Published June 16th, 2016

A new online poll of US voters by Opportunity Research reveal differences between supporters of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in both educational backgrounds and shopping habits. Specifically, the poll found sharp splits between the two groups in the number of years of college attended and how often the two groups used coupons or promo codes when shopping.

Coupon and Promo Code Use Higher among Trump Supporters

Other questions in the poll focused on consumer and spending habits. When asked about using coupons and promo codes for purchases, Trump supporters reported using an average of 4.9 coupons or promo codes over a 30 day period, while Clinton supporters only used 3.2 over the same period.

The poll also suggested an explanation for these differences. Both college attendance and coupon use could be tied to a third factor the study looked at the age of the voter.

Don’t Discount the College Factor

A popular narrative in news media has been that Donald Trump’s most fervent supporters are “white men without college degrees.” There appears to be at least some evidence to support this, at least where a college education is concerned. When questioned about their educational background, Donald supporters report an average of 2.9 years of college education. By comparison, Hillary Clinton supporters report an average of 3.9 years of postsecondary education, beating Trump’s by a full year.

Surprisingly, the difference between Trump and Clinton supporters who at least start college is not that great. While Clinton supporters maintain an edge here, with 83% reporting at least 1 year of college attendance, Trump supporters are not that far behind; over 77% of Trump supporters report at least one year of college education.

The major difference between the two, it seems, is the actual number of years attended, giving Clinton supporters the edge in the ability to obtain a college degree.

Older voters promote Trump, young flock to Clinton

When given a choice between the two candidates, voters aged 65 and older choose Trump over Clinton, 56% to 44%. All other age groups in the poll favored Clinton, particularly 25-34 year-olds, where Clinton enjoys nearly two-thirds of voter support when given a choice between the two candidates.

Not surprisingly, the older demographic that supports Trump is also the exact group that tends to use more coupons and have attended fewer years college – no matter which candidate they support for president.

The poll collected responses from a total of 1026 eligible US voters, with a margin of error of 3.06%.

Methodology:



This poll was conducted online from October 14th through October 17th, 2016 by Opportunity Consumer Research using Google Consumer Surveys. A total of 1026 eligible voters were polled, with a margin of error of 3.06%. Participants were screened for age and eligibility of voting status. All respondents were presented with identical questions. The pollster’s report includes the geography that was surveyed; the date(s) interviews were conducted, and the number of respondents who answered each question. Where necessary, respondents were weighted using the most recent estimates for age, gender, and region, to align the sample to the general population of online users.

For questions about our research please contact info@couponscience.org

by Stephanie Nelson