Market Research, Volatile Voters and Political Marketing

This event will explore how market research is used to inform leadership decisions, policy and communication in elections and government, and the crucial role it plays in helping politicians develop effective political brands.

Please note this will be an in-house event at MRS HQ

2024 was the year of elections, with more than 100 countries and nearly half the world’s population having a vote. Many of these elections were turbulent, with the rise of new political movements, and the rapid spread of misinformation. For researchers it has become more vital than ever to understand the ways in which politicians, parties, and movements connect with citizens, and what these changes mean for research beyond the political sphere.

Leading researchers will share and debate and draw links between market research, polling and political marketing. Themes covered includes the rise of disinformation and the role of market research in a world of untruths.

The speakers are:

• Professor Paul Baines, Professor of Political Marketing & Head of Executive Education, Leicester School of Business. Paul is a world-renowned expert on political marketing and propaganda and is a frequent broadcast and press media commentator on political marketing/strategic communication issues. Paul is a fellow of the MRS, a member of the (US) Market Research Council and ESOMAR.
  
  
• Professor Jennifer Lees-Marshment, Professor of Political Marketing & Management, University of Dundee. Jennifer has authored/edited 20 books on political marketing and public input, and interviewed over 350 practitioners in New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the UK and the US about how politics and government work in practice. This has included political advisors to prime ministers as well as external pollsters.