In 1824, a local newspaper called The Harrisburg Pennsylvanian published its straw poll on the upcoming presidential election. The result of this poll, one of the first of its kind, showed Andrew Jackson taking the White House—and from this, the opinion research industry was born.
The advertising industry—realising the usefulness of demographics and audience profiling—then turned opinion research from a small, niche interest into the highly influential market research industry. Modern market research also borrows much of its analytical powers from analyses conducted in the natural sciences to monitor and predict complex phenomena.
Political parties have also been getting in on the act, using the methods and techniques of the market research industry in their election campaigns. There are, to simplify, two approaches campaigns will take: moving to public opinion and moving public opinion.
