Emotive Appeal as a Mediator between Political Marketing and Student Voting Behaviour

Bala Salisu¹ , Ayyuba Abubakar Abdullahi²

Section:Research Paper, Product Type: Journal-Paper
Vol.13 , Issue.1 , pp.11-21, Mar-2025

Online published on Mar 31, 2025

Copyright © Bala Salisu, Ayyuba Abubakar Abdullahi . This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
 

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Abstract :
Purpose: This study unravels the mediating role of emotive appeal in the political marketing–student voting behaviour relationships among undergraduate students in Kano State, Nigeria. Design: A cross-sectional survey design was employed. Data were garnered online from 384 undergraduate students using a self-report questionnaire. PLS-SEM was used in analysing the data and testing the study hypotheses. Findings: The results revealed that both political marketing and emotive appeal directly and positively influences student voting behaviour. Also, emotive appeal partially mediates the relationship between political marketing and student voting behaviour. The model demonstrated good explanatory and predictive power. Practical implications: The results underlined the necessity of considering both cognitive and affective dimensions in political marketing campaigns targeting student voters. Political parties and candidates should be mindful of the emotional content of their messages and the potential influence of emotive appeals on students’ voting decisions. The need for media literacy among students to critically evaluate political messages is also underscored. Value: This research adds to the emerging corpus on political marketing, voter behaviour, and the place of emotions in shaping political choices within a developing democracy context. It provides insights into the specific mechanisms through which political marketing influences student voting behaviour, highlighting the mediating role of emotive appeal.

Key-Words / Index Term :
Political Marketing, Emotive Appeal, Student Voting Behaviour, Mediation, Elaboration Likelihood Model.

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