Fully cognizant of dramatically declining response rates in landline telephone polling in the 1980s and 1990s, John Zogby of Zogby International wrote a 1997 piece in Public Opinion suggesting that online internet polling would become the wave of the future. Anticipating further declines in telephone response rates and rapid increases in households with online access, Zogby began the painstaking process of developing a nationwide panel of US adults from scratch in 1998. The process involved asking if respondents would be willing to take online polls at the end of every telephone call. Simultaneously, Zogby International established backlinks with politically oriented websites. Finding more cooperation from conservative sites, Zogby went on a mission to attract leftwing sites, barter banner ads on as many sites as possible, then purchase massive email lists from consumer sites, with multiple servers sending out tens of thousands of emails daily recruiting new panelists.
The system worked, and by 2004, test surveys were yielding accurate political results nationally as well as in most states. Responding to a request from the Wall St. Journal for a 50-state map on WSJ.com, Zogby Interactive polls were a biweekly feature in the high-profile media outlet. During the 2004 presidential cycle, Zogby had the actual national polling numbers within 1 point of the voting result and accurately predicted the winners in 15 of 20 states polled. The results for some smaller states were off, but the Zogby organization knew exactly how to remedy the situation. By 2008, the kinks had been worked out, but Zogby Interactive had to publish its final results one month before the election because of high demand by clients for private polling. At that point in time, the Zogby Interactive polling had proven its accuracy, especially in comparison with published aggregated polling websites.
With the formation of John Zogby Strategies in 2016, online methodology has been used for 90% of our polling projects, utilizing a proprietary blend of text-to-web, email, and APIs (panels of survey respondents total approximately 15 million US adults) that are regularly updated to represent the whole population. From the very best survey instrument development to astute 24/7 fieldwork monitoring to producing readable data with meaningful analysis, JZS empowers clients every step of the way and continues its signature field to market speed and quality insights.
With his decision to embrace online polling, the foresight of John Zogby set a new standard for the whole industry, pointing at the same time to the importance of adapting to changes in technology and society. His approach was very innovative, especially in times when traditional polling methods dominated the industry. The challenges facing Zogby–overbalancing the panel and the accuracy of online polls–were significant. But his success proved that through some creativity and determination, the barriers to traditional polling could be overcome.
Today, John Zogby Strategies is a paragon of innovation in market research. With the timely and accurate delivery of insights, the firm has earned the status of a trusted partner in any given industry. And when a constantly changing digital landscape brings about another new frontier, rest assured that JZS will be ready to embrace and prosper through it, as it has every step along its tradition of excellence in public opinion research.
