Analyzing Survey Data: How Does It Play In Peoria?

The saying “Will it play in Peoria?” originated in the early ’20s and ’30s during the US vaudeville era and is used to ask whether a given product, person, promotional theme, or event will appeal to mainstream America, or across a broad range of demographic/psychographic groups. The success of this resilient phrase can be attributed to the fact that the population of Peoria was fairly representative of the country as a whole.

When analyzing your survey data one important factor you need to keep in mind is how the respondents geographical location impacts their responses. What may be true on the west coast may differ from the east coast as well as all points in-between. For example:

A consumer spending study by TD Ameritrade found geographic differences in consumer spending, noting that 52% of those from the Northeast postponed a major purchase, compared with 39% of consumers from the West. 19% of consumers from the Northeast said that they postponed pregnancies, adoption and other means of enlarging their families, compared with 7% of those living in the West.

As the above survey results demonstrate, opinions can vary greatly from market to market. Determining preferences based on demographics, including geographic location, is key to defining your actionable data. Whether you break down your respondents geographic location by country, region, state, city, urban, suburban or rural areas, segmenting your survey results will help you better understand the geographic differences of your survey data and plan accordingly.