Abstract
Political parties are in the business of selling hope to voters. In the post-truth era “selling” this hope seems to be easier for populists and right-oriented parties. While progressives appear to be struggling to communicate with voters in times of political instability, the political party Polish Law and Justice is winning election after election and has managed to build stable relations with their voters. We argue that an integral component of building such stable relationships is the concept of brand promise: giving, fulfilling and enabling promises. Through an experimental study, we examine voters’ responses to the Polish ruling party and we present thus a psychological perspective on branding. We also explain why the opposition’s critiques of the government might have a boomerang effect and harm the opposition themselves, rather than the government. The chapter ends with a set of implications and recommendations for practitioners.
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Notes
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PiS won parliamentary election with 43.59% support. Its biggest rival Civic Coalition gained 27.40%.
- 2.
PiS candidate, Andrzej Duda won the second round of presidential election with 51.03% support.
- 3.
In Poland pensioners get their pension every month, what makes 12 pensions per year. PiS first proposed 13th pension (in amount of around 250 Euro gross in 2020), and then 14th pension, with a promise, pensioners would have more money this way. It is worth to mention, PiS is the most popular political brand among voters over 60.
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- 7.
The reforms of the biggest relevance include: child benefit (“500 plus” starting from the second child), single pension supplement, changes in civil service (nominations instead of competition for higher posts), 7 years as entrance age for primary school, changes in judicial system (e.g. combination of the offices of Minister of Justice and Prosecutor General into one) or media bill (e.g. enabling the government to appoint the heads of public TV and radio).
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Authors thank Joanna Radosz for her help in conducting the study
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Cwalina, W., Drzewiecka, M. (2022). How Trust Wins Against Criticism: Promise Concept as a Political Branding Tool. Lessons from Polish Politics. In: Moufahim, M. (eds) Political Branding in Turbulent times. Palgrave Studies in Political Marketing and Management. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-83229-2_8
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