Understanding Loyalty in a Political Marketing Context: What Makes Voters Loyal to a Political Party?

Informed by political marketing research and key marketing constructs of brand loyalty and switching, this study examines voter loyalty both overall and in relation to individual political parties by examining the factors which influenced voter behavior in the 2005, 2010, and 2015 UK general elections. British Election Survey (2015) data (n = 30,073) is analyzed to test hypotheses relating to voter loyalty. Multinomial logistic regression models identify significant influences on voter loyalty and switching behavior by political party. The research identifies the key issues for retaining loyal voters and reducing switching behavior for each of the three main UK political parties. The study found key influences on party loyalty and vote switching vary by type and/or strength of impact for each party. Overall, policy issues were less influential on loyalty than other variables; notably, perceived party unity, positive feelings about the party and its leader, and party identification in the case of Labour.