ABSTRACT
It is symptomatic of the newness of the field of Political Marketing that there are a number of basic but contentious issues that are yet to be resolved. Indeed, there is still much discussion as to what political marketing actually is. Scammell (1999) highlights the lack of consensus concerning the precise definition of ‘political marketing,’ whilst elsewhere debates rage as to whether ‘the marketing concept’ is either applicable, appropriate or even desirable (Lock and Harris 1996; Palmer 2002) as a framework upon which to model political processes. The aim of this paper is to focus upon two aspects central to the concept of marketing, that of the ‘product’ and the ‘marketing mix,’ and examine the extent to which they are applicable to the political arena.
