Vice-Presidential Candidate Characteristics and Selection: Does Candidate Brand Awareness Matter?

This paper examines brand awareness as a boundary condition to explain the extent to which the characteristics of a vice-presidential candidate (VPC) inform their selection. A survey was used to gather data from 50 core and swing constituency executives. Subsequently, 500 questionnaires were distributed to party executives in the sampled branches and constituencies. Data from 350 completed questionnaires were imputed in SPSS version 25 and analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) in PLS version 4 to test the set hypotheses. The study established that candidate demography, electability, education, experience, personality, and brand awareness are significant considerations when selecting VPCs. Apart from H8, the study finds personality, experiences, electability, and demography as significant antecedents in creating brand awareness of a VPC. Although H14 was not supported, the finding suggests that brand awareness has mediating influences on VPC selection. The study finds that brand awareness partially influences the relationships between candidate experiences, demography, electability, personality and selection. The study finds the Ticket Balancing Theory, Aaker and Keller Brand Equity Models, useful in VPC research from a political marketing lens. The study extends the VPC scholarship beyond political science knowledge. It provides political marketing insights to presidential candidates to improve VPC selection decision.