Description
Abstract
Though several studies show the connection between marketing and politics, critical questions remain unanswered. According to the Pew Research Center, United States (US) millennials are expected to surpass baby boomers in population in 2019. Therefore, one question one may ask pertains to the way politicians (as sellers) approach young millennial consumers to “buy” their political product. Of interest is the capabilities US politicians need to develop in order to attract these 73 million millennial voters. Adapting the CIS Model, a model composed of key political determinants (i.e., Create, Inform, and Support), the current research presents two relevant studies in the USA: The first gathers data from 125 US elected politicians (as sellers) from Local and State governments; and, the second collects data from 84 Los Angeles (LA) Millennial consumers. Using the resource-based view tool and correlation analysis, the findings of Study 1 (from the seller’s point of view) show that a politician’s capabilities to Create and Support a political product are statistically significant and have a relatively strong positive effect on consumer satisfaction. Study 2 (from the buyer’s point of view) shows that a politician’s capability to Create a political product is statistically significant and has a relatively strong positive effect on millennial consumer satisfaction, whereas a politician’s capabilities to Inform and Support (the political product) are statistically significant and have a strong positive impact on millennial consumer satisfaction. Implications and academic guidance are offered for further studies.
Keywords: Resource-based view, the CIS Model, US Politicians, Consumer Satisfaction, Millennials
