An investigation into the relationship between political activity levels and political market orientation

Purpose: The key objective of this research is to investigate the relationship between party member activity-levels and perceptions of their party's political market orientation. Specifically, it aims to scrutinise the differences in the interplay of attitudinal and behavioural aspects of political market orientation. Design/methodology/approach: Using a wide variety of respondent groups within the party, the research draws on an existing conceptualisation of political market orientation and empirically test its relationship with party member activity levels. Three models, plus a baseline model, are developed and data from 1,156 questionnaires are used to investigate a structural equation model using the partial least square method. Findings: While the baseline model exhibits a robust pattern of positive relationships between the attitudinal and behavioural constructs, the comparative analysis of the different models shows that party activity levels have a significant impact on these relationships. The study identified that less active members perceive a wider range of attitudinal concepts to be of significance, compared to active members, politicians and party professionals. Originality/value: This is one of a few studies empirically investigating the concept of political market orientation. Especially the focus on a wide range of respondents, in line with recent development in the literature on commercial market orientation, provides a nuanced analysis of the varying perception-patterns of party stakeholders. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.