Can marketing be interpreted without exchange? The role of exchange in nonbusiness marketing through the example of political marketing

Authors of political marketing agree that one of the fundamental theoretical problem in this field is the definition of the political product, and therefore my work aims to examine the role of exchange in the political market, and I consider that this analysis can contribute to marketing thinking. According to the mainstream approach, we cannot talk about marketing activity without exchange, and therefore I use two influential political economy theories to interpret the political exchange process. The roots of political marketing thought can be traced back to Schumpeter's political economy theory, and on this basis, the new political economy theorists consider to the exchange as an integrative mechanism that can be extended to the whole of society, which is consistent with the concept of social marketing. In my paper, I introduce Schumpeter's political economy theory, and then I compare it with the thinking of the new political economy. I use these two economic approaches to explore the role of exchange in politics and draw relevant conclusions for marketing thinking.

Keywords: political marketing, Schumpeter’s leadership theory, Public Choice Theory