Brand personality na política portuguesa

: análise da comunicação política digital

Abstract

Brand personality is the focus of this research, which aims to study personality inPortuguese political communication, from a commercial perspective that interprets leadersand political parties as political brands. In this sense, the research question is: How is brandpersonality distinguished among Portuguese political leaders and parties, through its onlinepolitical communication? To this end, the following objectives were determined: 1.Identify and analyse the existence of brand personalities specific to Portuguese politicalparties and their leaders; 2. Compare brand personality between each political party andleader; 3. Identify the similarities and differences of brand personality internally betweenparties and their own leaders; 4. Investigate the correlation between brand personality andpublic interaction with the communication posted. Through a content analysis methodbased on Rutter et al. (2018), 2,568 tweets from Portuguese leaders and parties’ accountsare analysed, during the 2022 Legislative Campaign, according to Aaker’s (1997)personality scale. This research concludes that brand personality is an existing anddistinctive variable in online political communication in Portugal, although with varyingpredominance among political actors. Despite a tendency to value Competence andRuggedness above Sincerity, Sophistication and Excitement, all accounts present distinctbrand personality combinations. There is also a general disconnection between parties andtheir leaders’ brand personalities, demonstrating a lack of coordination in communicationstrategies. Finally, there is no evidence of a link between audience interaction and brandpersonality.

Date of Award	27 Feb 2023
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Rita Figueiras (Supervisor)