The Obama Election

and
The Consumer
Behaviour concepts

Miguel Garcia
Consumer Behaviour, The Magellan MBA May 2010
 index

1. The buyer decision process vs the voting

decision process
2. The perceptive process
3. The memory process
4. the motivation process
5. Social cognition
6. Communication
7. Brand
8. Result
9. Post-purchase behaviour managemnt
The Buyer Decision Process vs
The Voting Decision Process

the President of the USA

product
may be seen as a
or the American Administration
as a service

using the same reasoning

the American Presidential
Elections are the purchasing
Process of that product/service
 The Buyer Decision Process vs
The Voting Decision Process
*
The Purchase Decision Process Model
How to Other
Chose the Buy the Cognitive
A need or desire supress the products for
product product dissonance
need the same need

Evaluation Post -
Problem Information Purchase
of Purchase Purchase
Recognition Search Decision
Alternative Behavior

A president
Need of The Whom to President
to govern The vote
government candidates vote for evaluation
the country

The process of choosing a President is a

Particular case of The Purchase
Decision process

* Adapted from the “Buyer decision processes” on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buyer_decision_processes)

 The Buyer Decision Process vs
The Voting Decision Process
As in any other purchasing process, the election process is influenced by
several factors of different kind
Economic Needs Psy Variables Social Influences Purchase Situation

*economy of purchase *motivation *family *purchase reason

*convenience *perception *social class *surroundings

*Efficiency *learning *reference groups *time

*dependability *attitude *culture

*personality

Consumer Decision Process

Evaluation Post -
Problem Information Purchase
of Purchase Purchase
Recognition Search Decision
Alternative Behavior

* Adapted from the “Basic Marketing – A Global Managerial Approach”;Canon, Perreault, McCarthy McGraw-Hill 2008
 The Voting Decision Process

All these influential factors ought

to be addressed in an effective marketing campaign

In terms of an election The economic needs

are related to the outcome Of the election, as in
the performance as President, And are probably
the only non-subjective measure (if one finds
objective measures to it)

All the other are due to subjectivity and depend

on the perception of the customer (voter)
to be worked in order to maximize the sales –
the number of votes
 The Perceptive Process
The Perceptive Process: the sequence of
stages that lead to the subject
psychological processing of the stimulus: Hearing

what the stimulus means to that

individual. Taste Sight
The Interpretation stage is the Interpretation
decisive stage towards the
perception construction.
Smell Touch
This stage occursinside of the
individual and is defined by his own
experiences and personal
psychological constructions.

* Adapted from the “Consumer Behaviour”;João Dionísio, The Magellan MBA 2010
 The Perceptive Process
The Obama’s campaign approach was to
create a set ofdiversified
Stimuli that appealed to positive
Sensations and positive common
psychological constructions.

Clearly on a differentiative move,

Obama campaign used visual (IMAGES, TEXT PRINTS,
FOTOS), audio (SPEACHES, SONGS, SLOGANS) and
tactile (STATUES, STICKERS, PINS, ACTION FIGURES)
stimuli. The objective was to increase the
Individuals exposure to the Stimuli (in time, occasions
and absolute number of individuals) And to
enhance the effect.
 The Memory Process
External The memory process is the process that
Sitmuli
defines how the information is
acquired, stored,
maintained and retrieved.
Processing
internal

complex
Information is stored in
Storage knowledge structures called
schemas which consist of wide
information networks defined
by associations based on different
Retrieval
criteria.

* Adapted from the “Consumer Behaviour”;João Dionísio, The Magellan MBA 2010
 The Memory Process

It has been sustained by scientific evidences

that the greater the consumer’s cognitive
effort the more likely it is that the
retained in the
Information will be
long-term memory.

Following this theory,

the Obama’s campaign approach
was to create a set of stimuli
that would be both directly and
indirectly linked to common
psychological constructions
The American Culture.
 The Memory Process

This effort consisted on associating Obama to people, events,

subjects, Places, even phenomena.
The result was one of the most long-lasting And
widely known political slogan in the world history.
 The Memory Process: an example

McCain’s campaign blog Pile of Words

Most common word: Obama
Other common words: visit, drilling, opposes, senator, pentagon
* From “Portrait of the Candidate as a Pile of Words” by John Schwenkler
 The Memory Process: an example

Obama’s campaign blog Pile of Words

Most common word: Obama
Other common words: future, change, donate, supporters

* From “Portrait of the Candidate as a Pile of Words” by John Schwenkler

 1
The Motivation Process
Motivation may be defined as
the Factors within a human being or
animal that arouse and direct goal-
oriented behaviour.
The Motivation process is the process by which the appearance
and recognition of a need translates into a behaviour towards the
satisfaction of that need. There’s a tension and an internal conflict caused by
that need and it’s dissatisfaction, that drive the individual for a change.
2
motivation

Search for
Need tension behaviour
satisfaction

conflict

1. From Britannica
2. Adapted from the “Consumer Behaviour”;João Dionísio, The Magellan MBA 2010
 The Needs Pyramid
Maslow motivation theory is based on the
motivated
principle that people are
by unsatisfied needs.

According to Maslow Pyramid of

Needs, these needs can be stacked in a
pyramid, yet, this hierarchy in not rigid.
lower-level needs
nevertheless,
usually mean higher engagement
by the individuals when seeking
satisfaction.

Typically, in developed societies like the

American, the lower level needs are

•Adapted from the “A Theory of Human Motivation”;Abraham Maslow

satisfied.
 obama’s motivation
new
Obama campaign focused on creating a
need, the need for a change.
The arguments were based on the
economical crisis – which directly
related to physiological needs (as well as
other high level needs); the punishment
of the responsible for the crisis – safety
layer needs; and the health care
system – again related to
physiological needs.
Basically, Obama campaign appealed to
basic needs using typically high-level situations
 Social Cognition
Attitudes and Stereotypes

Cognition A stereotype is a commonly held

public belief about specific social
groups or types of individuals.
Stereotypes are standardized and
attitude simplified conceptions of groups
based on some
prior assumptions.
Behaviour Feelings

* Adapted from the “Consumer Behaviour”;João Dionísio, The Magellan MBA 2010
 Social Cognition
Attitudes and Stereotypes

Because of his ideas, speeches, looks,

background, age, race and even his name, Barack
Hussein Obama, born in Honolulu in 1961 had to
overcome a dramatic handicap.

Never an African-American was even clinched

candidate for any party in the USA history.

His name, appearance, beliefs and prior positions

made ground for linkages to Islamism, terrorism
and other “anti-American” stereotypes
 Social Cognition
Attitudes and Stereotypes

Yet, instead of responding in the same way or even

using the same arguments, obama campaign used
the argument change.

A different man to make different things.

The greatest worry of this strategy was to gain the

trust of the people.

Using the integrated communication

strategy, the goal was to change cognition,
feelings and behaviour, building a new
attitude towards all that Obama
truly represented.
 Communication

Communication is a process of transferring

information from one entity to another. Communication
processes are sign-mediated interactions between at least
two agents which share a repertoire of signs and semiotic
rules. Communication is commonly defined as "the imparting or
interchange of thoughts, opinions, or information by speech,
writing, or signs".

Obama campaign marked a revolution in terms of political

communication. Both in content and form, all new means
were used and even created to communicate Obama’s message to
the people.
 Communication: Media Used

art
 Communication
Obama’s campaign not only used new media, but it actually
differentiated through that usage.

Some of the platforms used were actually the only way to

access certain targets. So, some voters were only accessed by
Obama, because he was the only using the means to do so.

Moreover, it was a matter of coherency. When passing the

message of change, it made sense to change the way the
communication was made.

Through a persuasive message, Obama was able to surpass

the stereotype handicap. His message included arguments both
rational and emotional in a balanced and effective way.
 Communication
A decisive aspect of the communication strategy, was that it was
based in the one to one and word of mouth
communication.
This approach favored the credibility of the message, gave
agility to the campaign, enforced the connection between
the campaign and the voters (they were actually part of it) and
it took advantage of the will of the people and of the
momentum that was gradually created, actually re-enforcing
it.

To do so, obama used “viral-marketing”, “one-to-one marketing”

and tribal marketing techniques.

Because of this approach, Some incidents harmed the

campaign, nevertheless, the overall benefits also helped on
mitigating that damage.
 Communication

An unique aspect in the Obama communication was the

number of contributions from the voters, namely
known artists such as Shepard Fairey, Stan Lee, Bruce
Springsteen, The Black-Eyed Pees or even Bob Dylan
 Communication – Public Figures
The usage of public figures
supporting the campaign was masterly
managed.

Several, recognized and

diversified opinion leaders,
symbols of obama’s message were
selected and welcomed to the process.

One decisive public support and one of the best

examples on how obama managed his supporters was
oprah winfrey, a consensual figure both
for african-americans as for all americans
 Communication – Public Figures
Again in the usage of public figures support,
Obama’s campaign innovated.
Given the difficulty of agenda conciliation, and
leveraging the impact of their support,
several stars opted to show their support through
other forms than public appearances at
events, using clothing and objects allusive to
Obama campaign.

The problem with public figures is exactly that

they are public. When Obama’s long time
pastor, Rev. Wright, was quoted on outburst
rages against US government, he was used to
harm campaign.
Yet the credibility already conquered was
crucial to minimize the damages.
 Brand
Obama created a true world wide scale brand
A brand above any party or even politics.

This brand is a text-book example of a outstanding brand:

COMPLETE
Overcoming stereotypes, racial and
ideological barriers Obama granted an DYNAMIC
acceptance all over the country, actually An hyper-active campaign occurred
all over the world. through the months, creating events all
over the country of the most diversified
kind

SURPRISING
Both in ideas, forms and intervention, VISIBLE
Obama created a new style of its own. Using all the new media resources,
Yet, everything he did was coherent. obama and contribution of mediatic
personalities, achieved a greater
visibility that any other politician. He
made the news and passed it through.
 Brand

RELEVANT CLOSE
This was the possible next president of Because of the communication strategy,
america, so whatever he did, by he became a very close reference – he
definition was relevant. Nevertheless he communicated with voters in the first
actually made his words matter, given person, he explained directly and
the commitment he showed towards devotedly his ideas.
them.

Obama was one of the few to have generalized honours of superhero

 Brand Dimensions

The brand dimensions:

MISSION VISION
"Change happens because the American
people demand it -- because they rise
up and insist on new ideas and new
leadership, a new politics for a new
time. America, this is one of those
SEGMENTATION moments. I believe that as hard as it will
be, the change we need is coming."
“To succeed, we'll need all Americans,
no matter how they may have voted, to
join us in the work ahead. If we set
aside the old politics that have kept us
apart, there's no limit to what we can
achieve.”

* Taken from www.barackobama.com

 IMAGE & IDENTITY Brand Dimensions

EXPERIENCES

POSITIONING
“What the naysayers don't understand is that
this election has never been about me. It's about
you.”
“We're up against the belief that it's all right for
lobbyists to dominate our government, that they
are just part of the system in Washington.”

* Taken from www.barackobama.com

The Result
Post-Purchase Behaviour Management

Obama keeps close relation with costumers/voters

Cognitive Dissonance Management
aiming for customer satisfaction & loyalty
Post-Purchase Behaviour Management

Even in the bad times, or, especially on bad times!

 Post-Purchase Behaviour Management

Even under exceptionally hard circumstances,

(the worst and unprecedented global economical crisis)
And very controversial measures (the health care plan)
Obama resists as the 4th ever most approved president

* From Gallup Poll graphs of approval ratings for Presidents of the United States