I run an advertising and interactive media agency and so naturally we’ve been approached by a good number of people asking for us to do web designs, carry out campaigns, print posters, banners, stickers or write sponsored articles on newspapers and similar literary works like op-eds and letters to the editor. These are good times to be in my industry I must add especially if you are connected, and I don’t mean with just electricity.
However let’s get to the reason of writing this article; it has come to my understanding and after carrying out some further research I have come to a logical conclusion that political marketers and their campaign managers, loyalists and paid followers especially in Nigeria should understand some certain pertinent issues on the subject called Politics.
Any experienced political campaign manager or advertising guru will tell you that the swing voters- those individuals who don’t have a strong party commitment- are the ones the candidate has to convince. This may seem obvious – it’s clearly going to be easier to sway a fairly undecided and uncommitted voter than one that has voted a straight party ticket for the opposition for the last 11 years. But it turns out in Nigeria the opposite is the case! Men and women would argue, spit fire and rain brimstones over several bottles of beer or tequila depending of course on your poison over which party candidate is best suited for Presidency or whether or not zoning is the way forward for Nigeria. They fail to realize that the only person that would emerge as a winner in this sort of debate is Nigeria Brewery or the bar owner; that depends of course on whether or not they resorted to fist fighting and bottle smashing.
There’s a growing body of research that supports the policy of ignoring the committed base and die-hard supporters of both political parties (except, of course for “get out the vote” efforts for those favorable to the candidate). In late January 2010, an eminent scholar Drew Westen of Emory University using FMRI* announced the results of a brain scan study of how political messages are viewed by partisan voters. An MSNBC.com article reports,
“
We did not see any increased activation of the parts of the brain normally engaged during reasoning,” said Drew Westen, director of clinical psychology at Emory University. “What we saw instead was a network of emotion circuits lighting up, including circuits hypothesized to be involved in regulating emotion, and circuits known to be involved in resolving conflicts.”
The test subjects on both sides of the political aisle reached totally biased conclusions by ignoring information that could not rationally be discounted, Westen and his colleagues say.
Then, with their minds made up, brain activity ceased in the areas that deal with negative emotions such as disgust. But activity spiked in the circuits involved in reward, a response similar to what addicts experience when they get a fix, Westen explained.The study points to a total lack of reason in political decision-making.
While people not behaving rationally when making voting decisions is hardly “breaking” news, the study really points up the near futility of persuading partisan voters with even the most logical appeals. It also explains why sometimes seemingly corrupt politicians get re-elected in many areas around Nigeria. While voters outside the area may shake their head in wonder, what is likely happening is that all of the facts are being processed emotionally by many voters. Negative information is downgraded or discarded, while the candidate’s own explanations are reinforced.
This raises major questions as to the effectiveness of political marketing. Are the billions of naira spent on news coverage on AIT and NTA, editorializing, political advertising, etc. all going down the drain? Perhaps it is! But then again, if the findings are right and people and politicians are more emotionally engaged than logical, then my purpose of writing this article is even a waste of time as they would go on spending money on frivolous exercises no matter what. I might as well try whispering to someone in a night club with the music on full volume blasting away!
Truth is political advertising DOES work sometimes, and even editorial writers like me can have an impact. The people who won’t be affected are the most partisan extremes, but there are plenty of voters in the middle who still process information in a rational, or at least partially rational, manner. Time and time again, negative campaigning has been shown to be effective. While some of the appeal of negative ads is emotional, much of the content is presented as factual information: “Mr. B looted $12 billion in the past, give him a chance to do it again” or “Mr. G is spending money on jets when Nigerians can’t travel from Lagos to Abuja in 18 hours.”
Though frankly I admit truly partisan voters or die-hard supporters won’t be affected in the least. Anything short of an EFCC video showing the candidate taking bribes will be dismissed as opposition rhetoric without any critical thinking involved. Voters closer to the middle, though, will process this information in at least a partially rational manner (including, of course, judging the credibility of any claims) but who has credibility in the EFCC anymore? If indeed some still do, then chances are that they may be swayed in one direction or the other.
This article may likely not affect campaign strategies in the least, inasmuch as they more or less confirm what political pros from Barack Obama and the new David Cameron have known all along. But a final word of advice, if you are running a national campaign, either for a gubernatorial candidate or a presidential candidate or a political advocacy group, or just a die-hard supporter; DO NOT spend money or waste valuable time arguing or stating your case against another die-hard from the opposition. You’ll only end up bitter enemies and spoil a perfect business connection or friendship.
Politics is an emotional game not a logical game. If you want logic- play scrabble or crossword.
*Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) is a type of specialized MRI scan. It measures the hemodynamic response (change in blood flow) related to neural activity in the brain or spinal cord of humans. It is one of the most recently developed forms of neuroimaging.
Written by: Ebuka Anichebe
