Candidate image as a political brand: The mediating role of political interest and the moderating role of political expertise in digital political participation

In today's increasingly digitalized political communication processes, candidate image has become an important strategic brand component in evaluations of voter behavior.This study examines the relationship between media-based, personal characteristics, and socio-cultural image perceptions, which constitute the subdimensions of candidate image, and digital political participation in the context of local elections.The main originality of the study is its holistic model, in which political interest functions as a motivational mediator and political expertise as a cognitive moderator in the relationship between candidate image and participation.Data were obtained from 664 participants through an online survey, and the hypotheses were tested using regression analyses and PROCESS Macro.The findings indicate that personal characteristics-based candidate image initially positively predicted digital political participation; however, when political interest was included in the mediation model, the direct relationship lost its significance, and political interest assumed a full mediating role.This finding indicates that the relationship between evaluations of candidates' personal characteristics and digital political participation is connected with political interest.Analyses of the moderating role of political expertise indicate that a significant moderating role was found only in the relationship between personal characteristics-based candidate image and digital political participation.With limitations including reliance on cross-sectional data and coverage of a single election period, this study indicates that candidate image can be evaluated as a political brand experience related to voters' cognitive and motivational processes rather than merely as visual appeal.