Expert to PR Gurus: Proffer Ideas to Tackle Vote Buying, Political Intolerance
A political marketing communicator, Dr. Princewell Achor has urge the public relations professionals to crystalise strategic ideas to help mitigate issues capable of causing political intolerance, voter apathy and vote buying.
He described vote buying as an outlawed and unethical practice that has to be tackled through voter education and political public relations, and political marketing.
In his paper presentation, delivered at the May edition of the business meeting of the Nigeria Institute of Public Relations, NIPR, Anambra State Chapter, in Awka, Dr. Achor called on PR professionals to adopt marketing strategies to engender healthy political climate.
The PR guru, described the term marketing as “the human activity directed at satisfying needs and wants through the exchange/transactional process”. The exchange process involves both tangible and intangible products, socio-political goods, and economic products.
According to Dr. Achor, “all politics is about marketing but not all marketing is about politics”.
“Whether we apply or express politics from its ubiquitous framework or normative and descriptive perspectives, the act of politics cannot be divorced from marketing.
“Though both distinctively focus on human issues using different approaches, but the axiom “all politics is about marketing but not all marketing is about politics” tangentially explores their frontiers and areas of mutual interest, or convergence”, he added.
The exchange of value is between social entities; it can be said that in politics, the “exchange process” occurs between a political party/candidate(s) and voters.
The exchange must be of value to both parties, especially to the electorate. Therefore, marketing applies to political processes as a transaction and focuses on how transactions are created, stimulated, and valued within a polity.
On her part, the Chairman of NIPR, Anambra State Chapter, Professor Angela Nwammuo, added that “there is the need for public relations practitioners to draw and implement a blueprint of action to guide them perform their functions in politics or government, particularly as the 2023 elections approach”.
