Survey Provides Deepest Insights Yet into Best Practices for Targeting
and Engaging Likely Voters
With the first votes of the 2016 Presidential primary season less than
one week away, Rubicon Project (NYSE: RUBI), which operates one of the
largest advertising marketplaces in the world, has released the findings
from a new national survey of likely voters that provides insights into
how voters are shaping their decisions and where they go to consume news
and campaign information. The survey examined the content consumption
habits of 1,500 likely voters in the U.S. 2016 general presidential
election.
Over the course of the next 10 months it is projected that campaigns and
super PACs will spend more than $10 billion targeting and engaging
likely voters – how they allocate those dollars will be mission critical
in shaping the opinions of the electorate. The research unveiled today
provides a clear roadmap for campaigns and candidates seeking to reach
likely voters where and when they consume information that ultimately
will shape their voting decisions.
“2016 presents a real opportunity for innovation and change in how
campaigns and candidates reach the always connected voter,” commented
Dallas Lawrence, Senior Vice President at Rubicon Project. “Spending
billions of dollars on TV advertising like we have witnessed from
candidates and super PACs for the past 30 years just isn’t going to move
the needle this election cycle as much as in the past.”
Key findings from the national survey include:
TV isn’t Dead, it’s Just Not Dominant: Likely voters today spend
an equal amount or more time online than watching TV, with highly
coveted independent voters being nearly twice as likely to spend more
time online than in front of their television.
Skip It: Nearly half of all likely voters say they now use a DVR
for most of their TV watching and two-thirds report skipping commercials
“all or most of the time” when watching recorded programming.
Penetrating the Second Screen is Key: Nearly half of the likely
electorate have a second screen on “always or most of the time” when
watching TV and about one-third of baby boomers have a second device
screen open always or most of the time while watching TV.
When Voters are Online They Go to Video: More than one-third of
likely voters report watching online videos daily, with four out of ten
Democratic and independent voters watching videos daily online.
Gamers Matter: Half of all likely voters play games weekly on
their mobile devices. More than one-third of likely Democratic and a
quarter of independent voters are getting their game(s) on daily.
Total Recall on Digital Devices: Nearly a third of the electorate
reported being able to recall seeing a specific digital political
advertisement so far this cycle.
Voters are Compelled to Click: More than a third (36%) of those
who have seen a political ad have taken a positive action such as
clicking through to the content or providing an email address.
Engagement with digital ads on a mobile device is nearly twice as
strong, with 3 in 5 (64%) of those that have seen a digital political ad
on mobile taking action.
Dallas Lawrence continued, “What we’re seeing, and what we will continue
to see, is an important shift in where and how voters are spending their
time and ultimately where they are consuming the content that shapes
their voting behavior. Smart campaigns seeking a competitive advantage
in what will be the most costly and hotly contested election season in
American history would be wise to recognize that the electorate is no
longer sitting passively in front of the television waiting for a one
way broadcast engagement. They are online, mobile, playing games,
consuming massive amounts of video content, and looking for the right
message from the right candidate at the right time to inform and
ultimately persuade their perceptions about the race.”
For further information on this study or insight into additional data
please visit: http://rubiconproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Rubicon-Project-Voter-Media-Consumption-Habits.pdf
Survey Methodology
Rubicon Project engaged global polling firm Penn Schoen Berland to
conduct 1,500 interviews (MOE ±2.53%) among likely voters in the U.S.
2016 general presidential election. The survey sample includes 597 (MOE
±4.01%) likely general election voters who identify as Democrats, 479
(MOE ±4.48%) as Republicans, and 398 (MOE ±4.91%) as independents. The
interviews were conducted from January 8th to January 12th, 2016.
About Rubicon Project
Founded in 2007, Rubicon Project’s mission is to keep the Internet free
and open and fuel its growth by making it easy and safe to buy and sell
advertising. Rubicon Project pioneered advertising automation technology
to enable the world’s leading brands, content creators and application
developers to trade and protect trillions of advertising requests each
month and to improve the advertising experiences of consumers. Rubicon
Project is a publicly traded company (NYSE: RUBI) headquartered in Los
Angeles, California.
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