Donald Trump: is he truly running for president – or only looking to promote himself?

According to a Google Survey conducted among US Consumers on March 3rd, 2016 – men are 50% more likely to believe Donald Trump truly wants to become president than women. 45.7% of men chose the answer Trump truly wants to become president, compared to only 30.6% of women, with the other option being he’s only running to promote himself / his business. You can read the full press release.

Here are the actual results:

These results are significant, and suggest that women voters are more suspicious, and are less likely to believe Trump and many of his promises.

Here are the biggest findings discovered in the survey:

Finding #1: Millennials Are Far More Skeptical Than The Baby Boomer Generation

Age Affected How Many People Picked “Just wants to promote himself / his business.”

• 45.2% aged 18-24 say Trump “just wants to promote himself / his business”
• Yet only 20% of voters aged 65+ feel that way

This suggests voters who are younger, especially if they’re Millennials or fall into the “Generation Y” part of the population are much more likely to see Trump’s campaign as an exercise in self-promotion rather than truly wanting to impact a country.

Communicating with Millennials, or Gen Y voters, would mean reaching them in ways other generations aren’t as familiar with: social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat. Take Bernie Sander’s favorability towards the Millennials: he’s all over their social media, and in front of their noses, all over their phones.

Reaching the Baby Boomer generation requires direct mail, phone calls, and TV commercials. A big difference between the two.

Finding #2: Voters In The US Northeast Are Particularly Skeptical

Location Affected How Likely Voters Are To Believe Trump Is Only Looking To Promote Himself / His Business.

• 39.4% of voters in the US Northeast say Trump “just wants to promote himself / his business”
• Yet only 26% of voters in the US Midwest feel that way

This suggests that businesses that are located or sell to customers in the US Northeast, should consider adjusting their message to be more authentic – and leaving too controversial or heavy handed promotions for after they won the trust, hearts and minds of their potential customers.

Customers in the US Northeast react much more easily than those in the US Midwest.

Finding #3: Georgia Voters Think Trump Is Only Running For President to Promote His Business More Than The Rest of the US

Even though voters in the Southern states of the US believe Trump truly wants to become president (38.8% compared to 32% who believe he’s just promoting himself/his business), Georgia is a massive exception.

The results from Georgia:

• 58% of Georgian voters say Trump “just wants to promote himself / his business”
• Whereas such response from no other state surpassed 40.9%

This finding is incredible – this suggests, among voters who are generally thought to be more traditional and conservative, that Georgia is actually more skeptical than the general public. If public personalities and business owners want to reach consumers in the American South who they think they “already know”, they must rethink their message and businesses must never betray the trust of buyers/consumers.

Why These Findings Are Important

The fact that voters are expressing doubt that Donald Trump truly wants to become president suggests their level of consuming and interpreting political and marketing campaign messages is sophisticated. In order to reach them, campaign managers both for political and marketing campaigns should reconsider or at least reevaluate their strategy.

Businesses wanting to reach the female Millennials in the Northeastern states, they should be careful on becoming too controversial or over the top. If they do – they could be hurting their brand’s reputation long term, instead aiming for short term results.

Yet those who want to reach an older, suburban demographic shouldn’t worry about any potential backlashes to those who are targeting Millennials.

It remains to be seen how Donald Trump’s campaign will be received as it relates to him potentially becoming the President of the United States, but it will be interesting to watch knowing how Americans feel, and react about his over-the-top campaign.

Here are the Full Results of the Google Survey conducted.

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