Keeping both the baby and the bathwater: Scoping a new model of political marketing communication

Political communication has never been as important as it is today. International conflict and a global economic crisis have left governments seeking to justify their actions and calm the fears of their citizens. This paper offers an account of an exploratory study into the process of political communication. Using a constructivist grounded theory methodology, it identifies models that require modernisation and amalgamates them into a broader model that reflects the political communications experience of the respondents. It concludes with some consideration of the implications for not only the field of political marketing communications but for marketing communications as a whole. © Springer-Verlag 2009