COP3 - BERNIE SANDERS CAMPAIGN //PRIMARY RESEARCH // TESTING OFF FINAL IDEA

As discussed in previous blog poster, there are issues when trying to gather feedback on the Bernie Sanders campaign. I'm not American and do not live in America so cannot conduct realistic feedback with the intended audience. Therefore,  I had to gather feedback with what I had, to try to understand if the final designs made people think of Bernie Sanders as the saviour of minorities and Hillary as the very opposite.

I asked the questions below to around 10 people. All were British but from a wide spectrum of ages from and political affiliation. The questions asked were well-rounded with the intention of gathering a well-rounded answer without asking anything too technical or specific about the rhetoric used; the rhetoric isn't meant to be obvious but in fact subconscious. The questions and answers were (Using only the best answers that don't include a one worded answers)

1.) What did you think of Bernie Sanders before?

"I didn't know too much about him. He seems quite problematic at times through what I've heard."
"Just an old leftist who should retire, his quite old isn't he?"

"He's a very interesting character, as a supporter of Jeremy Corbyn I had hoped he would beat Hillary Clinton."

"Wasn't there a conspiracy to why he lost again Hillary? As a person, I didn't think much of him. I don't have an opinion if I'm honest"

"He's views were too liberal and left wing. Nobody with such views could gather support to beat Hillary who has the support of Bill Clinton."

"Old"

Looking at the finished campaign how would you perceive Bernie's portrayal?

"Quite surprising actually. I never knew was arrested for protesting, I suppose he seems the lesser evil"

"Loved it! You can really see the type of person he comes across as. A real supporter of the people"

"I think it's really interesting that he got arrested for protesting something that should be a human right. Weird to think that Hillary and Bernie had different attitudes!"

"I still think he is too leftist. Maybe I'm hard to persuade but I suppose the poster are effective in highlighting Bernie support for black people"

"A man who has an understanding of minority’s inequalities, a fighter"

What did you think of Hillary Clinton before?

"Corrupted"

"A controversial figure, I don't really like her"

"I think she's a bit corrupted but as a woman, she's done a lot of good for us"

"An idiot, I don't really like her as I didn't really like Bill either"

"A strong woman with morals."

Looking at the finished campaign how would you perceive Hillary's portrayal?

"Disgusting, especially that dirty colour. It's horrible to look at. There is no way any black person could vote for her after seeing that, I'm surprised Bernie didn't dig this up himself"

"A representation of her personality, unattractive!, you done a really good job"

"Erm... I think it was excellent! I love how you made her out to be a supporter of segregation. It's very eye-opening, makes you wonder what you can digup from someones past."

"Quite a damaging portrayal. Really effective contrast between Bernie and Hillary."


"its apparent Hillary is not all she claims to be and has unexpected views"

How do you think minorities would view this campaign?

"They would surely hate Hillary!"

"Personally, the minority community, especially black people would want to follow Bernie and totally distance themselves from Hillary. I can't see no other way"

"There is no way minorities could still support Hillary after such a damaging photo?"

"I think minorities would think twice about who to vote for, Bernie is the obviously choice for them as he is portrayed as a strong leader but who knows, people still voted for Trump!

If you were an American, who would you vote for?

Everyone said Bernie Sanders apart from one person

Do you think the campaign would give an incentive for minorities to go out and vote for Bernie?

Everyone said yes


The overall primary research was a success in regards to the overall opinion that Bernie is a hero and Hillary, not so much. The audience contained a mixed lot of people who had a wide range of political opinions. People on the left and right, so it gave a good insight to what people thought. I wasn't expected to gather a really positive outcome as rhetoric would normally need a long people of exposure to subconsciously form an opinion from the rhetoric. But the overall responce confirmed the overall success of the campaign.