Does party identification associate with consumer preferences? Analyzing Finnish consumers in 2009 and 2014

Abstract

<p>This article examines the association between Finn’s political orientation and preferences regarding</p><p>hedonistic and mundane consumer activities. Data derived from national-level surveys</p><p>collected in Finland in 2009 (n51,202) and 2014 (n51,351) suggests that political party identification</p><p>is an important predictor of perceived consumption, even after controlling for the effects of</p><p>key socio-demographic factors. In general, supporters of the right-wing National Coalition Party</p><p>consider themselves as high-level consumers more often than the supporters of other political parties</p><p>do. The results also show that there have been very few temporal changes in the association</p><p>between party identification and consumption preferences. The effect of party identification is</p><p>stronger for hedonistic activities than for mundane activities. It is argued that political party identification</p><p>has similar impact on individual’s consumer preferences as other lifestyle and social</p><p>network factors have. The findings offer us new possibilities for further research addressing consumer</p><p>activities, and other behavioural correlates of political orientation.</p>