Market Research Foundation

Market Research Foundation was founded in 2013 to provide tangible research on aspects of the political process that are often overlooked by candidates, parties, and mainstream media outlets. We were one of the first non-partisan research groups to pioneer contact methods to reach and turn out First Generation naturalized citizens, White Non-College voters, and Low Propensity voters.  In the 2022 midterm election our team set out to test contact methods with a subset of the voting-eligible population in key battleground states who, based on their voting records, were infrequent participants in the pollical process. Despite being less likely to engage in the political process, these Low Propensity voters can have a significant impact on the outcome of an election, and understanding ways to activate these voters is invaluable for campaigns.  We chose to focus on these Low Propensity voters in six swing states - Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Virginia...

The 2020 electorate includes a record number of naturalized citizens, and Democrats are hoping to flip swing states like Florida and Pennsylvania into their control this November. Roll Call recently pointed out the impact newly naturalized citizens will have in 2020, noting that First Generation immigrants make up as much as 10% of the electorate. Using the United States Census naturalization tables and accounting for newly naturalized children and possible delays due to the corona virus, the estimate is between 9.5% and 10% of the electorate. There is evidence the First Generation political impact could be substantial in the 2020 election and beyond. Naturalization tends to spike during election years as new immigrants prepare to become American citizens. What’s more, the largest groups of newly naturalized immigrants – Hispanics and Asians – tend to vote at higher levels than native-born Hispanics and Asians according to the Pew Research Center. While...

Market Research Foundation's spring survey of 1,500 members of Generation Z – young people ages 13 to 23 – explored the social, political, and demographic factors that influence this generation’s increasing skepticism of college. We asked young people to rank their desire to attend college from low-level interest to high-level interest. While a majority of those surveyed say they have a high desire to attend college, a majority do not believe college is necessary to achieve financial success and contribute to society. Young people who are planning to opt out of higher education share skepticism of the Democratic Party and the mainstream media, and are more likely to be white and male. A low desire to go to college is most common in Generation Zers who identify as Republican or Independent, and those who vote third party. Eighty-four percent of young people say it is possible to be successful and...

In the months leading up to the 2016 Presidential election, Market Research Foundation conducted a series of tests to measure the impact of various voter contact methods and messages. Our measures of medium and low propensity suburban females across four states, first-time GOP primary voters in South Carolina, and a registration drive in select low-registration census districts across Pennsylvania, provide insight into outreach methods for future elections. National Security Message Powerful Motivator for Medium and Low Propensity Suburban Females This universe was comprised of married female homeowners with children from suburban regions across Colorado, Michigan, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. Just over 8.5 million women received a series of three emails in the months leading up to the election, with the second email in the series performing best in terms of open rates. This is typical of a three-series email campaign. The test consisted of a test and control group, with pre-election...

  Using the following methodology, Market Research Foundation and Norman Analytics & Research has produced the attached report: An online 15-minute survey of 1,000 first and second generation immigrants Census Tract Analysis Treatment with local canvassers Measurement   Download our full report here. Sample Pages: