BIGresearch: Consumers Rate Presidential Candidates by Likelihood to Recommend to a Friend

Independent Voters May Hold Key

COLUMBUS, OH – (MARKET WIRE) – 4/18/08 –The Net Promoter® Score* (NPS) has been called the “ultimate question” that can determine a company’s future.  So what happens when you apply the NPS to the 3 major presidential candidates?  BIGresearch (http://www.bigresearch.com) did just that by asking more than 8,000 respondents to their April Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey to rank the candidates using the NPS and the results were compelling.

Here is how the NPS works: respondents are asked to rate, on a scale from 0 (Not at all likely) to 10 (Extremely likely), the probability they would recommend a candidate to a friend or coworker.  10 and 9 responses indicate Promoters, 8 and 7 responses are Passives and 0 through 6 are Detractors. NPS is calculated by subtracting the percentage of Detractors from the percentage of Promoters.

Here is how each of the major presidential candidates ranks according to their NPS among all consumers and by political party.  

                  Obama       Clinton     McCain
All               -48.8%      -52.3%      -56.0%
Democrats         -13.4%      -10.8%      -82.2%
Republicans       -84.0%      -89.3%      -9.1%
Independents      -51.9%      -63.0%      -65.5%

Source: BIGresearch, April 08 CIA
*Net Promoter, NPS and Net Promoter Score are trademarks of Satmetrix Systems, Inc., Bain & Company, and Fred Reichheld  

Clinton scores better than Obama among Democrats.

Interestingly, McCain has a better score within his own party than either Obama or Clinton do within their party which may be due to the competitive nature of the Democratic primary.  McCain also scores better with Democrats than either Obama or Clinton do with Republicans which indicates more Democrats are likely to promote him than Republicans promote Obama or Clinton.

23% of respondents align themselves with the Independent Party, and candidates are aware that these are the votes crucial to their success.  Obama is the candidate most likely to be recommended by an Independent. His NPS is considerably higher (-51.9%) when compared to Clinton’s (-63%) or McCain’s (-65.5%).

To view data tables for presidential candidates’ NPS, please click here: http://info.bigresearch.com/

About BIGresearch
BIGresearch is a consumer intelligence firm providing analysis of behavior in areas of products and services, retail, financial services, automotive, and media. BIGresearch conducts the Consumer Intentions and Actions (CIA) Survey which monitors more than 7,500 consumers each month. The CIA delivers fresh, demand-based information on where the retail consumer is shopping and their changing behavior. Unlike indicators based on past performance, this data brings intelligence on where the retail consumer is going, their intentions and actions. They also conduct the Simultaneous Media Survey (SIMM) of more than 15,000 consumers twice each year.

BIGresearch's methodology provides the most accurate consumer information in the industry with a margin of error of +/- 1 percent. http://www.bigresearch.com