Impact of Packaging Politics and Branding of Political Leaders on Public’s Political Perception

Abstract

This study examines the impact of political branding and packaging through the use of mass media as a means of disseminating political information to the general public. Packaging politics and political branding can be important sources of influence on the political perception of public. For this purpose, literature related to branding and packaging techniques being used in political communication, and cultivation analysis has been reviewed. The findings of this study enable research to raise awareness by identifying various techniques of packaging and branding used in political communication by the political parties which ultimately have noticeable impact on political perception and the voting behavior. This study includes the quantitative approach of data collection employing non-probability sampling technique. The sample size of this study is 600 respondents, divided into 67% to 33% male and female respectively. This study has revealed that majority of the respondents are heavy media user in regard of politics and projection of political leaders to the highest pedestals by using branding and packaging techniques has subjugated the importance of manifestos of political parties. This study has also resulted in the findings that the voting behavior of the respondents is greatly influenced by the media presentation of political leaders and political parties. The study's cultivation analysis indicates the impact on media consumers from light to heavy viewers. The findings revealed that heavy viewers are more influenced by media content than light viewers.