Ethics in the Shadow: Political Marketing’s Role in Shaping Electoral Trust

Abstract

This study analyzes the relationships between ethical perceptions, perceived sincerity of politicians, and the influences of political marketing on electoral behavior in Romania. Relevant connections were identified using an online questionnaire, resulting in a complex model of the moral and communicational evaluation of political actors. The findings show that people with a high level of ethical evaluation tend to interpret politicians’ lack of sincerity as being caused by external influences, such as political consultants and communication experts. At the same time, ethically oriented respondents show increased trust in independent candidates and greater openness to the possibility that electoral promises are achievable, suggesting an orientation towards moral alternatives to the traditional political system. Additionally, individuals with a high degree of psychological resilience appear to be more skeptical about the sincerity of political discourse, indicating a cognitive defense mechanism through caution and distrust. The analysis also highlights slight demographic differences, especially by gender and age, as well as a remarkable intercorrelation between perceptions of the veracity of parties and politicians, suggesting the existence of a unitary construct underlying the perception of honesty in politics. These results provide valuable insights regarding the impact of political marketing strategies on the symbolic capital of sincerity and contribute to the shaping of ethical directions for electoral communication.

1. Introduction

In recent years, Romania has experienced a significant increase in citizens’ distrust of political institutions. This crisis of trust is manifested both by low levels of electoral participation and an increase in support for anti-system political entities (political parties or independent candidates). While this phenomenon is not unique within the EU, in Romania it takes on a particular significance due to the instability of political coalitions, the perception of corruption, and the repeated failures of the public administration [1].

The level of trust of citizens in political institutions is the foundation of the stability and legitimacy of governance. In the context of declining voter turnout and increasing levels of skepticism, citizens’ trust in political leaders and traditional parties has steadily declined. This disconnect between politicians and citizens finds its explanation, according to [2], in the post-truth climate characterized by the fact that facts are often subordinated to emotion and political rhetoric, especially in the context of the growth of the deep fake phenomenon and manipulative communication.

Thus, we may conclude that this problem has been influenced by the over-professionalization of political communication, which is frequently linked to political marketing tactics that are thought to be manipulative. In this regard, the cognitive dissonance between campaign promises and post-election behavior is emphasized by pointing out that political marketing has grown more complex while simultaneously becoming more detached from the social realities of the public [3]. Furthermore, it is becoming increasingly accepted that political consultants and communication experts are largely to blame for the lack of sincerity in political messages, shifting confidence from well-known players to those operating behind the scenes [4].

This situation is made more dangerous by Romanian politicians’ growing reliance on commercial advertising-inspired political marketing strategies, especially in the pre-election and election campaign seasons. Romanian political marketing tends to prioritize the packaging of the electoral message over its actual political content [5]. The crisis of confidence is exacerbated by this “theatricalization of campaigns” [6], as there is a substantial discrepancy between political actors’ promises and their actual performance.

Consequently, it is important to fully understand and explain how ethics shapes how political players are perceived in the post-truth period and how this perception impacts how electoral behavior manifests itself; in other words, whether skepticism is greater in those with higher levels of personal resilience, and whether the value of ethics is correlated with conditional electoral optimism, particularly about independent candidates. In an environment where political currents such as radicalism and civic alienation are becoming more prevalent, these factors may cause political marketing methods to be redesigned with a focus on ethics and transparency.

In Romania, this political context is also amplified by a series of recent episodes that have undermined citizen trust: high-level corruption scandals, incoherent government messages during the pandemic, institutional tensions between the presidency and the government, controversial or poorly justified decisions related to the cancellation of elections, and the feeling that political decisions take precedence over the vote expressed by citizens; thus, political marketing risks becoming an instrument of alienation if used exclusively to sell the political product, without having a solid ethical and deliberative basis [7].

Political marketing has become an essential component of electoral communication, providing political actors with increasingly particular tools for shaping public opinion. This transition reflects a profound transformation in the way that politics is communicated and perceived in contemporary society. If political parties relied mainly on ideology and direct mobilization in the past, today they often operate as competing brands in the electoral market, adopting commercial marketing techniques.

Essentially, political parties have transitioned from ideological organizations to suppliers of political products [8]. Therefore, they must respond to the demands of electoral consumers. This process has been facilitated by the development of digital technologies, big data, and social networks, which have allowed for not only unprecedented targeting of voters but also extreme personalization of messages. In this sense, the development of political marketing is also linked to a broader cultural change, in which spectacle and emotion have become central components of political participation. In this context, image matters more than substance, and this observation is increasingly valid in media-saturated political environments [9]. This paradigm shift has generated demanding questions regarding ethics, authenticity, and the impact on citizens’ trust. Especially in the context of Romania, marked by a long transition to a consolidated democracy, political marketing raises dilemmas regarding the boundaries between legitimate persuasion and strategic manipulation [4].

The approach to political marketing reflects a diversity of paradigms, from the market-oriented [8] to the critical-normative [9], managerial [10], and contextual-national [11]. Thus, political marketing is seen as a process through which political actors develop and promote a political offer, adapted to the demands and desires of voters [8]. This approach transforms politics into a product adapted to the market, which raises challenges regarding the authenticity of the political message. In this context, political marketing represents a continuous compromise between strategic persuasion and democratic norms of transparency and accountability [10]. From a managerial perspective, political marketing is a form of value exchange in which citizens offer their vote in exchange for a symbolic promise [11], while other authors [1] have emphasized the importance of political branding being perceived as authentic. In turn, some authors propose a contextual definition of political marketing, adapted to the democratic transition in Romania, emphasizing the integration of communication, electoral behavior, and cultural specificity [12]. From the perspective of electoral competition, ethics is most often perceived as a constraint, but reality shows that its absence leads to a decrease in public trust in democratic institutions and the emergence of a toxic political climate. The ethical component of political marketing involves transparency, real consultation with the public, and the adaptation of the political program according to the needs expressed by voters [13]. However, others draw attention to the tense relationship between political marketing and ethics, especially in democracies characterized by fragility and weak public control institutions [14]. At the same time, the ethics of political marketing involve a deliberative form of communication that encourages authentic civic participation and avoids the instrumentalization of the electoral consumer [15]. Data manipulation represents another key issue; therefore, ethics must respect informational integrity and citizen autonomy [16].

On the other hand, the sustainable success of an organization is dependent on trust generated at the public level [17]. Based on this approach, other scholars have proposed a two-way symmetrical model in public relations through which political communication becomes a process of dialogue rather than unilateral imposition [18].

The perception of insincerity in political actors has become an increasingly salient topic in the study of political communication. While authenticity is widely recognized as a cornerstone of political trust [19], citizens’ judgments of whether politicians are “true to themselves” remain deeply shaped by campaign practices, ethical orientations, and individual-level characteristics.

The professionalization of political campaigns has introduced consultants as central actors who design candidate images, craft strategic messages, and orchestrate media appearances [20]. This “business of politics” is aimed at maximizing persuasion and mobilization but often creates conditions in which citizens perceive communication as staged or artificial [21].

Empirical evidence links consultant-driven practices to perceptions of manipulation. Strategy-framed media coverage, for example, has been shown to generate higher levels of political cynicism, as citizens interpret tactical narratives as signs of insincerity [22,23]. Studies on authenticity also suggest that when cues such as consistency and personal style are perceived as excessively managed, politicians appear less genuine [24]. Castells [25] reinforces this argument, contending that the professionalization of politics contributes to a legitimacy crisis in liberal democracies by widening the gap between elites and citizens.

Citizens’ moral orientations strongly shape their evaluations of sincerity. Individuals with firm ethical convictions are more likely to reject opportunism and to value candidates who are seen as independent of party hierarchies and consultant-driven strategies [26]. Independent or outsider candidates, therefore, resonate with voters seeking integrity over pragmatism.

Castells [25] highlights how legitimacy crises lead citizens to prefer leaders who embody personal authenticity rather than institutional loyalty. This tendency has been reflected in contemporary democracies where outsider figures gain traction precisely because they appear less bound to strategic machinery.

Perceptions of political sincerity are not homogenous but vary according to individual-level traits. Resilience has been shown to mitigate political cynicism by buffering individuals against disillusionment when confronted with staged communication [27]. Demographic factors also play a role: younger citizens, who are socialized in media-saturated contexts, tend to display heightened skepticism toward political image-making [28]. Gender differences further complicate evaluations, with women often emphasizing honesty and relational trust when assessing leaders [29].

The perception of insincerity extends beyond attitudinal consequences and can shape collective mobilization. Since 2010, waves of demonstrations across the globe have signaled widespread disillusionment with political elites. Cardoso, Lapa, and Di Fátima [30] show how Brazilian protests, facilitated by social media, emphasized that “people are the message,” signaling a reclamation of authenticity by citizens themselves. Castells [25] similarly argues that digital-era mobilizations reflect a structural rupture, where citizens turn against institutionalized politics perceived as artificial and unrepresentative.

Taken together, the literature indicates that political consultants play a critical role in shaping perceptions of insincerity, yet citizens’ evaluations are also mediated by ethical orientations and individual characteristics. Furthermore, these perceptions have implications that extend beyond voter attitudes to the legitimacy of democratic systems themselves. However, empirical gaps remain in explaining the causal mechanisms linking consultants to insincerity, the moderating role of ethics and demographics, and the translation of these perceptions into collective mobilization.

The risk of generating, at the level of citizens, a false impression of integrity when the co-branding process between the party and the leader takes place on false grounds and with a lack of ethical principles has been studied [31,32], especially as the integration of image campaigns without a basis in ideological reality can generate electoral cynicism [33].

The discrepancy between the promoted ethical discourse and the concrete actions delivered occurs frequently in politics. During electoral campaigns, a series of values are invoked (honesty, ethics, transparency, and meritocracy), but subsequent actions betray these promises. In this regard, focus is placed on the fact that political marketing risks becoming a form of ethical simulation, without substantial commitments [34]. In recent years, Romania has experienced a significant increase in citizens’ lack of trust in political institutions. The crisis of trust is manifested both by low levels of electoral participation and by increased support for anti-system political entities (political parties or independent candidates). In this sense, at the level of citizens, sincerity appears to be one of the most highly valued traits in evaluating political leaders; however, in Romania, the perception of sincerity is more important than ideology or political program in determining electoral behavior, especially among young voters [35]. In the event of a major difference between the public discourse and the non-verbal emotions of the political leader [36], voters perceive the political actor as manipulative, even when the message is formally correct.

According to the definitions of resilience [37,38,39,40], each person’s ability to deal with adversity can be seen as applicable in both the political and personal spheres. People with high levels of resilience are less likely to be manipulated and are more skeptical of political messages [41]. People with higher levels of resilience are more likely to look for legitimate political alternatives, such as independent candidates, and to exhibit more autonomous electoral behavior [42]. Thus, those who are reticent tend to show a lower degree of trust in political leaders; not because they are cynical, but rather because they have an autoprotective mechanism. In this context, trust is selective and only given to leaders who demonstrate consistency between their words and deeds [43].

In conclusion, understanding political marketing via the lens of ethics, public perception, and individual resilience may provide a nuanced understanding of what determines electoral behavior on the side of both political actors and voters. Political marketing is essential for effective communication in a modern democracy; on the other hand, without a strong ethical framework, this runs the risk of turning politics into a show.

2. Materials and Methods

The study was based on quantitative research in which a questionnaire was applied during the 1st to 14th of February 2025.

Romania offers a particularly illuminating context for exploring how political marketing influences perceptions of sincerity and electoral trust. Like many transitional democracies, the country has undergone rapid mediatization and an increasing reliance on political consultants, processes that have fundamentally altered the way citizens encounter politics. The December 2024 presidential elections crystallized these dynamics: they were fought under conditions of sharp polarization, heavy reliance on image-driven strategies, and a public sphere already predisposed to question the authenticity of political leaders. In this setting, university students provide a critical vantage point. They represent a generation negotiating their own civic identity, exposed both to the promises of democratic participation and to the disappointments of perceived manipulation. Their voices echo what Castells [25] described as the rupture of liberal democracy, where professionalized politics collides with citizens’ demand for authenticity and ethical integrity. This is not unique to Romania. From the demonstrations that erupted across multiple countries in the early 2010s to the social mobilizations in Brazil [30], young citizens have consistently stood at the forefront of questioning political systems that appear increasingly consultant-driven rather than people-centered.

By including perspectives from two distinct institutions—the Bucharest University of Economic Studies and the ‘Vasile Alecsandri’ University of Bacau—this study captures both socio-regional diversity and a shared generational experience of skepticism. Situating the research in Romania therefore allows us to contribute not only to understanding a single election, but also to a broader debate about how transitional democracies navigate the ethical boundaries of political marketing in an age where authenticity has become both demanded and doubted.

The research was conducted on a sample of 534 respondents from two Romanian universities: the Bucharest University of Economic Studies (ASE) and the ‘Vasile Alecsandri’ University of Bacau.

The study employed a quantitative survey design to examine students’ perceptions of the political class and to measure individual resilience. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire developed in Romanian and administered electronically via Google Forms. The instrument was designed specifically for this research and combined dichotomous (yes/no), multiple-choice, and Likert-scale items. No personally identifiable or GDPR-sensitive data were collected, ensuring full compliance with ethical standards for human subjects research.

The target population consisted of first-year university students, for whom voting represented their initial civic engagement. A random sampling procedure was employed, and the questionnaire was distributed to the entire cohort of eligible students. Participation was voluntary, and informed consent was obtained electronically at the beginning of the survey.

The questionnaire included several thematic modules:

• Informed consent—verification of participants’ agreement to take part in the study.
• Self-perception and political interest—items measuring students’ self-assessment of being well-informed and their level of interest in national, European, U.S., and regional politics.
• Information sources and political awareness—questions addressing news consumption patterns, preferred channels of information (traditional media, online sources, social media, peer and family networks), and level of knowledge on key political and institutional issues.
• Perceptions of political issues and doctrines—evaluation of major societal challenges (e.g., corruption, poverty, discrimination, polarization, global warming, the war in Ukraine) and identification of political doctrines perceived as most responsive to citizens’ needs.
• Attitudes toward political parties and leadership—assessment of the perceived responsiveness of current parties, the potential value of new political actors, desirable qualities in political leaders, and trust in political institutions.
• Beliefs about elections and democratic processes—questions concerning fairness of elections, voter motivations, susceptibility to external influence, and trust in democracy versus authoritarian systems.
• Media literacy and fake news—measures of exposure to misinformation across platforms (TV, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, WhatsApp, etc.), verification strategies, and perceived impact of false information on individuals, social groups, and state institutions.
• Religiosity and politics—items exploring the role of spirituality and religious values in political leadership and governance.
• Resilience and coping mechanisms—a battery of Likert-scale items assessing optimism, problem-solving, adaptability, emotional regulation, social support, and goal-setting.
• Demographics—questions concerning gender, age, university affiliation, political party membership or sympathy, NGO participation, and migration intentions.

The questionnaire is a multi-dimensional survey instrument combining binary choices, multiple response options, and Likert scales. It integrates items on political perception, media literacy, resilience, and values, aiming to capture both cognitive and affective aspects of student civic engagement. Its design allows for both descriptive analysis (distribution of political attitudes) and correlational analysis (e.g., between resilience and political trust).

As shown previously, the literature suggests that political consultants exert a significant influence on how citizens perceive the sincerity of political actors. At the same time, such evaluations are not uniform; they are mediated by citizens’ ethical orientations and shaped by individual characteristics such as resilience, age, and gender. The implications of these perceptions extend far beyond electoral preferences, reaching into questions of democratic legitimacy and stability. Nonetheless, important empirical gaps remain. In particular, the causal pathways through which consultants foster perceptions of insincerity are insufficiently understood, as are the moderating effects of ethical values and demographic variables. Furthermore, little is known about how individual-level perceptions translate into broader patterns of political disengagement or collective mobilization.

Addressing these gaps, the present study investigates three interrelated hypotheses:

(a) the perception of politicians’ insincerity is caused by the role of political consultants;

(b) citizens with strong ethical values tend to prefer more independent candidates;

(c) individual characteristics such as resilience, age, and gender influence the perception of political sincerity.

3. Results

The distribution was nearly even between the two institutions, with 50.2% of the participants from ASE and 49.8% from the Bacau University, enabling comparative analysis across academic environments.

Regarding age distribution, most respondents (81.6%) were between 18 and 22 years old, reflecting the dominant demographic of undergraduate students. Participants aged between 23 and 26 accounted for 8.1%, while those over 27 represented 10.3% of the sample.

In terms of gender, the sample was relatively balanced: 52.8% of respondents identified as female and 46.1% as male, with a marginal proportion (1.1%) choosing not to disclose their gender. This distribution allowed for gender-based analysis without significant bias.

An additional psychological dimension of the research was individual resilience. Most respondents (91.6%) exhibited a high level of resilience, with 8.2% reporting a medium level and only one participant (0.2%) falling into the low resilience category.

3.1. Perception of Politicians’ Insincerity Is Caused by Political Consultants

A moderate correlation was observed with the belief that political insincerity is caused by political consultants (r = 0.359, p < 0.01), suggesting that individuals with a higher ethical orientation are more likely to attribute deception to back-stage political actors rather than the politicians themselves.

Additionally, there was a positive correlation with the idea that communication experts intentionally hide the truth (r = 0.253, p < 0.01), reinforcing the perception of mediated political dishonesty.

The strongest relationships observed were among the variables that operationalized perceived honesty: ‘politicians tell the truth’, ‘politicians are sincere’, and ‘parties tell the truth’. The correlation between the first two was remarkably high (r = 0.936, p < 0.01), and similarly strong between ‘politicians tell the truth’ and ‘politicians are sincere’ (r = 0.886, p < 0.01). These results suggest a common latent construct in public perception, one that encompasses the broader idea of political honesty.

3.2. Citizens with Strong Ethical Values Tend to Prefer More Independent Candidates

Ethics also correlates positively with optimism regarding political reform: respondents who value ethics tend to believe that independent candidates represent citizen interests more authentically (r = 0.349, p < 0.01) and that political promises are achievable (r = 0.222, p < 0.01). These insights reflect a potential openness to change and a belief in the moral rehabilitation of the political system. A modest but statistically significant correlation was also found between ethics and general trust in others (r = 0.092, p < 0.05), as well as with individual resilience (r = 0.118, p < 0.01).

3.3. Individual Characteristics (Individual Resilience, Age, and Gender) Can Influence the Perception of Political Sincerity

A negative correlation was identified between individual resilience and perceptions of political sincerity (r = −0.126, p < 0.01), as well as the belief that politicians tell the truth (r = −0.103, p < 0.05). These findings imply that resilient individuals—although psychologically stable—may develop a more skeptical stance toward political actors. This skepticism can be interpreted as cognitive vigilance rather than disengagement.

Gender and age also showed relevant and modest effects. Female respondents appeared slightly less likely than males to perceive political actors as truthful (r = −0.073, p < 0.1) or parties as responsive to citizens’ needs (r = −0.069, p < 0.1). Furthermore, age was positively correlated with university affiliation (r = 0.338, p < 0.01), possibly reflecting differences in educational experiences and civic engagement. Age was not significantly correlated with ethics (r = 0.036, p > 0.05), but showed a positive association with the variable associated with the consultants’ responsibility in hiding the truth (r = 0.116, p < 0.01), which may indicate a more critical perception with advancing age.

Overall, the correlation matrix reveals strong internal consistency among perception-based variables and significant interrelationships with ethical and psychological dispositions. These findings highlight the central role of perceived moral integrity in shaping electoral attitudes and reinforce the need for ethically grounded communication strategies in contemporary political marketing.

4. Discussion

The results demonstrate the existence of an association between insincerity, not necessarily with politicians themselves, but with influences “from behind”—especially with communication strategies. This externalization of blame is illustrative of a perceptual reality in which political marketing is equated with manipulation. This confirms the observation that, in the post-truth era, electoral persuasion techniques contribute to the erosion of civic trust if they are not accompanied by clear ethical norms [31]. At the same time, the study reveals a positive correlation between perceived ethics and openness to independent candidates. Thus, a voter pattern emerges that values political morality and seeks representatives who appear uncontaminated by party mechanisms and prefabricated discourses. In the same sense, some researchers have highlighted the role of authenticity in the reconstruction of electoral trust capital, emphasizing that the predisposition to support is linked to the perception of the political actor as less susceptible to post-truth logic [44].

The data also show an interesting phenomenon: individuals with a higher level of personal resilience tend to show greater skepticism towards politicians’ sincerity. This fact can be interpreted through the lens of the theory of cognitive resilience [45], which posits that psychologically better-adapted people are more selective in granting trust and more vigilant to signals of manipulation.

Interestingly, the study also reveals an extremely strong correlation between perceptions of politicians’ sincerity and party credibility, which suggests a common psychological construct—probably the result of a process of affective generalization. This type of generalization is typical in political contexts of collective disillusionment, in which distinctions between individuals and institutions blur in public perception [46].

Therefore, the objective of this study is to contribute to a better understanding of how moral values, cognitive skepticism, and demographic variables interact in the formation of electoral attitudes. The relevance of the research lies not only in unmasking the mechanisms perceived as manipulative, but also in providing a framework for interpreting the “packaged sincerity” of current political discourse—a concept that captures the tension between the need for persuasion and the imperative of honesty.

From an applicative perspective, the results can substantiate a change in the paradigm of Romanian political campaigns, orienting them towards ethical marketing, centered on coherence, transparency, and assumption. In a society in which the word “authenticity” is becoming increasingly rare in the political vocabulary, this direction is not only desirable but urgently necessary.

Like any research, this study has certain limitations that should be considered when interpreting the findings. The participants were drawn exclusively from two Romanian universities, meaning that the results reflect the views of a specific group and may not be generalizable to the wider population. In addition, because the study relied on self-reported questionnaires, responses may have been influenced by social desirability bias rather than by respondents’ genuine perceptions. The cross-sectional design also provides only a single snapshot in time, making it difficult to trace how political attitudes and resilience might evolve under different circumstances or over longer periods. Furthermore, although validated instruments were employed, complex constructs such as political trust or sincerity are inherently difficult to capture fully through standardized survey items. Finally, the broader social and political context—including contemporaneous events and media debates—likely shaped students’ responses in ways that could not be fully controlled. Future research would benefit from incorporating more diverse groups of respondents, employing longitudinal designs to observe changes over time, and combining surveys with qualitative methods. Such approaches would provide a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of how young people perceive political actors and how resilience interacts with democratic attitudes.

5. Conclusions

The perception that an independent candidate would better represent citizens correlates significantly with the variables associated with ethics, sincerity, and the realizability of promises. This observation highlights a crisis of trust in traditional parties and an appetite for alternative solutions, motivated by the desire for a more authentic and ethical political discourse.

The analysis of the correlations reveals that political ethics, the perception of sincerity, and electoral preferences are deeply interconnected. The lack of trust in politicians and their advisors, together with the tendency to see independent candidates as more representative, reflects a pressing need for authenticity, honesty, and accountability in the contemporary Romanian political space.

Ethics is also perceived as an important factor for improving the relationship between politicians and citizens, while skepticism towards politicians’ sincerity is influenced by personal (level of resilience) and demographic (gender, age) factors.

This study moves beyond the existing state of the art in political marketing by showing that citizens’ perceptions of political sincerity are not shaped by campaign strategies alone, but are filtered through resilience and socio-demographic factors. The findings confirm that consultants influence perceptions, yet challenge the idea of uniform audience responses by revealing important individual-level differences. In this way, the work extends current theory by bridging political marketing with political psychology, offering a more nuanced understanding of how personal traits mediate the impact of marketing on democratic legitimacy.