their capacities. Polit-
ical impression management focuses on several aspects of political
communication, studying the influence of impression sent by political
candidates: from the verbal message, appearance characteristics, and
 De Landtsheer, De Vries, and Vertessen 221

perceived personality traits to the nonverbal behavior of political can-

didates. Furthermore, the domain of political impression manage-
ment studies these aspects of political communication in all aspects
of politics, such as political campaigns, Web sites, and live debates.

Political Marketing
We argue that these specific aspects of political impression man-
agement can be perceived as political marketing techniques in a poli-
tician’s quest for political power. In political marketing theory, the
political candidate is understood as a political brand that needs to
be repositioned when it is no longer working. Following the laws
and regulations of business marketing, unsatisfied consumers switch
brands or try new products. In politics, the voter (consumer) lends
his or her vote to a political party or specific politician, and when pre-
dictions and aspirations are not met voters withdraw. Consumerism
has gradually penetrated the political arena (Maarek, 1995; Newman,
1999a; Lees-Marshment, 2004).
Political impression management links up perfectly with political
marketing theory. Hence, sound bites, metaphors, appearance, and
perceived personality help both political parties and individual politi-
cians to become more market-oriented, enabling them to live up to
the aspirations of the voter audience. Citizens no longer act as just
voters; they are becoming political consumers. The general move in
society against simply accepting political rhetoric toward a greater
demand for demonstrable improvements and performances obliges
politicians to apply marketing techniques (Newman, 1999; Lees-
Marshment, 2004). This explains why political parties and politicians
turn to marketing tools in order to win the elections, manage the
impressions, conduct market intelligence to discover voter demands,
and design a product that suits the voter. Marketing strategies are
thus no longer just applied for product placement but eagerly used
by politicians and their entourage to create the perfect political image
(O’Shaughnessy, 1990; Maarek, 1995; Newman, 1999).
Political marketing research dedicated enormous amounts of atten-
tion to candidate image. Newman (1999a) stated that a political image
or impression is created through the use of visual impressions com-
municated by the candidate’s physical presentation, media appear-
ances and experiences, and political leadership record, as all this
information is integrated in the minds of citizens. Politicians are
222 JOURNAL OF POLITICAL MARKETING

performers, and the best performer wins the crowds (Maarek, 1995;
Newman, 1999b; Schwartzenberg, 1977). This evolution has been
noticeable in the United States for decades and is now showing in
countries all over Europe, from Greece to Italy, France, and Belgium.
Although European voters used to be very loyal to their political
party, they seem to vote for a politician with whom they feel connec-
ted, especially emotionally.
In other words, the modernization of politics has turned politics into
perception politics, emphasizing style at the expense of political con-
tent. Consequently, politicians eagerly engage in political impression
management. These political impression management techniques are
useful political marketing tools, enabling political candidates to pos-
ition themselves in the voter market.
In the next section, three different aspects of political impression
management will be addressed: the power of political rhetoric,
followed by the effect of appearance characteristics and the role of
perceived political personality.

THREE ASPECTS OF POLITICAL IMPRESSION

MANAGEMENT

The Power of Political Rhetoric: The Way of

Sound Bites and Metaphors
One source of cues by which people decide whether or not they
support a politician is evaluating the political language style. Asses-
sing politicians on their language style more resembles forming an
opinion based on their language content than assessing them on their
clothing or eye color. In traditional politics, language meaning arises
mainly from mere content, whereas in perception politics, meaning
results from the unequal interaction between style and content.
Due to this current emphasis on style and form, sound bites and
metaphors necessarily come into view. Because they illustrate so well
the shift from content to form, we will discuss them here in detail.
Given that metaphors are a specific type of sound bite, we will start
off with sound bites.
Sound bites are short utterances by politicians that generally
include style elements such as metaphors and alliteration. These mes-
sages or word groups are more often quoted by the mass media than
 De Landtsheer, De Vries, and Vertessen 223

other sayings by politicians (Opfer and Anderson, 1992). In the mod-

ern media landscape, they replace the earlier ‘‘slogans,’’ which now
seem rather old-fashioned or obsolete. Sound bites belong to the
commercial media world: they do not require explanations and last
only a few seconds. American research quoted by Hallin (1992)
reveals that the average length of the sound bites on the television
evening news dropped dramatically from 42 seconds in 1968 to less
than 10 seconds in the 1990s. In Europe, the same trend can be
observed (e.g., Schulz and Zeh, 2004). As politicians nowadays lack
the time and chance to argue extensively, they are urged to turn to
a terser, condensed, and persuasive language. One should note that
this is a two-way process: on the one side, politicians eager to win
the votes increase the intensity of their discourse and adopt a more
persuasive style in order to make up for the loss of their traditional
platform for reaching the audience. In this way, they also try to cope
with the altering expectations of the public. People are used to an
intense and persuasive style as it is pervasive in our modern day
society. Unappealing messages that do not have the power to move
the audience are in danger of being ignored. On the other hand,
media, always struggling for every single reader or viewer in a highly
competitive media environment, use the politician’s persuasive,
strong, and therefore attractive language to appeal to the largest
possible entertainment- and distraction-seeking audience.
The political language style plays a central role in the new com-
munication dynamic between politicians, media, and the public, whom
both types of communication actors address. When attempts to con-
nect to the public and to persuade in a short available time prevail, a
strong emotive political language is needed (Weinberger, 1995).
A lot of sound bites contain metaphors, which we define as appli-
cations of alien names (Beer and De Landtsheer, 2004). Metaphors
are frequently being used in sound bites as they are preeminently
emotive (Gibbs, Leggitt, and Turner, 2002). In perception politics,
they are the gateway to the public’s thinking. Being mostly hidden
and unnoticed, for their mainly unconscious nature, strengthens them
even more; they sometimes have powerful effects. They enable politi-
cians to magnify problems, to hide others, and to suggest solutions. A
strong metaphor can frame problems, directing the public’s attention
and thought in one particular way. Adopted to meet modern require-
ments, they do so fast and seemingly effortlessly (Shimko, 2004;
Rosati and Campbell, 2004).
224 JOURNAL OF POLITICAL MARKETING

Throughout history, the amount of attention being paid to polit-

ical metaphors and their effects has altered significantly. Although
Aristotle, for instance, already considered them to be important rhe-
torical expedients, most political and communication science scholars
have denied their influence or at least minimized it (Beer and De
Landtsheer, 2004). In their view, the emotive function of metaphors
impedes rational politics. Politicians should therefore avoid using
them if they are concerned about the fairness of their words. Only late
in the 20th century, advances in, among others, cognitive sciences,
political psychology, and discourse analysis entailed a renewed atten-
tion for political metaphors. Metaphors are regarded as indispensable
devices for politicians who want to convey persuasive messages. They
are thus not just a threat to rational politics and democracy but an
opportunity for politicians who want to deal with new political com-
munication dynamics. By drawing analogies and by avoiding the cen-
tral argumentative route, politicians are able to carefully manage the
impression they make on the audience (Petty and Cacioppo, 1986).
Although the role of metaphors in politics has been acknowledged
for ages, only recently have researchers started to probe the role of
political metaphors (Anderson, 2004; De Landtsheer, 1991; Hellsten,
2002; Ivie, 2004; Luke, 2004). At times of crisis, politicians make
more effort to reach the public and influence them in a favorable
way. Politicians adopt a ‘‘metaphorical style,’’ resembling Lasswell’s
(1949) ‘‘crisis style.’’ The same metaphorical turn that applies to
economic and political crisis situations is also evident in elections.
In short, sometimes impression management becomes really neces-
sary. But for extremist political leaders and groups, it seems to be
attractive to use the crisis style at all times (De Landtsheer and De
Vrij, 2004; Vertessen and De Landtsheer, 2008). Other research con-
centrates on the relation between sound bites and ideology. For
example, Scheuer (1999) observes how the political right promotes
a less complicated ideological content that fits better the sound bite
format than the complex ideological content of the political left. A
European case study also finds that ‘‘metaphor power indices’’ of
the political right are much higher (De Landtsheer, 1998).
Perception politics confronts politicians with a lot of new rhetorical
and discursive challenges. How can they verbally combine media, pub-
lic, and democracy demands? Can they prevent their messages from
turning into empty boxes (Franklin, 2004)? What is the relative weight
of the rhetorical component in the whole of impression components?
 De Landtsheer, De Vries, and Vertessen 225

All these questions contain challenges for the future and, once
again, force politicians to rely on marketing strategies to meet voter
expectations.

The Appearance of Political Suitability

During her nine years as prime minister of Britain, Margaret
Thatcher made various changes in her appearance, thereby illustrat-
ing the importance she and her advisors attributed to presentation
and style (De Landtsheer, 2004; Norris, 2000; Palmer, 2004a,
2004b; Starr, 1997). Silvio Berlusconi, former prime minister of Italy,
presented himself with a new face after a face-lift and a new program
(Ginsborg, 2004). George W. Bush allegedly raised his side of the
stage during the 2004 election debates, masking the fact that his
opponent John Kerry was significantly taller. These examples should
not surprise. Several profound scientific studies conclude that people
ascribe others certain personality traits purely based on physical
appearance, which could possibly lead to such a person being per-
ceived as more politically suitable (Andersen and Garrison, 1978;
Bass, 1985; Lord, DeVader, and Allinger, 1986; Eagly, Ashmore,
Makhijani, and Longo, 1991; Maarek, 1995; Caprara, Barbaranelli,
and Zimbardo, 2002; De Landtsheer, 2004). As argued in the pre-
vious section, politicians and their entourage try to control the
impression they make through political impression management. Spe-
cial attention is paid to the image carried out through strategic self-
presentation. The political candidates aim at authenticity and act
through self-verification (Eagly, Ashmore, Makhijani, and Longo,
1991; Tedeschi and Meburg, 1984).
The above reveals the extreme importance of political images pro-
jected by a candidate’s physical appearance (Rosenberg and Kahn,
1987; Rosenberg and McCafferty, 1987; Hinton, 2000). Once the
physical features that lie at the roots of the political suitable appear-
ance are determined, it is possible to manipulate the physical appear-
ance of political candidates in a ‘‘politically desirable’’ sense. These
findings can be applied as a political marketing tool in order to pos-
ition political candidates in the most desirable way. Previous research
concluded that the appearances of male and especially female political
candidates can be altered in such a way that it significantly contributes
to the perception of political suitability (Rosenberg and Kahn, 1987;
De Landtsheer, 2004; De Vries and De Landtsheer, 2005).
226 JOURNAL OF POLITICAL MARKETING

An examination of the particular features of political candidates

with high and low political demeanor ratings made it possible to
identify those specific elements of a visual presentation that contrib-
ute to the projection of a favorable political image. Male politicians
are ideally older than 35 to 40 years old. Well-scoring males have
a high forehead and dark or grey hair combed in parts. Badly scor-
ing males are blond with thick, uncombed, or sloppy hair. Men
should wear a classic dark suit with a white or pale blue shirt
and a colored tie. Sweaters, bright colors, or white or Scottish jack-
ets are unfavorable. Female politicians, on the other hand, are pref-
erably older than 40 to 45 years old. They should have dark or grey
hair and classic hair fashion, with short or medium-length hair.
Again, blond or loose hair is unfavorable. Formal dress is the most
appropriate; a classic blouse and jacket in contrasting colors are the
best. Bright colors, only dark colors, showy patterns, and naked
arms are unfavorable (De Landtsheer, 2004). These studies (with
1,100 subjects evaluating video fragments, photographs, and cam-
paign fliers during mock elections) indicated that Belgian and Dutch
voters prefer similar looks for their politicians as American voters
do (Rosenberg and Kahn, 1987; Rosenberg and McCafferty, 1987;
De Landtsheer, 2000, 2004).
Using the knowledge gathered in the research described above, this
information was used in order to create a composite look that con-
veys a positive political image. Therefore, the appearance of genuine
Belgian (Flemish) and Dutch politicians was adapted to the desirable
political appearance characteristics enumerated above. The results of
this experiment indicate a strong and consistent effect of the manipu-
lation of the candidates’ appearance on the electoral outcomes. Both
Belgian and Dutch politicians scored remarkably better (up to 30 per-
cent) when their presentation was adjusted to the retrieved desirable
political appearance characteristics. Furthermore, these studies made
it possible to determine which perceived personality characteristics
contribute to the creation of a suitable political image: Belgian and
Dutch voters associate the perception of competence (0.613;
P < 0.01) and leadership (0.716; P < 0.01) to the perception of polit-
ical demeanor. On the other hand, the correlations between the per-
ception of physical attractiveness (0.152; P < 0.01), the perception of
sympathy (0.236; P < 0.01), and the perception of political demeanor
were weak. These findings are, once again, comparable to the results
of American research (Schubert, Curran, and Strungaru, 1998;
 De Landtsheer, De Vries, and Vertessen 227

Rosenberg and Kahn, 1987; Rosenberg and McCafferty, 1987;

De Landtsheer, 2004; De Vries and De Landtsheer, 2005).
Most recent research focuses on the differences between the political
perception of adults and children (De Vries and De Landtsheer, 2005).
Approximately 400 respondents, 200 adults and an even number of
children, rated 20 Belgian politicians based on six impression charac-
teristics: physical appearance, competence, leadership, political demea-
nor, trustworthiness, and sympathy. Based on this information, a
general impression score was calculated that made it possible to com-
pare the results. Surprisingly, the political perception of children
doesn’t differ much from the political perception of adults. Both chil-
dren and adults attribute the highest scores to young, dark-haired,
female politicians. The children’s evaluations correlated with the
adult’s evaluations at 0.766 (P < 0.01). In contradiction with what
one could expect, the political opinion of adults seems to be barely
influenced by the prior knowledge about these politicians. Child
respondents, possessing no information concerning the presented poli-
ticians, came to the same conclusions as adult respondents. These con-
clusions understate the important role of emotion in the process of
political candidate appreciation (Marcus, 2002). These findings suggest
that appearance characteristics are even more decisive when it comes to
the creation of a suitable political image than generally assumed.

Profiling Politicians
To conclude our selective overview of political impression manage-
ment with implications for political marketing theory, the importance
of perceived political personality is briefly touched. Where appear-
ance projects a more or less favorable image, mass media increasingly
project images of politicians’ personalities. Here again, scientific
analysis can play a role. There is a vast body of literature suggesting
that political developments and even election outcomes are strongly
influenced by political personality (Bass, 1985; Lord et al., 1986;
Pierce, 1993; Caprara, Barbaranelli, and Zimbardo, 1999, 2002).
It was Immelman (1998, 1999, 2002) and Immelman and Beatty
(2004) who tested Millon’s theory (1986) regarding the personality
of political candidates and leaders. This theory retrieves the ‘‘person-
ality images’’ of politicians that live among citizens. In other words,
this personality profiling determines the personality of these politi-
cians as perceived by their voters. The theory uses 12 different
228 JOURNAL OF POLITICAL MARKETING

personality patterns and 7 domains in which these patterns can be

manifested. These patterns are used in the domain of clinical psy-
chology and include patterns such as the dominant pattern, the daunt-
less pattern, the ambitious pattern, the outgoing pattern, and the
conscientious pattern. These patterns can be observed on the 7 differ-
ent domains, such as expressive behavior, self-image, cognitive
domain, and interpersonal domain.
Not surprisingly, candidates perceived as extroverted and outgoing
generally bring home the victory. The hard-working, conscientious
introvert has to give in. Used as a political marketing tool, this profil-
ing enables candidates to discover their personality profile as per-
ceived by their voting audience. Consequently, political candidates
can make the necessary adjustments to this perceived personality in
order to meet audience expectations.
Recent research has confirmed Immelman’s findings by concluding
that charismatic, extroverted, and outgoing political candidates are
perceived as more politically suitable than those that are introverted
or quarrelsome. These findings can be linked to the distinction made
in political marketing between ‘‘Teflon personalities,’’ to which noth-
ing sticks (like President Reagan), and ‘‘Velcro personalities,’’ to
which almost everything sticks (Newman, 1999b). The Teflon person-
alities are perceived as extroverted and outgoing, characteristics
appealing to voters and consequently linked to leadership suitability.
These personality traits evoke certain emotional connections and reac-
tions that attract voters. The emotional, rational, and even physical
reactions to certain personality traits and characteristics are important
parameters for political marketers in order to position the political
candidate or party (Campbell, 1983; Lord et al., 1986; Wray, 1999).

POLITICAL IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT AND

DEMOCRACY
Especially during the past decades, the media has assumed that
people are no longer interested in politics and just want to be enter-
tained. Political debates and discussions were therefore commercia-
lized and organized along the rules of media logic. Politics should
be entertaining, amusing, fast, and simple. We are living in a highly
visual society in which opinions and impressions are based on what
media—television in particular—are showing us. There seems to be
 De Landtsheer, De Vries, and Vertessen 229

no space, no time, and especially no demand for serious political con-

versation. Only a small politically interested group with easy access to
the Internet and quality newspapers is getting the complete picture
and is thereby enabled to form arguments based on facts (Norris
and Holtz-Bacha, 2001; Street, 2001).
Charisma, personality, language style, and the impression that
politicians leave with the public seem to be the true foundations of
political opinion formation. Through the modernization of media
culture and under the influences of globalization, concentration,
and commercialization, the language, personality, and appearance
of politicians are dominating the perception formation. Personaliza-
tion as a consequence has introduced a ‘‘populist’’ trend that leads
to the reinforcement of perception politics. Aspects of political
impression management, as argued above, can be used in political
marketing to adjust the political candidate or product to the
demands and aspirations of the voter (consumer) (Newman, 1999a,
1999b; Lees-Marshment, 2004).
Reaching back to the genesis of perception politics, commercializa-
tion, globalization, visual culture, and new technologies are being
made responsible for the dramatization of politics according the rules
of media logic (Altheide and Snow, 1979; Leroy and Siune, 1994;
Norris and Holz-Bacha, 2001; Esser, 1999; Grabe, Zhou, and
Barnett, 2001). Consequently, politics is run by the rules of business
and marketing. Marketing strategies are inextricably linked to poli-
tics. Political candidates who do not play by these rules will almost
certainly be defeated (Mauser, 1983; O’Shaughnessy, 1990, 2002;
Newman, 1999a, 1999b).
When all of the above is taken into account, one cannot deny that
political content has lost substantive territory to the advantage of
the communication style and form. In several countries around the
world, discontent is heard on what in Belgium is called the ‘‘toddle-
rization’’ of politics. Politicians’ participation in game shows and
other entertainment programs is weakening their own political
credibility, while political credibility as such is crumbling.
Pursuing this reasoning, persuasive rhetoric, the manipulation of
appearance, perceived personality, and other aspects of political
impression management could be considered imminent threats to
democracy. These tools are enabling politicians to gain votes based
on capacities and characteristics that are not necessarily present in
the true personality of the candidate. Critics believe that this
230 JOURNAL OF POLITICAL MARKETING

discourse leads to the defeat and condemnation of political market-

ing, as it jeopardizes the true values of democracy (Mazzoleni and
Schulz, 1999). O’Shaughnessy (2002) overarches these critiques with
the term utilitarian-derived critique of political marketing.
Since the elections of 1977, Belgian politicians have turned to mar-
keting and advertising specialists to secure their electoral success.
These specialists designed attractive and entertaining campaigns in
which political doctrines and opinions were pushed to the back-
ground so that the largest possible number of voters was reached
and pleased. In 1985, researchers at the University of Leuven exam-
ined the campaign costs of all Belgian political parties and concluded
that more than 20 million euros were spent. Furthermore, the
researchers did not have access to the personal expenses of politi-
cians, which were consequently not included in the overall campaign
costs. Based on this research, the Belgian parliament passed a law on
July 4, 1989, (amended by the law of April 1, 1995) that regulates and
limits party financing and election expenditure. The law was intro-
duced to withhold the omnipotence of marketing strategies under
the pretext of guaranteeing democracy. These laws relate state contri-
butions to the party’s numerical strength in the Parliament and the
Senate. Other measures obliged political parties to have public book-
keeping, restricted the size of political posters, and imposed a period
of rest in which political campaigning is forbidden (De Ridder, 1999).
All of these restrictions are nonetheless circumvented by political
parties, politicians, and marketing advisors on the basis that there
is still no statutory regulation for personal campaign financing in
Belgium. Political impression management strategies are believed to
be almost nonexistent in Belgian politics, but they can increasingly
be detected in the latest political campaigns. For example, almost
every political party introduces young, attractive, female candidates,
hoping they will appeal to both male and female voters. Recent
research proved the immense popularity of this new generation of
young female politicians (De Vries and De Landtsheer, 2005).
Furthermore, politicians are attending with clocklike regularity enter-
tainment shows in their attempt to persuade voters of their honest
and fine personalities. The introduction of celebrities in politics is just
another example of the mixture between politics and marketing in
Belgium. Famous television hosts, athletes, singers, and even
beauty queens are confessing their political color and start
campaigning.
 De Landtsheer, De Vries, and Vertessen 231

The availability and accessibility of resources, especially financial

support and media coverage, remain of indispensable value on the
road to electoral success. Dahl (1956) argues that few limits can be
set to the ability of rich individuals and corporations to make their
voices heard. He believes that the American system is evolving
toward an oligarchic system ruled by the moneyed few instead of a
polyarchic systems ruling by the approval of the many. Furthermore,
Dahl underlines the importance of the agenda setting power of the
public in order to let democracy survive. This agenda setting theory
describes the powerful influence of the media and their ability to tell
what issues are important (McCombs and Shaw, 1972, McQuail and
Windahl, 1981; Rogers, Hart, and Dearing, 1997; Shaw and
McCombs, 1977).
Although the media do not necessarily influence what people think
but merely what people think about, critics are eager to announce the
downfall of democracy blaming the media. Politics is considered a
marketing game that humiliates citizens’ dignity and rights and ridi-
cules political leaders’ words and deeds. Conventional mass media
and new communication technologies are being blamed for changing
politics into something quite different from what traditionally was
embodied in democracy (Entman, 1989; Jamieson, 1992; Patterson,
1993). Responding to these critiques, Mazzoleni and Schultz (1999)
postulate that political systems are facing considerable changes
because excessive mediatization of political leadership and practice
are forcing citizens to become political consumers. The fragmentation
of political participation can as a consequence lead to the distortion
of a properly functioning democracy. Mazzoleni and Schultz (1999)
nevertheless conclude that the road to a media-driven democracy is
still far away.
This article aims in no way to contribute to this doom mongering.
Several decades ago, Lippmann (1925) argued that we must abandon
the notion that people govern and that we should adopt the theory
that people support or oppose the individuals that are actually gov-
erning by their occasional mobilization as a majority. Lippmann
was obviously not referring to political impression management tech-
niques or political marketing tools, but his argumentation clearly
places the finger on the problem. Some argue that the content and
definition of democracy should be adjusted to the actual meaning
and function democracy holds in modern society, whereas other
scientists (Mazzoleni and Schultz, 1999) believe that political
232 JOURNAL OF POLITICAL MARKETING

impression management and political marketing will not endanger

the democratic functioning of society.
These conclusions may indeed raise some concerns vis-a-vis
the relationship between basic principles of democracy and media
and between instruments used by political impression management
and political marketing. Voters can be influenced, but in the end
the elected politicians will have to deliver whether their image is
created or genuine. Even when style does overshadow political con-
tent, scores are settled during and after governing. In other words,
the consumer=voter will change brand=candidate when aspirations
are not met and delivered. The political consumer will prefer and
support a different political product (Lees-Marshment, 2004).

CONCLUSIONS
This article illustrates how political impression management tech-
niques should be considered as political marketing tools that enable
politicians to cope with the demands of modern society. Political
rhetoric, sound bites, appearance characteristics, and perceived per-
sonality are without a doubt important aspects of political impression
formation. Furthermore, several prominent studies believe this
impression formation to be a decisive determinant of actual voter
behavior (Masters and Sullivan, 1989; McGraw, 2003). Other aspects
of political communication such as party affiliation and job perform-
ance nevertheless deserve serious consideration.
As stated, several scientists consider the described trends and evo-
lutions as considerable threats to the survival of democracy. The
media should be reminded of their educating role and responsibilities
toward the public. Media should be pointing out the importance of
arguments and content in politics instead of turning elections into
the biggest show on earth. Then again, these scientists believe that
aside from the media, political parties should reconsider traditional
channels of political communication. They are emphasizing the
importance of traditional political networks in which serious atten-
tion is paid to interpersonal communication and where opinion lea-
ders are allowed to explain their political arguments and opinions
without being cut short for commercials (Mazzoleni and Schultz,
1999). The democratic process can only survive if the media and
the political world assume their responsibilities. Otherwise, political
 De Landtsheer, De Vries, and Vertessen 233

power will be up for grabs in a market-driven democracy where

power is available to those candidates with the right consultants
and financial budget.
We have tried in this article to counter this negative reasoning.
Impressions and perceptions have always played an important and
prominent role in social relations and in politics. Political marketing
is being used to determine and apply what voters want and need, and
that is what the candidate will stand for. Political marketing, if used
in the right conscious way, could strengthen democracy.
Charisma, true or false, can win you the elections, but at the end of
the journey politicians and political parties are cheered or judged on
their achievements and failures. Voter choice may significantly be
influenced, and even steered, by impressions and perceptions, but
politicians are ultimately evaluated on their governing results (Bass,
1985; Aldrich, Gronke, and Grynaviski, 1999; Bartels, 2002). When
voter aspirations and expectations are neglected, the responsible
political establishment will pay the price. The political impression
management techniques, or political marketing tools, discussed in
this paper ensure that politics does not decline into the power of cer-
tain influential personalities or elites, but that it stays in touch with
voter aspirations and expectations, thereby strengthening democracy
and ensuring citizen participation.

REFERENCES
Aldrich, J., P. Gronke, and J. Grynaviski. (1999). Policy, personality and presidential
performance. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political
Science Association, Chicago, April 15–18, 1999.
Altheide, D. L. and R. P. Snow. (1979). Media logic. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Andersen, P. A. and J. Garrison. (1978). Media consumption and population
characteristics of political opinion leaders. Communication Quarterly, 26(3), 40–50.
Anderson, R. D., Jr. (2004). The causal power of metaphor. Cueing democratic iden-
tities in Russia and beyond. In F. A. Beer and C. De Landtsheer (Eds.), Metaphor-
ical world politics: Rhetorics of democracy, war and globalization (pp. 91–108). East
Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press.
Aronson, E., T. D. Wilson, and R. M. Akert. (1994). Social psychology: The heart
and the mind. New York: Harper Collins.
Bartels, L. (2002). Beyond the running tally: Partisan bias in political perceptions.
Political behavior, 24(2), 117–150.
Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership and performance beyond expectations. New York: The
Free Press.
234 JOURNAL OF POLITICAL MARKETING

Beer, F. A. and C. De Landtsheer. (2004). Metaphors, politics and world politics. In

F. A. Beer and C. De Landtsheer (Eds.), Metaphorical world politics: Rhetorics of
democracy, war and globalization (pp. 5–52). East Lansing, MI: Michigan State
University Press.
Blumler, J. G., D. Kavanagh, and T. J. Nossister. (1996). Modern communications
versus traditional politics in Britain: Unstable marriage of convenience. In D. L.
Swanson and P. Mancini (Eds.), Politics, media and modern democracy: An inter-
national study of innovations in electoral campaigning and their consequences,
(pp. 49–72). Westport, CT: Praeger.
Campbell, J. E. (1983). Candidate image evaluations: Influences and rationalizations
in presidential primaries. American Politics Quarterly, 11, 293–313.
Caprara, G., C. Barbaranelli, and P. Zimbardo. (1999). Personality profiles and
political parties. Political Psychology, 20, 175–196.
Caprara, G. V., C. Barbaranelli, and P. G. Zimbardo. (2002). When parsimony
subdues distinctiveness: Simplified public perceptions of politicians’ personality.
Political Psychology, 23, 77–95.
Dahl, R. (1956). A preface to democratic theory. Chicago: University of Chicago
Press.
De Landtsheer, C. (1991). Function and the language of politics: A linguistic uses
and gratifications approach. Communication and Cognition, 21(3=4), 299–344.
De Landtsheer, C. (1998). The political rhetoric of a unified Europe. In O. Feldman
and C. De Landtsheer (Eds.), Politically speaking: A worldwide examination of lan-
guage use in the public sphere (pp. 129–145). Westport, CT: Praeger.
De Landtsheer, C. (2000). Public speech, symbols, and democratic citizenship East
West. In C. De Landtsheer and O. Feldman (Eds.), Beyond public speech and
symbols: Explorations in the rhetoric of politicians and the media (pp. 247–276).
Westport, CT: Praeger.
De Landtsheer, C. (2004). Politiek impressiemanagement in Vlaanderen en Nederland.
[Political impression management in Flanders and The Netherlands]. Leuven,
Belgium: Acco.
De Landtsheer, C. and I. De Vrij. (2004). Talking about Srebrenica. Dutch elites
and Dutchbat. How metaphors change during crisis. In F. A. Beer and C. De
Landtsheer (Eds.), Metaphorical world politics: Rhetorics of democracy, war and
globalization (pp. 163–189). East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press.
De Landtsheer, C., P. De Vries, and D. Vertessen D. (2004). Wie maakt op kinderen
de beste indruk? Onderzoeksrapport Universiteit Antwerpen. [Exploring children’s
political impressions. Research Paper University of Antwerp].
De Landtsheer, C., D. van den Bichelaer, R. Ponssen, and P. de Nieuwe. (2000).
Female appearance and the perception of political suitability. Case study: The
Netherlands. In C. De Landtsheer. Special Issue on Women, Politics, and Com-
munication. Politics, Groups and the Individual. International Journal of Political
Psychology and Political Socialization, 9(3–4), 3–18.
De Ridder, H. (1999). Vijftig jaar stemmenmakerij [Fifty years of producing votes].
Ghent, Belgium: Uitgeverij Scoop.
 De Landtsheer, De Vries, and Vertessen 235

De Vries, P. and C. De Landtsheer. (2005). Comparing adults and children preferences

of politicians. Paper presented at the ISPP Conference 2005, Toronto, Canada.
Eagly, A., R. Ashmore, M. Makhijani, and L. Longo. (1991). What is beautiful is
good, but. . .. A meta-analytic review of research on the physical attractiveness
stereotype. Psychological Bulletin, 110(1), 109–128.
Entman, R. M.. (1989). Democracy without citizens: Media and the decay of American
politics. New York: Oxford University Press.
Esser, F. (1999). ‘Tabloidization’ of news: A comparative analysis of Anglo-
American and German press journalism. European Journal of Communication,
14(3), 291–324.
Falkowski, A. and C. Wojciech. (1999). Methodology of constructing effective polit-
ical advertising. In B. Newman (Ed.), Handbook of political marketing (pp.
283–304). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Franklin, B. (2004). Packaging politics: Political communications in Britain’s media
democracy (2nd ed.). London: Hodder Arnold.
Gibbs, R. W. Jr., J. S. Leggitt, and E. A. Turner. (2002). What’s special about
figurative language in emotional communication? In S. Fussell (Ed.), The verbal
communication of emotions (pp. 125–150). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates.
Ginsborg, P. (2004). Silvio Berlusconi: Television, power and patrimony. London:
Verso.
Grabe, M. E., S. Zhou, and B. Barnett. (2001). Explicating sensationalism in tele-
vision news: Content and the bells and whistles of form. Journal of Broadcasting
& Electronic Media, 45(4), 635–655.
Hallin, D. C. (1992). Sound bite news: Television coverage of elections, 1968–1988.
Journal of Communication, 42(2), 5–24.
Hellsten, I. (2002). The politics of metaphor. Biotechnology and biodiversity in the
media. Tampere, Finland: Tampere University Press.
Hinton, P. R. (2000). Stereotypes, cognition and culture. Philadelphia: Psychology
Press.
Immelman, A. (1998). The political personalities of 1996 U.S. presidential candidates
Bill Clinton and Bob Dole. Leadership Quarterly, 9(3), 335–366.
Immelman, A. (1999). Millon inventory of diagnostic criteria manual (2nd ed.).
Collegeville, MN: St. John’s University.
Immelman, A. (2002). The political personality of U.S. presidential candidate
George W. Bush. In O. Feldman and L. O. Valenty (Eds.), Political leadership
for the new Century: Personality and behavior among American leaders (pp.
81–103). Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
Immelman, A. and A. Beatty. (2004). The political personality of U.S. presidential
candidate John Kerry. Paper presented at the 28th Annual Scientific Meeting of
The International Society of Political Psychology, Toronto. Canada.
Ivie, R. L. (2004). Democracy, war, and decivilizing metaphors of American
insecurity. In F. A. Beer and C. De Landtsheer (Eds.), Metaphorical world
politics: Rhetorics of democracy, war and globalization (pp. 75–90). East Lansing,
MI: Michigan State University Press.
236 JOURNAL OF POLITICAL MARKETING

Jamieson, K. H. (1992). Dirty politics: Deception, distraction and democracy. New

York: Oxford University Press.
Lasswell, H. D. (1949). Style and the language of politics. In H. D. Lasswell et al.
(Eds.), The language of politics: Studies in quantitative semantics (pp. 20–40).
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Lees-Marshment, J. (2004). The political marketing revolution. Transforming the
government of the UK. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Leroy, P. and K. Siune. (1994). The role of television in European elections: The
cases of Belgium and Denmark. European Journal of Communication, 9, 47–69.
Lippmann, W. (1925). The phantom public. New York: Harcourt, Brace.
Lord, R. G., C. L. De Vader, and G. M. Allinger. (1986). A meta-analysis of the
relations between personality traits and leadership perception: An application of
validity generalization procedures. Journal of Applied Psychology, 71, 402–410.
Luke, T.W. (2004). Megametaphorics. Rereading globalization and virtualization as
rhetorics of world politics. In F. A. Beer and C. De Landtsheer (Eds.), Metaphor-
ical world politics: Rhetorics of democracy, war and globalization (pp. 237–260).
East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press.
Maarek, P. (1995). Political marketing and communication. London: John Libby.
Mazzoleni, G. and W. Schulz. (1999). Mediatization of politics: A challenge for
democracy. Political Communication, 16, 247–261.
Marcus, G. E. (2002). The sentimental citizen: Emotion in democratic politics. Univer-
sity Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press.
Marcus, G. E. (2003). The psychology of emotion and politics. In D. Sears, L.
Huddy, and R. Jervis (Eds.), Oxford handbook of political psychology (pp. 182–
221). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Masters, R. and D. Sullivan. (1989). Nonverbal displays and political leadership in
France and the United States. Political Behavior, 11(2), 123–156.
Mauser, G. A. (1983). Political marketing: An approach to campaign strategy.
Westport, CT: Praeger.
McCombs, M. E. and D. L. Shaw. (1972). The agenda-setting function of mass
media. Public Opinion Quarterly, 36(Summer), 176–187.
McGraw, K. (2003). Political impressions: Formation and management. In D. Sears,
L. Huddy, and R. Jervis (Eds.), Oxford handbook of political psychology (pp.
394–432). London: Oxford University Press.
McQuail, D. and S. Windahl. (1981). Communication models for the study of mass
communications. Harlow, UK: Longman.
Millon, T. (1986). Personality prototypes and their diagnostic criteria. In T. Millon
and G. L. Klerman (Eds.), Contemporary directions in psychopathology: Toward
the DSM-IV (pp. 671–712). New York: Guilford Press.
Newman, B. ed. (1999a). Handbook of political marketing. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Publications.
Newman, B. (1999b). The mass marketing of politics. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Publications.
Norris, P. (2000). A virtuous circle: Political communications in post-industrial democ-
racies. New York: Cambridge University Press.
 De Landtsheer, De Vries, and Vertessen 237

Norris, P. and C. Holtz-Bacha. (2001). To entertain, inform, and educate: Still the
role of public television. Political Communication, 18(2), 123–140.
Opfer, J. and P. Anderson. (1992). Explaining the sound bite: A test of a theory of
metaphor and assonance. Paper presented at the Western Speech Communication
Association Convention, Boise, Idaho.
O’Shaughnessy, N. (1990). The phenomenon of political marketing. Thousand Oaks,
CA: Sage Publications.
O’Shaughnessy, N. (2002). Toward an ethical framework for political marketing.
Psychology & Marketing, 19, 1079–1094.
Palmer, J. (2004a). Smoke and mirrors: Is that the way it is? Themes in political mar-
keting. Research Paper, London Metropolitan University.
Palmer, J. (2004b). Secrecy, communications strategy and democratic values. Ethical
Space, 1(2), 31–39.
Patterson, T. E. (1993). Out of order. New York: Knopf.
Petty, R. E. and J. T. Cacioppo. (1986). Communication and persuasion. Central and
peripheral routes to attitude change. New York: Springer-Verlag.
Pierce, P. A. (1993). Political sophistication and the use of candidate traits in
candidate evaluation. Political Psychology, 14, 21–35.
Plasser, F., C. Scheucher, and C. Senft. (1999). Is there a European style of political
marketing? In B. Newman (Ed.), Handbook of political marketing (pp, 89–112).
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Rogers, E. M., W. B. Hart, and J. W. Dearing. (1997). A paradigmatic history of
agenda-setting research. In S. Ivengar and R. Reeves (Eds.), Do the media
govern? Politicians, voters, and reporters in America (pp. 225–236). Thousand Oaks,
CA: Sage.
Rosati, J. A. and S. J. Campbell. (2004). Metaphors of U.S. global leadership. The
psychological dimension of metaphorical thinking during the Carter years. In F.
A. Beer and C. De Landtsheer (Eds.), Metaphorical world politics. Rhetorics of
democracy, war and globalization (pp. 217–237). East Lansing, MI: Michigan State
University Press.
Rosenberg, S. W. and S. Kahn. (1987). Creating a political image and manipulating
the vote: A Preliminary report. Paper presented at the Ninth Annual Meeting of
the International Society for Political Psychology, San Francisco.
Rosenberg, S. W. and P. McCafferty. (1987). The image and the vote: Manipulating
voters’ preferences. Public Opinion Quarterly, 51(1), 31–47.
Scheuer, J. (1999). The sound bite society: Television and the American mind. New
York: Four Walls Eight Windows.
Schubert, J., M. Curran, and C. Strungaru. (1998). Good genes, physical appearance
and candidate appraisal. In K. Kamps and M. Watts (Eds.), Biopolitics: Politik-
wissenschaft jenseits des kulturismus [Biopolitics: Political science beyond cultur-
ism] (pp. 159–178). Baden-Baden, Germany: Nomos.
Schulz, W. and R. Zeh. (2004). The changing election coverage of German television.
A content analysis 1990–2002. Paper presented at the 54th Annual Conference of
the International Communication Association, New Orleans.
238 JOURNAL OF POLITICAL MARKETING

Schwartzenberg, R. (1977). Politieke superstars. Vedettencultus in de politiek [Polit-

ical superstars. Celebrity-cult in politics]. Antwerpen, Belgium: Standaard
Uitgeverij.
Shaw, D. L., and M. McCombs. (1977). The emergence of American political issues:
The agenda-setting function of the press. St. Paul, MN: West.
Shimko, K. L. (2004). The power of metaphors and the metaphors of power. The
United States in the Cold War and after. In F. A. Beer and C. De Landtsheer
(Eds.), Metaphorical world politics: Rhetorics of democracy, war and globalization
(pp. 199–216). East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press.
Starr, P. (1997). Democracy v. dollars. The American Prospect, 8(31), 6–9.
Street, J. (2001). Mass media, politics and democracy. Hampshire: Palgrave.
Tedeschi, J. T. and V. Meburg. (1984). Impression management and influence in the
organization. Research in the Sociology of Organization, 3, 31–58.
Vertessen, D. and C. De Landtsheer. (2008). A metaphorical election style: Meta-
phor use at election time. In J. Pikalo and T. Carver (Ed.), Politics, language
and metaphor (pp. 271–285). London: Routledge.
Wattenberg, M. P. (1987). The hollow realignment: Partisan change in a candidate-
centered era. Public Opinion Quarterly, 51, 58–74.
Weinberger, O. (1995). Argumentation in law and politics. Communication and Cog-
nition, 28(1), 37–54.
Wray, J. H. (1999). Money and politics. In B. Newman (Ed.), Handbook of political
marketing (pp. 741–758). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.