Not Just a Store: a Political Question

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Survey Details

Just when you thought Republicans and Democrats were polarized enough, they differ on one more thing: Wal-Mart. Among the Garden State's Republican voters, 60% say they have a favorable view of the world's largest retail chain compared to 48% of Democrats, according to the most recent statewide survey by Fairleigh Dickinson University's PublicMind.

Likewise, 60% of self-described conservatives view the retail behemoth favorably but just 48% of liberals. And just 19% of conservatives say their view of Wal-Mart is unfavorable compared to 39% of liberals. Yet there is no significant difference in how often Republicans or Democrats, conservatives or liberals, shop there.

A majority (56%) of Republican voters conclude that Wal-Mart is good because it provides shoppers with the lowest price and saves them money. But just 42% of Democrats agree.  And 46% of Democrats say Wal-Mart is bad because it drives other businesses out and doesn't pay its workers well enough, but only 30% of Republicans agree.

“I expected more people to have a positive opinion,” said Dr. Rajesh Chandrashekaran, a professor of marketing at Fairleigh Dickinson who studies the psychology of pricing strategies of large retail chains. “The negative views of the public reflect the social and political questions put to Wal-Mart in recent years. Wal-Mart has been known to deliver lower prices by being stingy with employee compensation and benefits. In many towns where Wal-Mart has wiped out local businesses, workers have been hired by Wal-Mart at much lower wages.”

“What surprised me is that consumers are quite aware of and are sensitive to these social issues,” added Chandrashekaran.

The young are more likely to shop at Wal-Mart.  A majority who are age 55 and over say they shop rarely or never at the big store. But a majority under 55 years of age say they have shopped there several times in the past year, if not more often.

Fairleigh Dickinson University's PublicMind conducted this poll of 685 registered voters. Of those, 678 “heard of a store called Wal-Mart” and answered this battery of questions. The poll was conducted from March 27 through April 2 and has a margin of error of +/- 4 percentage points.

Contacts:

Contacts: Peter Woolley 973.670.3239; Rajesh Chandrashekaran 201-692-7245

Radio actuality line: (201) 692-2846.

For more information, please call (201) 692-7032.