An Exploration of the Political Brand Image of Fine Gael from the Perspective of Irish Voters Through the Use of Qualitative Projective Techniques

McDonnell, Ronan (2019) An Exploration of the Political Brand Image of Fine Gael from the Perspective of Irish Voters Through the Use of Qualitative Projective Techniques. Masters thesis, Dublin, National College of Ireland.

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Abstract

Since the 2011 Irish General Election, Fine Gael has been the governing party of Ireland and, in terms of members of the Oireachtas and Europan Parliament, has been the largest party. During this time, the Irish political landscape has experienced a number of socially progressive milestones, indicative of the changing demographics and political beliefs in postrecession Ireland. Through the use of qualitative projective techniques, this research seeks to explore the current political brand image of Fine Gael from the perspective of Irish voters. Projective techniques can be used to provide an in-depth understanding deep-seated feelings and underlying attitudes of voters towards political brands. This understanding is important, as political brands can offer an inherent strength electorally due to their ability to produce simple, credible, salient and long-standing voter signals, and to encourage consistency in voting decisions. This research takes a holistic viewpoint of the political brand that encompasses the three elements of the party leader, political party, and party policies. Firstly, this research interprets existing branding theory, and its implications towards the study of branding in political contexts. This is followed by a review of existing political branding literature. This is followed by an outline of the research approach, which includes a review of projective techniques and their applicability to this research. Key findings are then presented, followed by a discussion on the political brand image of Fine Gael. The conclusion lays out the implications and limitations of this research, and potential areas for further research.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Subjects:	J Political Science > JA Political science (General) H Social Sciences > HF Commerce > Marketing > Branding H Social Sciences > HF Commerce > Marketing
Divisions:	School of Business > Master of Science in Marketing
Depositing User:	Caoimhe Ní Mhaicín
Date Deposited:	24 Oct 2019 12:06
Last Modified:	24 Oct 2019 12:06
URI:	https://norma.ncirl.ie/id/eprint/4034

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