Less than two weeks before the referendum on Scottish independence, there was a YouGov poll suggesting that the ‘yes’ vote was in the lead but the actual result was a 10 percentage point victory for the ‘no’ vote. So was the YouGove poll flawed? According to the pollster’s Chief Executive Stephan Shakespeare, the poll was accurate but opinion changed. He argues that theses days political and consumer opinion is very volatile.<\/p>\n
Shakespeare says YouGov has seen its polls fluctuate more because citizens and consumers think and act faster in the digital age, and everyone has a voice, thanks to social media. \u201cPeople have become much less loyal and less fixed in their affiliations in political terms,\u201d says Shakespeare. Attitudes to consumer brands are also more fickle. \u201cMarketers are extremely nervous about the degree their brands are resilient to outside forces and knocks,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
…<\/p>\n
Real-time monitoring was once a novelty, but not any more. Shakespeare says: \u201cMarkets are moving faster, opinions are changing faster. Companies\u2019 reputations go up and down because of a greater variety of forces. That\u2019s where market research needs to be.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n