The impact of perceptions of politician brand warmth and competence on voting intentions
| Published date | 11 March 2019 |
| Date | 11 March 2019 |
| Pages | 256-273 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-09-2017-1562 |
| Author | Aronté Marie Bennett,Chris Malone,Kenyn Cheatham,Naina Saligram |
The impact of perceptions of politician brand
warmth and competence on voting intentions
Aronté Marie Bennett
Department of Marketing, Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania, USA, and
Chris Malone, Kenyn Cheatham and Naina Saligram
Fidelum Partners, Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, USA
Abstract
Purpose –The cultivation and maintenance of a brand is becoming increasingly important as politiciansseek to connect with constituents. Through
the lens of social cognition and group dynamics, this paper aims to understand the impact of evaluations of politician brands on voter intentions.
Design/methodology/approach –Three studies utilize the social cognition constructs of warmth and competence from the stereotype content
model (SCM) and Brands as Intentional Agents Framework (BIAF) to evaluate the impact of brand perceptions on voting intentions, comparing fit
between the models. The first study establishes the impact of these perceptions on existing politicians. The second study replicates these effects
while controlling for party affiliation and extraneous factors and explicitly studies politicians as brands. The third study examines the formation of
perceptions and assumptions when full information is unavailable.
Findings –Social cognition and group dynamics drive responses to politician brands. The data hereinsupport perceptions of warmth and
competence as significant predictors of voting intentions. Dependent upon whether the politician is being evaluated as a brand or a person, BIAF or
SCM predicts the dimension that will be most impactful. These patterns persist in the absence of full information. As expected, voting intentions
increased significantly when the voter was of the same (vs opposing) party as that of the candidate.
Research limitations/implications –Conducted during an election year, evaluations of politicians are susceptible to the current political climate
and the predominantly two party political system in which the studies were conducted. The design of Studies 2 and 3 addresses some of these
limitations. Results point toward the interrelated nature of warmth and competence perceptions and the usefulness of applyi ng both BIAF and SCM
to understand how voters view politicians and the drivers of voting intentions.
Practical implications –This study evidences the depth to which perceptions of candidates impact voting intent, establishing politicians’unique
position as both brands and people. These findings prove useful in interpreting the outcome of electionsthis year, and beyond.
Originality/value –Expanding a limited body of existing research, this work contributes to our understanding of the application of SCM within the
context of politician brands. As the first concurrent investigation of SCM and BIAF, these findings are of value to political strategistsand academics
alike. The contribution is augmented by the consideration of the impact of party affiliation and missing information.
Keywords Political branding, Stereotype content model, Brands as Intentional Agents Framework, Politician brands, Voting intentions,
Warmth and competence
Paper type Research paper
In the wake of the contentious US presidential election of
November 2016, as well as recent democratic elections around
the world (e.g. France’s presidential election of May 2017 and
the UK general election of June 2017), questions surrounding
drivers of voter behavior have become more pressing than ever.
Pundits and pollsters, alike, have asked themselves what is most
likely to motivate a voter’s decision: the candidate’s policies,
platform, party, or character. In the aftermath of a number of
surprising results, they have also considered the role of individual
voter differences, such as age, race, gender, occupation,
geographical region, and/or level of political engagement. While
the factors that affect voting intentions are numerous, news
headlines from the USA election season captured the extent to
which policy and voter demographics might not be the key
determinants of election results. Rather, characterizations of
candidates as “competent,”“incompetent,”“bully,”“honest and
trustworthy,”“cold,”and “warm under pressure”brought to
light how evaluations of a politician’spersona—or more
specifically, brand—were of crucial interest to the general public
(Editorial Board, NY Post, 2017;LeTourneau, 2016;
Eichenweld, 2016;Langer et al., 2016;Humans of New York,
2016;Chozick, 2016). The present research highlights the
critical role in driving voting intentions played by the essence of
theconceptsfeaturedintheheadlines, perceptions of two basic
characteristics of a politician’s brand: warmth and competence.
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on
Emerald Insight at: www.emeraldinsight.com/1061-0421.htm
Journal of Product & Brand Management
28/2 (2019) 256–273
© Emerald Publishing Limited [ISSN 1061-0421]
[DOI 10.1108/JPBM-09-2017-1562]
The authors would like to thank Jason LaRocca for assistance in
developing this project. Gratitude is also extended to the organizers,
reviewers and attendees of 5th International Consumer and Brand
Relationships Conference for their input during the various stages of this
project.
Received 1 September2017
Revised 10 February 2018
Accepted 4 May 2018
256
The results have broad implications for the future of political
marketing and strategy, as well as the understanding of both
recent and historical election outcomes.
The foundations of this research arebased onthe application
of two conceptual frameworks, Stereotype Content Model
(SCM) and Brands as Intentional Agents Framework (BIAF).
These are contextualized within the political arena, thereby
contributing to the growing literature on political brands and
politicians as brands. The next section discusses these
frameworks, leading to the presentation of our hypotheses.
Method and results follow, concluding with a discussion of
implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research
possibilities.
Literature review
Stereotype content model
For decades, psychologists have been researching social
cognition, defined as “the study of mental processes involved
in perceiving, attending to, remembering, thinking about,
and making sense of the people in our social world”
(Moscowitz, 2005, p. 3). Social categorization and the
formation of stereotypes are an integral part of how we make
sense of, assess, and interact with those around us. The SCM,
first formulated by Fiske et al. (2002), marks an important
development in the field of social cognitio n, asserting that the
content, not just processes, of stereotypes are governed by
systematic, predictable principles. Specifically, SCM
identifies warmth and competence as the fundamental
dimensions along which we evaluate and differentiate social
groups (Fiske et al., 2002). Other research has validated that
warmth and competence underlie interpersonal and
intergroup perception at large, and that these two categories
form the “universal dimensions of social cognition”(Fiske
et al.,2006). Reflecting the importance of these
characteristics, Wojciszke et al. (1998) found that warmth
and competence perceptions were responsible for 82 per cent
of the variance in inte rpretations of social behavi or.
As social animals facing evolutionary pressures toward
survival, humans are wired to make immediate judgments in
any encounter with an ‘other,’assessing first the other’s
intentions toward the self (“warmth”),and second, their ability
to carry out these intentions (“competence”)(
Fiske et al.,
2006). In Fiske et al. (2002) foundational studies, the
perception of warmth as a measure of intent was captured by
asking test subjects to rate groups on the basis of the following
characterizations: friendly, well-intentioned, trustworthy,
tolerant, warm, good-natured and sincere. Other traits linked
to warmth include honesty, generosity, popularity, fairness,
humor, happiness, and sociability(Fiske et al.,2006;Wojciszke
et al.,1993). A measure of ability, competence has been
associated with such descriptors as confident, independent,
competitive, intelligent, capable, skillful, efficient, creative,
knowledgeable, and determined(Fiske et al.,2006;Fiske et al.,
2002;Wojciszke et al.,1993). Moreover, one’s social status –as
indicated by job prestige, economic success and education
level –correlates positively with assessments of competence
(Fiske et al.,2002).
Though both recognized as drivers of social cognition,
warmth and competence differin the speed of their perception.
Warmth has consistently beenfound to be judged more quickly
than –and before –competence (Fiske, 2015;Willis and
Todorov, 2006). Further, resultsregularly point to the primacy
of warmth in the formation of perceptions (Fiske et al.,2006).
Not only are indicators of warmthmore readily accessible than
those of competence (for example, one can judge friendliness
through visual perceptions of facial expression and body
language more easily than indicators of efficiency), but they
have also been found to be more significant in overall
judgments (Wojciszke et al., 1998). Considered within the
context of human evolution, the primacy of warmth
perceptions is logical: if someone wanted to harm you,
recognizing this intention would be more important to your
survival and ensuing behavior than evaluatingtheir capacity to
execute said motive(Fiske et al.,2006).
At the crux of the model, SCM posits a matrix featuring four
quadrants created with combinations of warmth and
competence perceptions.Extant SCM studies provide evidence
that these perceptions have both emotional and behavioral
corollaries (Figure A1). Judgments of warmth inspire active
facilitation, or behaviors that intentionally help the perceived
subject, while perceptions of coldness inspire active harm, or
behaviors that intentionally hurt theperceived subject. On the
other hand, judgments of competence inspire passive
facilitation, or behaviors that express an acceptance of
association with the perceived subject, while perceptions of
incompetence inspire passive harm, or behaviors of neglect
(Cuddy et al.,2007;Fiske et al.,2006). The relationship
between perception and resulting behaviorsupports the notion
that warmth and competence judgments organize and
influence the social structurein which we live (Caprariello et al.,
2009;Cuddy et al.,2007).
SCM has been applied in a myriad of contexts, aidingin the
development of a robust literature stream. Findings suggest
that perceptions of warmth and competence drive the
formation of stereotypes, positive and negative (Czopp et al.,
2015), that areattributed to different members of society (Fiske
et al., 2002), across cultural contexts (Cuddy et al.,2009)and
at various levels of analysis (Fiske, 2015). Warmth and
competence have been found to explain consistency in
perceptions of women (Eckes, 2002), immigrants (Lee and
Fiske, 2006;Lin et al., 2005), homosexuals (Brambilla et al.,
2011;Clausell and Fiske, 2005), African–Americans (Fiske
et al., 2009) and many other subgroups.Further, the model has
been found to be flexible enough to reflect perceptions ranging
from those of individuals to those of subgroups to those of the
populations of entire nations. The validity of the model is
further supported in findings based on data collected via a
variety of measures, spanning from self-reports to neural
metrics.
In addition to offering a framework for the perceptions of
others, SCM provides theoretical support for the existence
and development of differential behavior toward ingroups
and outgroups. An ingroup is a social group with which one
identifies as a member (whether on the basis of genetics or
personal affiliation), whereas an outgroup is a social group
with which one does not identify (Allport, 1954). Necessary
to the maintenance of social identity are clear boundaries and
distinctions between ingroups and outgroups (Brewer,
1991). Traditionally, literature has prescribed that views
Perceptions of politician brand warmth
Aronté Marie Bennett et al.
Journal of Product & Brand Management
Volume 28 · Number 2 · 2019 · 256–273
257
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