Archetypes of Polish Political Parties - Empirical Analysis

Abstract

Numerous attempts to explain the puzzle of the party-voter relationship have been made. Researchers explain vote choice referring to one’s social status, individual or group interests, sense of identity. All of them offer an interesting, but not complete explanation of the decisionmaking process. In the present paper, we study this phenomenon, using the brand personality approach, which focuses on consumers’ identity and emotional needs, according to which voter chooses a party which best resonates with an expression of the self he wishes to demonstrate (Street 2003). To examine the personalities of political brands, we refer to the concept of archetypes - a wellknown marketing research tool that enables to study of emotions and subconscious motivations that accompany all people’s choices. Using a mixed methodology, we verify what personality characteristics and dimensions (archetypes) voters use to describe Polish political parties and what needs and emotions accompanying party choice these archetypes indicate. The result is a portrait of political parties and their voters going beyond the traditional comparison of party manifestos, giving an insight into functional and emotional needs voting for a particular party meets.