Michael Lee: Auckland University marketing expert on National, Christopher Luxon's slipping popularity in the polls

It's thought the Prime Minister's communication style doesn't sit well with Kiwis. 

The latest Taxpayers’ Union-Curia Poll shows Chris Hipkins has leap-frogged Chris Luxon as preferred PM. 

Labour's also ahead on 34.1%, with National trailing on 33.6%. 

National's support has risen, but support for coalition partners Act and New Zealand First have both dropped. 

Auckland University marketing expert, Michael Lee told Andrew Dickens Luxon's question side-stepping on Andrew Bayley's sacking was a good example of what he needs to improve. 

He says there are ways of answering that show he doesn't want to respond in a way which could get himself or someone else in trouble, later on. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
We have a Taxpayer's Union Courier poll yesterday and it
showed that the National Party have fallen behind Labor in popularity.
It's only half a percent though, but the interesting thing
in a way was that Chris Hipkins is above Christopher
Luxen for preferred Prime Minister. So I'm joining now by
Aukland University Associate Professor of Marketing, Michael Lee. Michael, good
morning to you.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Good morning, Mike.

Speaker 1 (00:22):
What's your reading of the PM's communication style, because people
are saying that he's not cutting through.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
I think, I mean, I've heard some of the interviews
where you've had a little game of cat and mouse
with him, trying to get him to commit to something.
And you know, for the most part, he's pretty good
when he knows what he wants to say. But I
think what he gets a bit sticky is obviously when
he's been pressed for something that he's clearly keen not
to give a definitive answer for, and then he comes

(00:51):
across a little bit evasive sometimes, and I think that's
probably what's happening. People think, why don't you just answer
the question?

Speaker 1 (00:57):
Well, is he too married to bullet points from his prep?

Speaker 2 (01:01):
Sorry? What was that?

Speaker 1 (01:02):
Is he too married to the bullet points that he's prepared.

Speaker 2 (01:06):
Yeah, that could be a stick to what you want
to say and don't get pressed into engaging in any
conversation that you're not comfortable answering. I think that does
come across.

Speaker 1 (01:17):
But you see, the thing is, if you're going to
say something, you have to say it like you believe it,
and therefore you should be able to say it immediately.

Speaker 2 (01:24):
Yeah, exactly. And so what we see is the points
that he's comfortable talking to, he can be quite decisive
and comes across quite strong. But then when you catch
him on something that he's not clear about or does
not want to engage in the conversation, then he becomes
very evasive.

Speaker 1 (01:41):
And well, that's the difficulty about being the Prime minister.
You have to be the spokesperson on everything and you
have to be across everything. So I would say that
there are people in the back benches of the National
Party who would like to see him polling a bit higher.
What could he do to improve.

Speaker 2 (01:55):
Well, a couple of the things that you've caught him on,
like the whether or not there is a deal for
the fare and whether or not he would sack that
chat he could have answered with something like, you know,
it depends or maybe or I'd have to look into that,
or there are circumstances that I'm not on top of

(02:19):
right now that I would have to get back to you.
So there are ways of answering that shows that, look,
he would like to answer, but he doesn't want to
answer in a way that you know, would get him
in trouble or the other person in trouble later on.
So I think there's a reason why he can't answer.
The issue is that he's just giving you the same
response over and over again, and that's getting frustrating for

(02:41):
both of you, and obviously the listeners can probably hear
that evasiveness going on.

Speaker 1 (02:45):
Absolutely, Thank you so much, Mike Lee.

Speaker 2 (02:48):
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