Personal brand management: Personal brand perception of voter's in local elections - a case of Adana province

Marketing concept as a function of management science is not restricted in just commercial areas, it has become a term which applied in many fields that the world we live in. One of these areas has been called as politics. At present, actions of the voters voting, the general features of the candidates (personal values, management skills, communication skills, self awareness, personality, personal image, goals, physical appearance, education, future projects, ideology, fellow citizenship) are the topic of the discussion in many places that they are effective. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of candidate's personal brand perception and brand management upon voter preferences by using dependent and independent variables in the determination of local governments that is to say in local elections which is closer to the citizens, on account of candidate concept is in the forefront according to general elections. According to the results of the research, generally, voters give more importance to the past of the candidate, life style, local management experience, features of personality and leadership and also the factors that make up the image of the candidate (physical appearance, reputation, political propaganda, usage of social media) and give less importance to the fellow citizenship and career success. In addition, the importance given to the personal brand determinants has emerged with no difference according to the voters' demographic characteristics.