ABSTRACT
Modern marketing concepts and practices have been applied to virtually all areas of human endeavor from commerce and education to religion and healthcare. It is somewhat surprising, that despite the impetus given by such writers as Jamieson (1984) and some work in marketing by Rothschild (1978), Newman and Sheth (1985), Burton and Netemeyer (1992), O’Cass (2002a,b) and others, that little empirical research has been conducted in the political arena from the marketing perspective, particularly voter behavior. Yet, from a consumer behavior point of view marketing has much to contribute to politics and the proper functioning of the democratic process. Such contributions may be seen in investigations of central topics in consumer behavior such as, involvement, information search and opinion leadership. For example, involvement and information search are a vital part of virtually all treatments of human decision making in marketing and consumer behavior and it is an equally important element in the decision making of mass electorates (Converse 2000).
