The Validity of Herzberg’s Dual-Factor Theory on Job Satisfaction of Political Marketers

Abstract

An avalanche of studies has been conducted to determine the level of job satisfaction, and determinants thereof, among political marketers – including political party supporters. Majority of these studies utilized the Maslow theory, which is based on a hierarchy of needs. Maslow’s theory has severally been criticized on philosophical, methodological and hierarchical grounds. The theory argues that human needs are ordered, i.e. they range from lower-order to higher-order needs. As one need is adequately or partially fulfilled, the individual moves to the next higher-order need. By so doing, an individual is said to derive his job satisfaction. But Herzberg’s two-factor theory (also called motivation /Hygiene theory) has been suggested as a more plausible alternative to the Maslow’s Theory for studying job satisfaction, and in evaluating the previous research efforts on political marketers which are mainly rooted in Maslow’s theory. The purpose of this paper is to present the result of an empirical investigation of the validity of the motivation – Hygiene Theory in the Nigerian political environment. The result should prove useful in evaluating the theory as an alternative to Maslow’s theory when studying job satisfaction.

Key words: Motivation, Job satisfaction, Political marketers, Herzberg‘s Theory