Abstract :
The role of social media as an enabling platform for co-creation in political marketing is a
nascent terrain for the researchers nowadays. This study attempts to apply the proposed Political
Co-Creation Framework through a convergent mixed method research design in the South Asian
context that simultaneously gathers data through different modes. Based on the General Elections
2018 in Pakistan, the study provides a basis to examine how co-creation in political marketing
through the platform of social media has revolutionized the way potential voters engage in the
voting decision-making process. The findings of the study reveal that when citizens in a country
confront with turmoil in the political system that tends to create social dissatisfaction and civil
society integration that provides a basis for the actors (i.e., leaders and voters) to co-create
through knowledge sharing and ultimately create a proactive system by promoting awareness and
engagement among the citizens. Moreover, the findings also reveal that the co-creation process
tends to create resilience from negative propaganda among the potential voters that strengthen
their voting decision for their favored political party. It is noteworthy that up till now the political
parties are indulged in the co-creation process unconsciously. So the most important implication
of this study is to make the political parties aware of the potential to consciously use social media
as an engaging platform to co-create that can prove to be a useful tool in political marketing
Keyword :
Social Media, Political Marketing, Co-Creation