European Journal of Business and Management www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1905 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2839 (Online) Vol.8, No.26, 2016 50 Effect of Political Advertising on Voters’ Choice of Candidate: Emphasis on the 2015 Governorship Election in Imo State, Nigeria Gazie Okpara 1 * Robert Anuforo 2 Princewell N. Achor 3 1 Department of Marketing, Abia State University, Uturu, Abia State, Nigeria 2 Department of Marketing, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture,Umudike Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria 3 Department of Marketing, Faculty of Business Administration, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, Enugu State, Nigeria Abstract The study assessed the effect of political advertising on voters’ choice of candidate during the 2015 Governorship Election in Imo State, Nigeria. The study was motivated by the tense political atmosphere that pervaded the political landscape in the state prior to the gubernatorial election due to the incumbent governor’s defection to an opposition party and the resolve of other candidates in that election to take over the reins of power from the incumbent governor. To solicit votes or win the support of the electorate, candidates used political advertising among other strategies to sell their personality and party manifestoes. Political advertising of two notable candidates in that election (Rochas Okorocha of the All Progressives Congress, and Emeka Ihedioha of the Peoples Democratic Party) were studied. Key results showed that: there was significant relationship between voters’ exposure to political advertising and voters’ choice of candidate; voters’ choice of candidate in the 2015 guber election in Imo State was significantly influenced by unique selling propositions of candidates’ political advertising. Voters’ informed voting decision was significantly attributed to different message delivery patterns used. Also, the difference in message content of some of political advertising and the way they were relayed in different advertising media did not significantly affect voters’ choice of candidate in that election, meanwhile voters’ choice of candidate for an election significantly changed when presented with more believable facts by opponent’s advertising message. Based on these results, the study recommends that voters should always evaluate the content of candidates’ political advertisements and match the results with the observable character of candidates to ascertain if a candidate’s personality profile and party programmes fit into their choice criteria. Political marketing practitioners should see political advertising as a potent tool for candidate marketing and a vehicle to drive behaviour and attitude change. Keywords: Political Advertising, Voters’ Choice, Candidate, Political Marketing, Unique Selling Proposition 1.Introduction The nomination and election of candidates into various political offices are important in party politics and representative democracy. In every political party, such nominations are made at national and state conventions preceding the presidential, gubernatorial, and other local elections (Achor and Moguluwa, 2012). Prior to the 2015 general elections in Nigeria and indeed Imo State, political parties through keenly contested or ‘stage- managed’ primaries produced candidates who vied for various political offices. Securing a party’s candidature is a hurdle that must be passed using intra-party connections, personal contacts, and aspirant’s credentials or achievements. After securing a party’s candidacy, the candidate and the political party have an uphill task to winning during general elections (Achor, 2011). Irrespective of the level of political campaign, the electorate (voters) is the target. They buy the political product if the product meets their needs; they are also the recipients of political messages that solicit their support or vote. The voters may vary in their expectations which could range from a desire for total change from ‘politics as usual’, vibrant and visionary political leadership, to detribalized leader with holistic electorate-focused programmes (Achor, Nwachukwu and Udensi, 2016). As targets in political campaign (i.e. electioneering and voter mobilization campaigns), the voters are influenced through various political marketing strategies and programmes. The array of political marketing strategies provides information which voters need to assess candidate’s capability in satisfying their needs. The contents of the campaign blue-print are the expressions of candidate’s objectives for seeking votes from the electorate (Owuamalam, 2014).Prior to the 2015 gubernatorial election in Imo state, the two prominent gubernatorial candidates (Owelle Rochas Okorocha and Emeka Ihedioha) massively employed political marketing strategies. These were employed to woo voters or persuade them to vote candidate of their choice or political party. One prominent strategy adopted by the two guber-candidates was political advertising, which is a kind of advertising specifically directed to the electorate to persuade them to vote for or against a candidate. Political advertising was massively employed since there is no known cutting edge strategy that can win all the time, given the political terrain in Nigeria and particularly in Imo State where competition is stiff. It can be recalled that the political atmosphere in Imo State prior to the general elections was tense as a brought to you by CORE View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk provided by International Institute for Science, Technology and Education (IISTE): E-Journals