Socio-Political Advertisement in the UK

The present scientific pamphlet deals with assessing the contribution of activities in social media marketing (SMM) and the effect of a a perceived candidate's image in the creation of the voter-candidate association equity withi (United Kingdom) politics. Drawing from social identity theory and branding literature, the role of candidate image is further investigated as a mediator between the equity of voter-candidate and SMM association. However, the moderating effect of political ideologies is also assessed. The results of a survey frof young UK voters reveal that all SMM variables are not directly related to relationship equity, although all SMM activities have a positive effect on the image of the perceived candidate. It seems that the association is an indirect one, mediated via the image of the political candidate. Amazingly, the connection between candidate image and voter-candidate relationship equity is seemingly not moderated by the political ideology. Our results represent the increasing importance of the candidate image and SMM activities in political scenarios. Hence, insights are provided for political campaigners.