Kevin Moloney

The dark side of political marketing

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss exploratory research into the perceptions of British Muslims towards Islamist ideological messaging to contribute to the general debate on “radicalisation”.Design/methodology/approach – Four focus groups were undertaken with a mixture of Bangladeshi and Pakistani British Muslims who were shown a selection of Islamist propaganda media clips, garnered from the internet.Findings – The paper proposess that Islamist communications focus on eliciting change in emotional states, specifically inducing the paratelic‐excitement mode, by focusing around a meta‐narrative of Muslims as a unitary grouping self‐defined as victim to Western aggression. It concludes that British Muslim respondents were unsympathetic to the Islamist ideological messaging contained in the sample of propaganda clips.Originality/value – The paper provides an insight into how British Muslims might respond to Islamist communications, indicating that, while most are not susceptible to inducement ...

Is Political Marketing New Words or New Practice in UK Politics

ABSTRACT This review of the literature on political marketing and the party most associated with it in the UK, New Labour, suggests that the relationship is not straightforward. Politicians are, for example, hesitant to use marketing language in public. The relationship is problema-tised along the three dimensions of: partial or total import into some or all of politics; functional or instrumental use by leading politicians, and the roles of transformer of politics, or transfer agent for techniques. The results suggest two responses. The first is more fieldwork into political marketing outside of electoral campaigning and inside policy making. The second is a reconceptualising of the relationship away from the transformation or transfer dimension, and towards political marketing as a methodology for understanding a very different, and very separate activity, namely politics.

Why Companies Hire Lobbyists

A sample of those responsible in big businesses for hiring lobbyists was interviewed. ‘Propensity to hire’ depends on internal needs for services offered: on needs for access to decision-makers; for representation; and for policy advice and administrative support. Demand for services is not constant: even within one company, it is contingent on externalities. ‘Propensity to hire’ seems not to relate to corporate size. It depends on several factors: experience and capacity of corporate staff; supply side ativities by hired lobbyists (aka commercial lobbyists); the companys strategic position in the economy; expectations in their economic sector, and the challenges faced.

Public relations: does the industry need regulating?

Hypothesises that the public relations industry and those connected with it suffer from low reputation; that this perception is widespread and may create a distorted reality. Surveys a self‐selected and representative sample to evaluate the hypothesis. Considers semantic differences in terminology. Argues for empirical location, reform and more interdisciplinary research. Suggests that an Office for the Regulation of the Public Relations industry (OFFPR) might improve reputation of the industry and the people who work in it, including teachers and students.