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Rebranding Politics: The Impact of Generative AI on Political Branding and Voter Trust

Jonsson, Emma LU and Willome, Anna-Sophia LU (2025) BUSN39 20251
Department of Business Administration
Abstract (Swedish)
Thesis Purpose: This study aims to shed light on how the integration of GenAI in political
branding shifts voters' trust and perception of political persuasion attempts.
Theoretical Perspective: The theoretical lenses of the Persuasion Knowledge Model and the
Source Credibility Theory are used to explore how voters perceive and react to political entities
using GenAI in their branding strategies.
Methodology / Empirical Data Collection: To answer the research question, this study adopts
an abductive qualitative research approach. The empirical material is collected through ten
semi-structured interviews with participants ranging in different ages, genders, political
knowledge, and education. The empirical data is analysed using... (More)
Thesis Purpose: This study aims to shed light on how the integration of GenAI in political
branding shifts voters' trust and perception of political persuasion attempts.
Theoretical Perspective: The theoretical lenses of the Persuasion Knowledge Model and the
Source Credibility Theory are used to explore how voters perceive and react to political entities
using GenAI in their branding strategies.
Methodology / Empirical Data Collection: To answer the research question, this study adopts
an abductive qualitative research approach. The empirical material is collected through ten
semi-structured interviews with participants ranging in different ages, genders, political
knowledge, and education. The empirical data is analysed using thematic analysis, combining
both inductive and deductive codes.
Findings / Conclusion: The analysis of the empirical data revealed our key findings. The study
showed that while participants identify GenAI to be efficient and contribute towards content
creation, it’s undisclosed integration into political branding is met with distrust, triggering
scepticism and perceptions of manipulation. However, responses are context-dependent. Factors
such as content format, human touch, and tone plays a role in levels of persuasion and trust. This
exposed a clear dissonance between participants’ stated trust and persuasion criteria and their
actual reactions. Therefore, we define the trust equation: low trust in politics and existing
political branding plus balanced trust in GenAI does not lead to higher trust in political branding,
but rather reinforces distrust. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Jonsson, Emma LU and Willome, Anna-Sophia LU
supervisor
organization
course
BUSN39 20251
year
type
H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
subject
keywords
Political branding, Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), Persuasion, Trust in technology, Voters’ Perceptions, Political Communication
language
English
id
9208569
date added to LUP
2025-09-17 10:21:30
date last changed
2025-09-17 10:21:30
@misc{9208569,
  abstract     = {{Thesis Purpose: This study aims to shed light on how the integration of GenAI in political
branding shifts voters' trust and perception of political persuasion attempts.
Theoretical Perspective: The theoretical lenses of the Persuasion Knowledge Model and the
Source Credibility Theory are used to explore how voters perceive and react to political entities
using GenAI in their branding strategies.
Methodology / Empirical Data Collection: To answer the research question, this study adopts
an abductive qualitative research approach. The empirical material is collected through ten
semi-structured interviews with participants ranging in different ages, genders, political
knowledge, and education. The empirical data is analysed using thematic analysis, combining
both inductive and deductive codes.
Findings / Conclusion: The analysis of the empirical data revealed our key findings. The study
showed that while participants identify GenAI to be efficient and contribute towards content
creation, it’s undisclosed integration into political branding is met with distrust, triggering
scepticism and perceptions of manipulation. However, responses are context-dependent. Factors
such as content format, human touch, and tone plays a role in levels of persuasion and trust. This
exposed a clear dissonance between participants’ stated trust and persuasion criteria and their
actual reactions. Therefore, we define the trust equation: low trust in politics and existing
political branding plus balanced trust in GenAI does not lead to higher trust in political branding,
but rather reinforces distrust.}},
  author       = {{Jonsson, Emma and Willome, Anna-Sophia}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Rebranding Politics: The Impact of Generative AI on Political Branding and Voter Trust}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}