New Study Reveals Which Name Brands Voters Associate With Obama And Romney
Word association games are fun, but apparently they are also revealing enough to prompt a Landor survey matching name brands with the presidential candidates. Serious political polls producing statistics which are often contested by one campaign or the other are popping up daily. The Landor report adds a bit of levity to the final weeks in the race for the White House.
The name brand association survey offers intriguing insight into how the American voter views the personalities of President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney. Perhaps the survey answers could even prove to be move informative than the 60-second attack ads which interrupt our favorite television shows more and more as election day gets closer.
USA Today journalist Martha T. Moore had this to say about the 2012 political word association game:
“Presidential candidates are advertised heavily as consumer products, so it’s little surprise that voters have opinions on how President Obama and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney compare to consumer brands.”
The Landor brand identity firm and Penn Schoen Berland pollster asked likely voters to associate the two men with specific brand names in a variety of categories. Penn Schoen Berland Managing Director Bill Man stated during the USA Today interview that people vote for who they think they know. The word association presidential candidates survey did not focus at all on concrete facts but zoned in on how the Democratic and Republican nominees are perceived by the public, The Blaze notes.
A Sampling of Survey Results
Magazine and Games: Survey participants associated Mitt Romney with Business Week and Monopoly and connected President Obama with People Magazine and chess.
Social Media and Search Engines: President Obama was most associated with Facebook and Google and Mitt Romney with Bing and LinkedIn.
Sports and Season: Mitt Romney was associated with golf and winter and the president with basketball and summer.
Clothing Brand and Car: Obama was most often connected to Nike and Ford and Gov. Romney with Armani and BMW.
Coffee and Dessert: Both of the presidential candidates were associated with apple pie. Voters felt Obama would favor home brewed coffee and Romney would prefer a cup of Starbucks.
Spouses: Clothing Store and Department Brand: When asked to connected the candidate’s wives to their presumed shopping habits, survey participants felt Ann Romney would shop at Saks and wear Ralph Lauren and Michelle Obama would favor Macy’s and pulled on J. Crew.
When the same survey was conducted in 2008, Barack Obama was reportedly most often associated with upscale brands and then-challenger Senator John McCain connected to less expensive habits like eating Cheetos and driving a Ford. Mitt Romney’s family and friends may chuckle as the word association brand survey results since he is well-known for his extreme thriftiness.
