seyed abdullah heidariyeh

In the field of marketing, the most desirable scenario involves the company maintaining an optimal level of market share with an increasing trend over time, as well as preventing any decline or reduction in the market share. Concerning political marketing and elections, there is even more necessary to have such a favorable scenario. Based on the significance of customer retention, this approach maintains that a party can win if it secures the largest market share while minimizing customer attrition. It seems to be an essential approach given the nature of political marketing characterized by the intense competition among political parties, the unavoidable impact of social media, the uncertainty about fulfilling campaign promises, and the risky nature of political transactions (cash vs. credit imbalance) —all of which can contribute to the vulnerability of political marketing, hence a declining trend in the voter turnout. Relationship marketing, as a modern marketing technique, can help political activists to mitigate these challenges, offering effective solutions to minimize campaign costs and increase the likelihood of success in elections. Political relationship marketing has been the subject of inquiry in several studies (e.g., Afjeh’i & Khademi-Garashi, 2016; Talari & Mousavi-Shafaei, 2015). Rizan et al. (2014) delved into the impact of relationship marketing on customer loyalty.A declining trend in the number of electoral votes is one of the challenges faced by political parties in Iran. The issue appears to be rooted in their marketing strategies. In fact, political marketing strategies can potentially present a persuasively alluring image of the candidate’s integrity and virtue while covering up their flaws. Consequently, the politician who has been getting promoted is often perceived as an ideal figure. In most cases, voters may not understand the techniques used in campaigns, succumbing to the persuasive tactics employed by the candidate and thus increasing the likelihood of making a mistake in their choice and experiencing early regret. In fact, insufficient knowledge about the candidate or party contributes to such mistakes on the part of voters. Moreover, the inability to retain voters, driven by factors such as a loss of trust and unfulfilled promises, can result in costly and sometimes irreparable damages to political parties. Considering the drawbacks of short-term marketing in the political arena for those involved and the political parties’ desire for sustained power, relationship marketing seems to be a suitable approach to address the shortcomings without compromising market share, fulfill political parties’ electoral aspirations (e.g., frequent wins), and to ensure that voters get to know candidates and political parties adequately and accurately. In this line, the present research investigates the influential factors in political relationship marketing, addressing the following questions: Can relationship marketing help overcome the challenges in political elections? And what factors are influential in establishing and maintaining the relationship?

There are numerous factors behind party wins in the electoral market. However, according to the theoretical framework of this research, establishing and maintaining a robust relationship between parties and voters, leading to voter loyalty, plays a pivotal role in the electoral success of political parties. Relying on a multi-stage conceptual model, the present study aimed to investigate the connection between relationship marketing and the success of parties in the political market and electoral contests. The study is located within the intersection of political science and marketing management. As an applied research involving field work, it adopted a descriptive–survey, correlation-based approach to investigate the research questions. First, the analysis focused on the effect of relationship marketing variables (i.e., commitment, fulfillment of promises, communication, competence, and trust) on satisfaction. The second step involved examination of the effect of satisfaction on voter loyalty. Finally, the research explored the correlation between loyalty, recommendations to others, and revoting, as influential factors contributing to the success of political parties. In the data analysis, the Pearson coefficient and the correlation coefficient were used to understand the relationships between the research variables.

The research findings indicated a significantly direct correlation between relationship marketing principles and voter satisfaction. The results of regression analysis demonstrated that these principles can predict satisfaction. There was also a significant relationship between satisfaction and loyalty, as well as between loyalty and both revoting and recommendation to others. Finally, a significant relationship was observed between success and revoting and recommendation to others.

The research results confirm that the success of political parties hinges on both retaining existing voters and attracting new ones. This process involves distinct stages: generating satisfaction by applying relationship marketing principles, enhancing and transforming satisfaction into loyalty and fandom through the practical implementation of the principles, adopting fan-driven marketing as a result of the loyalty cultivated, and finally giving recommendations to others. The first and second stages are executed through strategic planning and initiatives of strategists, along with the genuine and reassuring conduct of candidates and party executive agents. The third and fourth stages, on the other hand, rely on the active participation of party loyalists and supporters. Furthermore, two practical methods can be employed to attract new voters: direct and indirect recruitment. In the direct recruitment, the party itself leverages relationship marketing principles to draw in a collective of voters. In contrast, the indirect recruitment is facilitated by party loyalists and supporters—mostly represented by previous voters—and their efforts to embark on fan-driven marketing and give recommendations to other voters.

Today, due to the increasing acceleration in the development of communication technologies and its impact on all aspects of life and the formation of new conditions in the political and social scene all over the world, political marketing has taken on new dimensions and has become much more complicated than before. Due to the extent of these changes, it is necessary to use new generations of political marketing. In the current research, a qualitative study has been conducted in order to present a political marketing model for the country's elections. In this research, the foundation method of Strauss and Corbin's model was used and it was progressed to the satisfaction of the interviewees. A total of 26 in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted. From the text of the interviews, 2027 open codes and 21 categories were identified. Atlas TI software version 8 was used for coding, and the identification components and conceptual model of the research were drawn. The central phenomenon of the research is "political rationality mediated by reality." "Objectives" and Strategies include: (differentiation and anti-discrimination, sharing awareness and definition of soft norm) and consequences (including: civil awareness, citizenship rights, political and human development, pluralism in power and strengthening democracy).

The purpose of this study was to determine the comprehensive performance evaluation criteria to improve the performance evaluation system of employees using a new model of data envelopment analysis based on 360-degree evaluation for employee ranking.

In this study, first, performance evaluation criteria were identified by studying the research background. Questionnaires designed based on the opinions of twenty-five staff of the organization, three senior managers, ten professors with university experience and ten active and selected students of the university (a total of 48 people in a 360-degree structure) are completed and then using A new model of designed data envelopment analysis, employee ranking, was performed. Twelve performance evaluation indicators extracted from the research background by experts in four categories with the titles of service compensation system in the first category; Job security, perceived organizational justice, perceived organizational support, and physical working conditions in the second category; Job characteristics, job clarity and ability of employees in the third category and job feedback, job stress, organizational citizen behavior and motivation in the fourth category were ranked and documented using a linear optimization model based on the goal programming and policy. Data envelopment analysis resulted in a complete ranking for the staff of a university unit with 25 staff members.

Interpretation and analysis of structured results obtained from the use of data envelopment analysis policy based on 360-degree evaluation can be the basis for improving human resources and continuing periodic evaluation to continuously improve employee performance in the organization.

Originality/Value:

The present study can help their evaluations by using various indicators comprehensively as well as 360-degree approach and considering the external and internal challenges of the organization.