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Show Pre-Vote Polls May Affect Consumer Surveys NEW YORK Consumer research, re-search, which has always been practiced to some extent by American business, received a big boost in 1936 when George Gallup accurately predicted that President Roosevelt would win the election by 60 per cent of the popular vote. This spectacular forecast established es-tablished consumer sudveys as a major Industry. Because business busi-ness men felt that they could believe be-lieve in the validity of poll findings, find-ings, every advertising agency worthy of the name soon established estab-lished a market research department. depart-ment. It wasn't any time before a couple of hundred firms were engaged en-gaged in "sampling" consumer opinion. Housewives were gravely grave-ly asked to state their preferences prefer-ences in soars and household cleansers, and their answers went into reports that governed the expenditure of advertising budgets totaling millions of dollars. dol-lars. Automobile manufacturer gladly redesigned their cars o" the advice that polls showed thn motorists preferred such and such. An entire philosophy was built on stray ballots. Since the recent election a dark cloud of doubt has Fathered Father-ed over the heads of the pollster The big question now is: will business men continue to out implicit faith in them? Only time can fill out this ballot. |