1. Help people to vote
(part 2)
Report prepared for bpost
by Profacts
September 2012
0

2. Executive summary (august versus march 2012)
• Letterbox communication remains the most important communication
channel for politicians to approach potential voters
• The closer to the elections, the more important the necessity to
communicate on a personal basis
• Dutch voters prefer D2D channels and messages in the press, while
southern voters prefer a more personal approach
bpost – Omnibus August 2012 - Profacts 1

3. Content
Part 1: Background & Objectives
Part 2: Sample description & methodology
Part 3: Key results
Part 4: Conclusions
bpost – Omnibus August 2012 - Profacts 2

4. Background and objectives
With the elections coming up, bpost wanted to learn more about the
voting habits of the Belgian population. More specific, they wanted to
gain insight into the preferred communication channels of political
parties.
bpost – Omnibus August 2012 - Profacts 3

5. Content
Part 1: Background & Objectives
Part 2: Sample description & methodology
Part 3: Key results
Part 4: Conclusions
bpost – Omnibus August 2012 - Profacts 4

6. Methodology and sample
N = 1000
DATACOLLECTION
Language %
Age Category %
Dutch 58 %
42 % <30 21 %
French
30-39 20 %
Gender %
40-49 21 %
Female 50 %
50 % 50-59 20 %
Male
60+ 18 %
*Sample weighted on age category
Online (CAWI)
bpost – Omnibus August 2012 - Profacts 5

7. Content
Part 1: Background & Objectives
Part 2: Sample description & methodology
Part 3: Key results
Part 4: Conclusions
bpost – Omnibus August 2012 - Profacts 6

8. Question 1
How do you want to be approached by politicians ?
email
door-to-door folder
personalized letter
written press
television
radio
social networks
personal encounter
SMS
bpost – Omnibus August 2012 - Profacts 7

9. Overall, door-to-door-folders (27%) and personalized letters (26%)
remain most preferred when voters want to be approached by
politicians. Mind the differences between North & South.
“In general, how do you want to be approached by politicians?”
August 2012 March 2012
TOTAL
Dutch (n=578) French (n=422) Dutch (n=903) French (n=665)
(n=1000)
door-to-door folder 27 29 23 25 23
Personalized letter in mailbox 26 19 35 14 22
message in written press 21 26 15 30 21
e-mail 19 15 24 14 18
message on television 18 18 17 25 23
message on the internet 11 11 11 12 11
message on the radio 9 8 11 13 15
Social networks 7 7 8 6 6
Personal encounter public… 7 5 9 10 6
Don't know 4 4 5 5 5
Other 4 4 4 1 3
SMS 1 0 1 0 1
I have no interest in politics 26 27 25 29 29
Base: Total Sample (n=1000) Base: Total Sample (n=1568)
bpost – Omnibus August 2012 - Profacts
Significant between groups 8
Dutch vs French

10. Men are more interested in politics. A personalized letter in the
mailbox gains in popularity.
“In general, how do you want to be approached by politicians?”
August 2012 March 2012
TOTAL
Men (n=500) Women (n=500) Men (n=725) Women (n=816)
(n=1000)
door-to-door folder 27 28 26 25 23
Personalized letter in mailbox 26 31 21 21 15
message in written press… 21 23 20 28 24
e-mail 19 22 15 19 13
message on television 18 18 18 24 25
message on the internet 11 14 8 14 10
message on the radio 9 10 9 14 13
Social networks 7 8 7 6 7
Personal encounter public… 7 7 6 9 7
Don't know 4 6 3 5 5
Other 4 4 4 2 2
SMS 1 1 0 0 1
I have no interest in politics 26 20 32 25 34
Base: Total Sample (n=1000) Base: Total Sample (n=1568)
bpost – Omnibus August 2012 - Profacts
Significant between groups 9
men vs women

11. Interest in politics seems to slightly increase when coming
closer to the elections
When coming closer to the elections the interest in politics has
slightly increased compared to march.
“In general, how do you want to be approached by politicians?”
March 2012
<30 (N=329) 30-39 (N=314) 40-49 (N=329) 50-59 (N=314) 60+ (N=282)
door-to-door folder 23 30 19 24 24
Personalized letter in mailbox 17 14 15 19 26
message in written press … 25 27 22 28 28
e-mail 16 15 14 14 21
message on television 25 27 25 24 21
message on the internet 16 16 9 7 10 Younger people are less interested in politics and prefer
message on the radio 13 16 14 12 11 messages in written press, internet, radio, and social networks.
Social networks 16 7 3 3 1
Personal encounter public … 8 7 8 7 9 “In general, how do you want to be approached by politicians?”
Don't know 6 4 5 5 4 August 2012
Other 1 1 2 2 5
SMS 1 2 0 0 0 50-59 (N=200)
<30 (N=210) 30-39 (N=200) 40-49 (N=210) 60+ (N=180)
I have no interest in politics 33 29 34 28 21
door-to-door folder 28 29 23 27 27
Personalized letter in mailbox 20 21 23 31 37
bpost – Omnibus August 2012 - Profacts 10
message in written press … 30 21 16 21 19
Base: Total Sample (n=1000)
e-mail 16 21 17 18 21
message on television 21 16 14 17 20
message on the internet 16 15 7 9 7
message on the radio 13 11 6 8 9
Social networks 12 11 6 4 2
Personal encounter public … 3 10 8 7 5
Don't know 2 4 4 5 7
Other 1 4 5 5 7
SMS 0 1 1 0 1
I have no interest in politics 31 24 29 26 19
bpost – Omnibus August 2012 - Profacts 11
Base: Total Sample (n=1000)
bpost – Omnibus August 2012 - Profacts 10

12. Question 2
What is your preferred medium?
email
door-to-door folder
personalized letter
written press
television
radio
social networks
personal encounter
SMS
bpost – Omnibus August 2012 - Profacts 11

13. Letterbox communication has increased in importance versus March 2012.
When coming closer to the elections personalized letters become more and
more important. Mind the differences between the Dutch and French speaking
part.
“If you could choose one medium via which you are approached by politicians,
what would it be?”
August 2012 March 2012
TOTAL
Dutch (n=398) French (n=298) Dutch (n=594) French (n=435)
(n=696)
door-to-door folder 25 29 19 23 18
Personalized letter in mailbox 24 17 33 13 21
e-mail 13 10 17 12 18
message in written press… 12 16 8 21 9
message on television 9 10 8 15 16
message on the internet 4 6 2 4 5
Personal encounter public… 3 3 3 6 4
message on the radio 2 2 2 4 5
Social networks 1 2 1 2 4
SMS 0 0 0 0 1
Other 6 6 5 2 1
Base: Total Sample – not interested/don’t know (n=696) Base: Total Sample – not interested/don’t know
(n=1029)
bpost – Omnibus August 2012 - Profacts
Significant between groups 12
Dutch vs French

14. Women value a door to door folder mostly, while men have a
significant preference for personalized letters.
“If you could choose one medium via which you are approached by politicians,
what would it be?”
August 2012 March 2012
TOTAL
Men (n=370) Women (n=326) Men (n=527) Women (n=502)
(n=696)
door-to-door folder 25 22 28 18 23
Personalized letter in mailbox 24 27 20 19 13
e-mail 13 14 12 16 13
message in written press… 12 12 13 16 16
message on television 9 7 12 13 18
message on the internet 4 6 3 6 3
Personal encounter public… 3 4 2 6 5
message on the radio 2 1 3 4 4
Social networks 1 1 1 1 2
SMS 0 0 0 0 0
Other 6 5 6 3 3
Base: Total Sample – not interested/don’t know (n=696) Base: Total Sample – not interested/don’t know
(n=1029)
bpost – Omnibus August 2012 - Profacts
Significant between groups 13
men vs women

15. Question 3
Where would you get information?
political debates
door-to-door folder
discussions with friends/family
party websites
other websites
personalized letters
social networks
bpost – Omnibus August 2012 - Profacts 14

16. The closer towards the elections, the more people seek
information in door to door folders.
“For the upcoming elections, where would you get information
concerning which person/party to vote for?”
August 2012 March 2012
TOTAL
(n=1000)
Dutch (n=578) French (n=422) Dutch (n=903) French (n=665)
Political debates in media
43 43 42 55 50
(television, newspapers)
Door-to-door folders
31 29 34 25 28
received in mailbox
Discuss with
22 20 25
friends/family
Website political
19 19 18 20 20
part(y)(ies)
Other websites (e.g. to
14 20 6 21 6
determine voting profile)
Personalized letters
15 12 18 13 15
received in mailbox
Social media 9 9 9 13 10
I don't look for information
14 15 14 15 20
because I'm not…
I don't look for information
15 15 15 8 7
because I always vote…
Other 2 2 3 3 4
bpost – Omnibus August 2012 - Profacts
Significant between groups 15
Base: Total Sample (n=1000) Dutch vs French

17. Younger people tend to discuss more often with friends and
family. Older people gain info from door to door folders and
personalised letters.
“For the upcoming elections, where would you get information
concerning which person/party to vote for?”
August 2012
<30 (N=210) 30-39 (N=200) 40-49 (N=210) 50-59 (N=200) 60+ (N=180)
Political debates in media 52 44
(television, newspapers)
38 37 44
Door-to-door folders 33 42
27 25 32
received in mailbox
Discuss with 25 18
28 20 18
friends/family
Website political 26 14
25 13 14
part(y)(ies)
Other websites (e.g. to 25 7
19 10 7
determine voting profile)
Personalized letters 11 10 20 25
received in mailbox
10
Social media 11 10 7 11 6
I don't look for 12 16 13 11
information because…
19
I don't look for 12 18 14 17
information because I…
13
Other 0 0 5 2 5
Bpost – Omnibus March 2012 - Profacts 16
Base: Total Sample (n=1000)