1. A STUDY
OF THE
POSITIONING TECHNIQUE
USED BY
POLITICAL MARKETERS
AMONG
YOUNG INDIA
By Shreya Singhania under the guidance of Prof. D.
Sen

2. Objectives of the study
The main objective is to understand which
positioning techniques to use to vouchsafe the
support of the youth of the country.
For the achievement of which, we need
 To understand the positioning tools that
political marketer’s in India use.
 To understand the impact that these tools have
on the youth of our country.
2

3. Introduction
 Why political Marketing ?
 Around a third of the Indian population is
between the age 18-34
3
“Across the length and breadth of our
country, people are expecting much more
from the political parties. Our people are
fed up with the corruption they face. We
must understand this. Today's India is
better informed and equipped. The
technology has led them to ask more of
their leaders."

4. Literature ReviewChapter
2

5. Positioning :“Connecting with the
voters”
5
A theme is
selected on the
basis of how
concerned the
electorate is
about that theme
and the extent to
which the policy
fits the political
entity’s ethos
(Baines et
al., 1999).
The local
campaigns must
be speaking the
same voice as the
national campaign
Local
Campaigning
Electioneering
Door-to-Door
Canvassing
Telephone Canvassing
and Direct Mails
Celebrity Endorsement
Local Meetings
Handouts
National
Campaigning
Internet
• Social Media and Discussion Forums
Twitter
Facebook
• Video transmissions
Google hangouts
3D campaigns adopted by BJP
• Websites
Television
• Directly Advertisements
• Indirectly Publicity through news channels
Print Media and Radio
• Advertisements
• Indirectly through news reports

6. Telephone Canvassing
 Number- 906.6
million
 Started with 2007 UP
state elections by
BSP
 UPA is switching to
mobile governance ;
penetration likely to
help in 2014
 2009 election an
unofficial group
“Friends of BJP”
6

7. 82% penetration of social media in college going students and
84% in young men. BJP seems to be very active in this method
of campaigning. Though both have established themselves in
networking sites.
Social Media7
1,454*
379
280 271 248
178 159
96 74
Narendra ModiManmohan SinghMamta BanerjeeArvind KejriwalRahul GandhiPriyanka GandhiSukhbir Singh BadalAkhilesh YadavNitish Kumar
Thousands
Top 10 Indian Polical Leaders according to
Number of followers on Official Facebook
Page
*as on 31st April,2013

8. Video Transmissions
8
 Google+ Hangouts are places used to facilitate
group video chat (with a maximum of 10 people
participating in a single Hangout at any point in
time).
 Narendra Modi’s generated over 82,000 online
views while P. Chidambaram's generated over
38,200 online views .
 Other than that the 5-Year Planning Commission
and Roads Minister, C.P. Joshi has also used this
medium.
 3D holographic projection campaigns are being
used by the BJP, using this they can rally in many
places at a time. The cost involved, was Rs. 5 crore
for each projection

9. Advertisements
9
 Congress in 2009 : ““Aam aadmi ke badhte
kadam, Har kadam par Bharat buland”, “Jai Ho” (the
famous song by AR Rahman).
 Whereas BJP: “Bhay Ho” & “Dishaheen”, “mazboot
neta, nirnayak sarkar — strong leader, decisive
government”
 Congress in Gujrat 2012 : disha badlo, dasha badlo;
“Damb” and “Ahankar” in Gujarat, unemployed youths
questioning “Vibrant Gujrat”
 BJP in Gujarat 2012 : “Ekmat Gujarat, Bane BhaJap
Sarkar”; sound of a “slap”; Kabbadi ad.
TV spots are around 60-65 for 30sec-60sec.
 Congress has 12 to 15 ads per day on radio as for
BJP it is 15 to 18 ads per day.
 Misrepresentation by Political Advertisements.

10. Objective : To understand the impact of the aforementioned
techniques on youth (ages 17-35)
No of valid Responses received: 46
Medium: Google Docs
SurveyChapter
3

11. 11

12. Which of the following techniques used by political organizations
have influenced your voting decisions in the past?
Question 112
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Handouts
Processions and Rallies
Loudspeakers being used to…
Banners/ Flags/ Bills/ Paintings…
Receiving texts supporting a…
Receiving emails or letters
Receiving invitations to a party…

13. A hypothetical test shows that the level of influence on
each technique was same for men and women.
13
Test statistic (t) is equal to ~ N (0, 1)
Name of the technique Value of test statistic (t)
for each technique
Φ(x)
Handouts 0.2727 0.2308 0.29878 0.61791
Processions and Rallies 0.4242 0.3846 0.24746 0.59871
Loudspeakers 0.4545 0.2308 1.537492 0.93822
Banners/ Flags/ Bills
etc
0.6061 0.5385 0.41643 0.66276
SMS 0.3939 0.3077 0.56088 0.71226
Emails and Post 0.606 0.769 -1.127499 0.10204
Party Meets 0.909 0.769 1.100923 0.84134
Therefore for a significance level of less than 20%, there is
insufficient evidence to reject H0. Hence we accept the
hypothesis that influence on females and males is the same for
each technique.

14. The above data shows the percentage of women respondents
ranking each technique
Question 214
Handouts Processions/
Rallies
Loudspeake
rs
Banners/
Flags/ Bills/
Paintings of
party
symbols on
walls
SMS Emails/
Post Letters
Party meet
invitations/
advertiseme
nts in other
meetings
Rank 1 6.1 9.1 12.1 21.2 6.1 9.1 3.0
Rank 2 12.1 15.2 3.0 9.1 12.1 3.0 0.0
Rank 3 6.1 36.4 6.1 12.1 0.0 0.0 6.1
Rank 4 15.2 9.1 12.1 9.1 3.0 9.1 6.1
Rank 5 6.1 6.1 3.0 0.0 18.2 6.1 9.1
Rank 6 3.0 9.1 15.2 3.0 3.0 6.1 9.1
Rank 7 0.0 12.1 0.0 6.1 9.1 0.0 9.1

15. The above data shows the percentage of men respondents
ranking each technique
15
Handouts Processions/
Rallies
Loudspeakers Banners/
Flags/
Bills/
Paintings
of party
symbols
on walls
SMS Emails/
Post
Letters
Party meet
invitations/
advertisements
in other
meetings
Rank 1 15.4 7.7 0.0 15.4 0.0 15.4 0.0
Rank 2 7.7 7.7 7.7 7.7 7.7 15.4 15.4
Rank 3 0.0 23.1 0.0 15.4 7.7 7.7 0.0
Rank 4 7.7 0.0 7.7 0.0 15.4 0.0 7.7
Rank 5 0.0 0.0 0.0 23.1 0.0 0.0 15.4
Rank 6 0.0 23.1 0.0 0.0 15.4 0.0 0.0
Rank 7 30.8 0.0 30.8 0.0 0.0 7.7 0.0

16. 16

17. Which networking site is the most popular among the
respondents?
Question 317
0 2 4 6 8 10121416182022242628303234363840424446
Facebook
Twitter
Google Plus
Youtube
Linkedin
Total
Females
Males

18. Question 4
18
Scatter
Plots
showing
the daily
average
time spent
on each
media and
age.

19. Question 5
19
Does the impact of a Media depend on the time
spent on that media?
To test,
H0: There is no linear relationship between the rank
(on the basis of influence) given to the media and
the time spent on it, i.e. ρ=0 against,
H1: There is a linear relationship between the rank
given to the media and the time spent on it, i.e.
ρ≠0.
Under H0,
Test statistic (t) = ~ t-distribution with ν =
n-2

20. 20
1
2
3
4
0 50 100 150 200
Rankgiven
Time spent on the media (in minutes)
Social networking sites
1
2
3
4
0 50 100 150 200
Rankgiven
Time spent on the media (in minutes)
Television
In the case of Social Media,
r = -0.100642784 and n= 46, ν= 44
Therefore, t= -0.671.
At a 10% level of significance
also, we may accept H0.
In case of television,
r = -0.0616759 and n= 46, ν= 44.
Therefore, t= -0.4098
At a 10% level of significance
also, we may accept H0.

21. 21
1
2
3
4
0 20 40 60 80
Rankgiven
Time spent on the media (in minutes)
Newspapers and Magazines
1
2
3
4
0 20 40 60 80
Rankgiven
Time spent on the media (in minutes)
Radio
In case of Newspapers and
Magazines,
r = -0.3983435 and n= 46, ν= 44
Therefore, t= -2.8859.
We may accept Ho, only at a ≤2.5%
significance level.
Incase of Radio,
r = -0.2070689 and n= 46, ν= 44
Therefore, t= -1.040396.
At a 10% level of significance
also, we may accept H0.

22. 22

23. Question 6
23
Have
certain
debates/
discussions
on news
channels or
radio
changed
your view
about a
political
party?
0 0.2 0.4 0.6
No
Yes in a positive way
Yes in a negative way
Total
Males
Females

24. Question 7
24
The responses I received had the following ideas (in order of
frequency),
1. Corruption free government
2. Development and Betterment of the nation
3. How they have dealt with problems in the past
4. Not sure about whom to votes
5. Change towards citizens and society
6. Keeping up to promises
7. Not make money for self
8. Sincerity towards problem solving
9. Practical approach in problem solving
10. Young candidates
11. Just nature of the government
12. Not being interested in voting and it was just a formailty.

25. Conclusion
25
 Of all the techniques, Banners, Flags, Bills
and Paintings of Party symbols have been
most influential followed by Processions and
Rallies.
 Facebook is the most popular social networking
site
 There is no substance in the fact that time
spent on a media (internet, television, print or
radio) makes a difference on the voting
decision.
 Debates/ discussions on news channels or

26. Bibliography

27. 27
Market Research
Reports
Synovate “Young Asians survey” 2011
Internet & Mobile Association of
India
“Social Media in India” 2012
IAMAI and IMRB “I-cube” 2011
TAM(Television Authority
Measurement) India
“India’s Peoplemeter Update” 2013
IMRB @ Brand Sciences “IMPRINT”(Newsletter) June 2009
Scholarly Articles Phil Harris “The political marketing planning process:
improving image and message in strategic target
areas”
Jennifer Lees Marshment Political Marketing: Principles and Applications
Newspaper Articles N Madhavan, Hindustan Times Bepreparedforsocialmediain2014generalelections November 11, 2012
Arun Prabhudesai, Trak India 52 Million Active Internet Users in India – rural
India overtakes Urbanites !
April 7, 2010
Manish Pandey, India Today UPA introduces mobile governance ahead of 2014,
aims to reach out to electorate in rural areas
March 3, 2013
Nabanita, One India Entertainment Bollywood's immortal love for Indian politics Feb 21, 2012
Ani News CP Joshi to go live on Google Plus Hangout on
March 29
March 29, 2013
Anish Sinha, India Today FM's hit Hangout raises UPA's social media hopes March 07, 2013
Search Engines Google http://www.google.com
You tube http://www.youtube.com
Book Actuarial Education Company, UK Probability and Mathematical Statistics