SummaryArticle # 3Political Impression Management: How Metaphors, Sound Bites, Appearance Effectiveness, and Personality Traits Can Win ElectionsThis article introduces the concepts of political impression management and perception politics. Three main points of interest are addressed: sound bites, the effects of appearance in politics, and personality profiles in the media. According to the view of political impression management, politicians and political parties control the impression they make on the audience (De Landtsheer, 2004).Perception Politics:As a result of the modernization of politics, new dynamics in political communication can be distinguished, in which dramatization of politics according to the rules of media logic takes place. Style has become increasingly important, at the expense of content. This trend is held responsible for turning politics into perception politics. The 21st century, includes the expanding phenomena of infotainment, the mixture of entertainment and information, and politainment, the mixture of politics and entertainment (De Landtsheer, 2004; Norris and Holz-Bacha, 2001; Esser, 1999; Grabe, Zhou, and Barnett, 2001; Leroy and Siune, 1994).

Perception politics encourages voters to form intuitive impressions of political candidates based on certain cues such as language style, appearance characteristics, and nonverbal behavior instead of wellconsidered opinions based on arguments. The fall in political involvement translates into voters using the peripheral route (cues) rather than the central route (arguments) of information processing. This dramatic trend magnifies the role and importance of style, appearance, and personality, thereby turning politics into perception politics. Furthermore, this peripheral route emphasizes the emotive factor and turns the focus from rational arguments to emotional cues (Marcus, 2002, 2003). Research by Aronson, Wilson, and Akert (1994) concluded that people tend to vote with their hearts rather than with their minds (Falkowski and Wojciech, 1999).

Political Impression Management:The view of political impression management holds that it is possible for politicians and political parties to improve the impression they register with the audience (McGraw, 2003; De Landtsheer, 2004).Political impression management focuses on several aspects of political communication, studying the influence of impression sent by political candidates: from the verbal message, appearance characteristics, and perceived personality traits to the nonverbal behavior of political candidates. In political marketing theory, the political candidate is understood as a political brand that needs to be repositioned when it is no longer working. Political impression management links up perfectly with political marketing theory and Citizens no longer act as just voters; they are becoming political consumers. Whereas Politicians arePerformers and the best performer win the crowds (Maarek, 1995; Newman, 1999b; Schwartzenberg, 1977).THREE ASPECTS OF POLITICAL IMPRESSION MANAGEMENTThe Power of Political Rhetoric: The Way of Sound Bites and Metaphors:Political language style is assessed by various politicians. Sound bites are short statements by politicians that generally include style elements such as metaphors and begging rhyme. Sound bites belong to the commercial media world: they do not require explanations and last only a few seconds. American research quoted by Hallin (1992) reveals that the average length of the sound bites on the television evening news dropped dramatically from 42 seconds in 1968 to less than 10 seconds in the 1990s. A lot of sound bites contain metaphors, which we define as applications of alien names (Beer and De Landtsheer, 2004). In perception politics, they are the gateway to the publics thinking. They enable politicians to magnify problems, to hide others, and to suggest solutions. By drawing analogies and by avoiding the central argumentative route, politicians are able to carefully manage the impression they make on the audience (Petty and Cacioppo, 1986).

The Appearance of Political Suitability:During her nine years as prime minister of Britain, Margaret Thatcher made various changes in her appearance, thereby illustrating the importance she and her advisors attributed to presentation and style (De Landtsheer, 2004; Norris, 2000; Palmer, 2004a, 2004b; Starr, 1997). George W. Bush allegedly raised his side of the stage during the 2004 election debates, masking the fact that his opponent John Kerry was significantly taller. Several profound scientific studies conclude that people ascribe others certain personality traits purely based on physical appearance, which could possibly lead to such a person being perceived as more politically suitable (Andersen and Garrison, 1978; Bass, 1985; Lord, DeVader, and Allinger, 1986; Eagly, Ashmore, Makhijani, and Longo, 1991; Maarek, 1995; Caprara, Barbaranelli, and Zimbardo, 2002; De Landtsheer, 2004). Once the physical features that lie at the roots of the political suitable appearance are determined, it is possible to manipulate the physical appearance of political candidates in a politically desirable sense.An examination of the particular features of political candidates with high and low political demeanor ratings made it possible to identify those specific elements of a visual presentation that contribute to the projection of a favorable political image. Male politicians are ideally older than 35 to 40 years old. Well-scoring males have a high forehead and dark or grey hair combed in parts. Badly scoring males are blond with thick, uncombed, or sloppy hair. Men should wear a classic dark suit with a white or pale blue shirt and a colored tie. Sweaters, bright colors, or white or Scottish jackets are unfavorable. Female politicians, on the other hand, are preferably older than 40 to 45 years old. They should have dark or grey hair and classic hair fashion, with short or medium-length hair. Again, blond or loose hair is unfavorable. Formal dress is the most appropriate; a classic blouse and jacket in contrasting colors are the best. Bright colors, only dark colors, showy patterns, and naked arms are unfavorable (De Landtsheer, 2004). These studies made it possible to determine which perceived personality characteristics contribute to the creation of a suitable political image; also the candidates perceived as extroverted and outgoing generally bring home the victory. The hard-working, conscientious introvert has to give in. These findings can be linked to the distinction made in political marketing between Teflon personalities, to which nothing sticks (like President Reagan), and Velcro personalities, to which almost everything sticks (Newman, 1999b). The Teflon personalities are perceived as extroverted and outgoing, characteristics appealing to voters and consequently linked to leadership suitability. These personality traits evoke certain emotional connections and reactions that attract voters.POLITICAL IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT AND DEMOCRACYEspecially during the past decades, the media has assumed that people are no longer interested in politics and just want to be entertained. Political debates and discussions were therefore commercialized and organized along the rules of media logic. Politics should be entertaining, amusing, fast, and simple. We are living in a highly visual society in which opinions and impressions are based on what mediatelevision in particularis showing us. There seems to be no space, no time, and especially no demand for serious political conversation. Only a small politically interested group with easy access to the Internet and quality newspapers is getting the complete picture and is thereby enabled to form arguments based on facts (Norris and Holtz-Bacha, 2001; Street, 2001).Charisma, personality, language style, and the impression that politicians leave with the public seem to be the true foundations of political opinion formation. Through the modernization of media culture and under the influences of globalization, concentration, and commercialization, the language, personality, and appearance of politicians are dominating the perception formation. Credibility, while political credibility as such is crumbling.Pursuing this reasoning, according to critics persuasive rhetoric, the manipulation of appearance, perceived personality, and other aspects of political impression management could be considered imminent threats to democracy. These tools are enabling politicians to gain votes based on capacities and characteristics that are not necessarily present in the true personality of the candidate. Therefore some people argue that the content and definition of democracy should be adjusted to the actual meaning and function democracy holds in modern society, whereas other scientists (Mazzoleni and Schultz, 1999) believe that political impression management and political marketing will not endanger the democratic functioning of society. Charisma, true or false, can win you the elections, but at the end of the journey politicians and political parties are cheered or judged on their achievements and failures. Voter choice may significantly be influenced, and even steered, by impressions and perceptions, but politicians are ultimately evaluated on their governing results (Bass, 1985; Aldrich, Gronke, and Grynaviski, 1999; Bartels, 2002). The political impression management techniques, or political marketing tools, discussed in this paper ensure that politics does not decline into the power of certain influential personalities or elites, but that it stays in touch with voter aspirations and expectations, thereby strengthening democracy and ensuring citizen participation.Page 1 of 4