As the 2024 presidential election season is in full-swing, data-driven marketing technology firm Stirista today released a broad-ranging 2024 Voter Profile research report. Surveying more than 2,000 likely voters on party and ideology affiliation, purchasing behaviors, media and news consumption as well as celebrity/influencer impact, the Independent voter emerged as the key battleground for campaigns and political marketers looking for better critical insights to help predict voting behavior and avoid wasted ad spend.

"With ad spend projected to increase by a whopping 32 percent this election cycle, political marketers need more to rely on than exit polls, out-of-date voter profiles and gut feelings," said Blaine Britten, SVP of Data Strategy, Stirista. "By combining consumers' digital media consumption data with social affinity and purchase behavior interests, key voter clusters emerge giving campaigns the ability to reach and engage with critical segments including the holy grail independent and swing voters."

"With ad spend projected to increase by a whopping 32 percent this election cycle, political marketers need more to rely on than exit polls, out-of-date voter profiles and gut feelings," said Blaine Britten, SVP of Data Strategy, Stirista.

Independent Voter Is Critical Constituent
One-third (33%) of likely voters indicated that they were either Independent or unsure of their political affiliation. Nearly half of Millennials and Gen Zs make-up the Independent voter population and the vast majority (80%) of this cohort consume news via social media. Nearly half (44%) of Americans overall responded that they had still not decided on a candidate. In terms of ideology affiliation, 31% of consumers did not identify as either Conservative or Liberal.

When looking at other key insights, half of Independents say their purchases and media consumption decisions align with their political views, and 58% say that they are inclined to purchase from organizations that actively support causes they support. This group is also the least likely to purchase from small, local businesses.

Celebrity and Influencer Impact on Voting and Purchase Behaviors
Although only one in five overall respondents indicated that their voting decisions were impacted by celebrities and influencers, 36% of Gen Zs and Millennials said that they are persuaded by these influencers when it comes to voting. Democrat respondents were the most influenced by celebrities (23%), followed by Independents, and Republicans are the least likely to be influenced (15%).

When looking at purchase decisions and celebrity endorsements, one out of four overall consumers (25%) felt that influencers and celebrities had somewhat or significant impact on their purchase habits. The vast majority of consumers surveyed (63%) also indicated that it is important to buy products from companies that actively support causes that they do.

Shopping Behaviors by Identified Political Affiliation
Democrats are slightly less likely than Republicans to purchase products from small, local independent businesses (44% vs. 46%). Democrats most frequent Starbucks and Chipotle more than any other cohort. Republicans visit Chick-fil-A, Black Rifle Coffee, and Cracker Barrel more than Democrats and Independents. Nearly 20% of Independents reported visiting none of the listed establishments on the survey.

Democrats are the least likely to shop at Walmart out of the three political categories, though Walmart is still their most commonly shopped store, followed by Target, Aldi, and Costco. Democrats are the most likely to shop at Trader Joe's with 25% reporting regularly shopping compared to 16% of Republicans and 17% of independents. Republicans are the most likely to shop at Walmart (73%) and the least likely to shop at Target (29%) of the three cohorts.

Other Key Findings:

• Although nearly half of the Gen Z cohort (45%) identify as Liberal and just 23% identify as Conservative, 50% of Gen Z relies on Fox News for news media consumption.
• Baby Boomers rely on ABC and NBC as their top news sources. Gen X has a strong affinity for NBC. Millennials and Gen Z equally rely on Fox News for most of their news consumption.
• Swing voters or Independents favor social media and watch less TV for their news consumption than Democrats and Republicans.
• Gen Z is nearly 4x more likely than Baby Boomers to be using social media for news consumption and nearly 2x more likely than Gen X. Gen X has the highest rates of using websites to consume news, while Millennials have the highest rates of using email and podcasts.

For the full results and analysis, please visit https://www.stirista.com/lp/political-survey-24/.

Study Methodology
Findings from the Stirista 2024 Political Voter Profile Report were derived from an online panel conducted by Ascend2 with more than 2,000 responses of consumers 18 years of age and older, of all gender, income, and education levels–living in urban, suburban, and rural areas across the United States.