A marketing poll: an innovative approach to prediction, explanation and strategy

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an evaluation of a newspaper insert survey and web‐based voter surveys associated with the same newspaper, conducted before and after the 2004 US presidential election.Design/methodology/approach – The study compares response rates, demographics, and political profiles of voters responding to these two different channels of communication and evaluates the success of each in predicting the election outcome.Findings – The study results show some significant differences between the two methods of voter data collection; nevertheless, each is useful in a comprehensive system that attempts to follow voter attitudes and intentions before the election and predict election outcome.Origiality/value – The study relies on the use of an innovative marketing poll that goes beyond simple prediction of a voter's behavior and offers an explanatory component useful in the development of marketing strategies during a campaign.