Political impression management: How metaphors, sound bites, appearance effectiveness, and personality traits can win elections

Abstract

This article introduces the concepts of political impression management and perception politics. It furthermore discusses results from empirical case studies by the authors using experiments and applying recent research models. Three main points of interest will be addressed: sound bites, the effects of appearance in politics, and personality profiles in the media. According to the view of political impression management, politicians and political parties control the impression they make on the audience (De Landtsheer, 2004). But first and foremost, this article tries to bridge the domain of political impression management with the domain of political marketing. The article concludes with some critical thoughts on the influences between political impression management and democracy.