They May Not Be Able to Vote, But Youth Grasp Value of Campaign Messages

Affinity to candidate brands may provide marketers with an important glimpse into today's youth

New York, NY – October 21, 2008 – While they may not be of voting age yet, today's youth are engaged with the 2008 Presidential election. Seven in ten (70%) 8 – 17 year olds say they are very or somewhat closely following news coverage on the upcoming presidential election and just over eight in ten (82%) of 8 – 17 year olds say they will vote when they are old enough .

These are some of the results from a Harris Interactive Youth Center of Excellence YouthQuery survey conducted online in the United States among 1,064 youth ages 8-17 between September 17 – 22, 2008.

Barack Obama's campaign has succeeded in relaying his message of change to youth. Two-thirds (68%) of youth who support Obama believe he will bring a great deal of positive change to the U.S. if elected. By contrast, John McCain's campaign has been decidedly less successful in differentiating the Arizona Senator from the current Republican administration. Just under two in five (38%) youth who are McCain supporters say he will bring a great deal of positive change, revealing a yawning "enthusiasm gap" among the young supporters of each candidate.

"For today's teens and tweens, Obama's brand image of change clearly resonates", stated Peter Shafer, Vice President for the Youth Center of Excellence. "Along with voting age Millenials (those aged 18-31) this presidential campaign appears to have had a formative impact on engaging young people. The signs are definitely pointing to Millenials potentially voting in higher numbers than ever before. Coupled with the strong voting intention in today's youth, this may indicate to presidential candidates in the future that they should no longer dismiss the young people as "non-voters" and instead, speak to the issues that are important to them as a generation."

Youth who support Barack Obama believe that America needs change and that Obama is the candidate who can address these needs. Two thirds (68%) of Obama's youth supporters are likely to say the state of the U.S. today is only fair or poor, versus fewer than half of McCain's youth supporters (47%).

Looking more specifically at the issues that are driving the campaign, the top three issues that Obama supporters believe need the next president's attention once he enters office are: the economy (54%), the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (50%), and gas or energy prices (48%). Young supporters of John McCain, however, rank gas prices ahead of all other things (60%). This is closely followed by the economy (54%) and then, much farther behind, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (34%). Youth who support Obama are more likely than McCain supporters to say health care and the environment are important issues (25% versus 12% and 19% versus 10%, respectively). Overall, McCain supporters find fewer issues that they say need the next president's attention once he enters office.

Peter Shafer adds, "It is exciting to see how kids and teens are interested and connecting to the candidates in this historical presidential election.  It seems clear that the campaign messages are resonating with kids at both a rational and emotional level, which are the keys to developing a loyal following.  The candidates are taking a page out of the corporate marketing handbook and using persuasive marketing tactics and messages to even win over kids today."

"Thinking about everything going on in the U.S., how would you rate the state of the U.S. today?"

Base: All Youth, 8-17

Note: Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding

"How much positive change do you feel each of the following candidates for president would bring to the country if he was elected?"

Base: All Youth, 8-17

Note: Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding

"How much positive change do you feel each of the following candidates for president would bring to the country if he was elected?"

Base: All Youth, 8-17

Note: Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding

"How likely or unlikely is it that you will vote in elections when you are old enough to vote (age 18)?"

Base: All Youth, 8-17

Note: Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding

"How closely have you been following news coverage of the upcoming presidential election?"

Base: All Youth, 8-17

Note: Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding

"What are the most important issues the new President needs to deal with during his first months in office?"

Base: All Youth, 8-17

Multiple responses accepted

Note: * indicates less than 0.5%

This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on September 17-22, 2008 among 1,064 U.S. 8-17 year olds (503 8-12 year olds; 561 13-17 year olds). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, parental education, and region were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

The Youth Center of Excellence conducts research among children, teens, parents, educators, administrators and policy makers that assists in understanding the lives of children, teens and college students. The team specializes in research related to marketing geared toward the young consumer, to public policy related to youth and education, to family and parenting issues, and satisfaction studies and research that measures the standards of K-12 and higher education in districts across the nation. The practice conducts custom and syndicated studies both for non-profit and for-profit organizations.

Harris Interactive is a global leader in custom market research. With a long and rich history in multimodal research, powered by our science and technology, we assist clients in achieving business results. Harris Interactive serves clients globally through our North American, European and Asian offices and a network of independent market research firms. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.