Study: Sports and Outdoor Enthusiasts More Likely to Vote for McCain

People that are interested in sports or outdoor activities and have easy access to the Internet feel that John McCain and Sarah Palin best reflect their views and are more likely to vote for that ticket in the U.S. Presidential election in November, according to a recent survey conducted by The SportsOneSource Group.  The poll was taken Sept. 25 to 30 as part of the comprehensive sports and outdoor brand and participation report to be published in December.  Respondents were selected based on their positive response to a question regarding strong interest in, or participation in, a range of sports, fitness or outdoor activities.

Based on the SportsOneSource study, of the respondents to the question regarding which ticket best represents their personal views, 47% indicated the John McCain/Sarah Palin ticket, while 42% indicated that the Barack Obama/Joe Biden ticket best represents their personal views.  Surprisingly, 10% of the respondents chose “other.”  When it came to the question about likelihood to vote for a particular ticket, the McCain/Palin ticket garnered 44% of the poll results and the Obama/Biden ticket was selected by 39% of the respondents.  Seventeen (17%) said they were undecided.  The survey was conducted before the implosion on Wall Street last week.

The results, which run counter to the broader Presidential polls conducted by Gallup and Rasmussen, were skewed a bit by the nature of the survey, which was conducted over the Internet.  SportsOneSource made every effort to control the demographics to best represent the U.S. population, but respondents to Internet surveys tend to skew more white, more affluent, and more educated than the general U.S. population.  The respondents were between the ages of 18 and 65 years of age.  A separate survey focused on teen consumers between the ages of 12 and 17 years old was utilized to assess brand awareness and preference for that age group.

Probably not surprising, the preferences for President shifted based on the demographics and geographic location of the respondent, but SportsOneSource also found a real shift in preference for President based on the respondent’s interest and participation. 

 * Backpacking, climbing, mountaineering, paddlesports

The SportsOneSource Brand Strength survey was designed to gauge the awareness and popularity sporting goods brands from all areas of the industry.  Respondents were asked awareness levels of not only the most widely-known brands, but also brands that were associated with an interest group in which each respondent was classified, including Team Sports, Individual Fitness, Action Sports, Sportsman, Outdoors, or Golf/Tennis. 

 
A total of 8,056 respondents provided their awareness and preferences of over 300 brands.  Approximately 14% of the respondents said they preferred not to answer the question regarding intent to vote.

The results of the survey can be projected to the U.S. population with a margin of error of + 1.1 percentage points.