Virgin Mobile USA announced results of the first "Virgin Mobile USA Election Issues
Poll," a national SMS-based mobile survey that asked about the key
contenders and issues in the run-up to November. Not surprisingly,
considering Virgin Mobile USA's historical focus on the youth-oriented
market, over half of the respondents were under the age of 25 and
female -- and favored Democratic candidates over the lone Republican.
When asked whom they expect to vote for through the national poll,
conducted in late May, a plurality of respondents (40 percent) selected
Barack Obama as their top choice. Fellow Democratic contender Hillary
Rodham Clinton took second place, at 18 percent and John McCain came in
a distant third at 8 percent. Fewer than 5 percent reported themselves
to be undecided.
Running Mate Not Much of a Factor
Mobile voters were lukewarm on how much a candidate's choice of vice
presidential candidate impacts their vote. Over 51 percent said the
choice was "somewhat important" -- with an even split at the extreme
ends of the spectrum (18 percent said the choice of a VP will be
"extremely important;" 15 percent said the VP choice is "not
important").
57% of respondents would be more likely to vote by text.
The survey, conducted by Vibes Media on behalf of Virgin Mobile USA,
allowed Virgin Mobile customers to opt-in by texting "PREZ" free of
charge to a mobile short code, and then answering questions via text
message. Participants earned five free minutes of airtime from Virgin
Mobile USA for sharing their opinions
Election Issues Poll
Results of Virgin Mobile USA's first "Election Issues Poll"
More than 20,000 Virgin Mobile USA customers partcipated in the election issues poll via their mobile phones
| Who Do You Expect to Vote For? | |
| OBAMA | 40% |
| CLINTON | 18% |
| MCCAIN | 8% |
| UNDECIDED | 5% |
| OTHER | 2% |
| Would You Be Willing to Receive Text Messages From Party or Candidates: | |
| YES | 46% |
| NO | 40% |
| Most Critical Issue in This Election (Choose One) | |
| ECONOMY | 25% |
| WAR | 20% |
| HEALTH | 6% |
| ABORTION | 5% |
| CRIME | 5% |
| EDUCATION | 4% |
| ENERGY | 4% |
| IMMIGRATION | 3% |
| ENVIRONMENT | 2% |
| RACE | 2% |
| Would You Be Willing to Vote for President by Cell Phone: | |
| YES | 57% |
| NO | 38% |
| Would You be More Likely to Vote if You Could Vote by Text? | |
| YES | 55% |
| NO | 25% |
| How Important to Your Choice is Vice President Running Mate? | |
| EXTREMELY | 18% |
| SOMEWHAT | 51% |
| NOT IMPORTANT | 15% |
| WHAT IS YOUR AGE? | |
| 18-25 | 54% |
| 26-34 | 18% |
| Over 35 | 16% |
| GENDER: MALE OR FEMALE? | |
| FEMALE | 57% |
| MALE | 40% |
| POLITICAL AFFILIATION? | |
| DEMOCRAT | 37% |
| REPUBLICAN | 17% |
| INDEPENDENT | 9.5% |
| OTHER | 11% |