3D printing is a relatively new technology that is now being used to manufacture guns. So how does it work? An object can be scanned or its design uploaded, then the 3D printer builds layer upon layer of plastic and 40 minutes later, it’s ready. This product has vast implications and it has sparked quite a controversy in current gun control debates. In a recent Omnibus Survey, over half (54%) of the population thought it should be illegal for people to create their own guns using these 3D printers. Americans also thought that 3D guns were most likely to be ... read more

Retail analyst Robin Lewis may have rained on Abercrombie & Fitch’s parade with its prized 18 – 34 demographic in the US. Ever since Lewis’ comment to Business Insider saying that CEO Mike Jeffries “doesn’t want larger people shopping in his store, he wants thin and beautiful people” became widely reported, that demographic’s perception of the chain has dropped deeper into negative territory. Just before the May 3rd Business Insider interview, Abercrombie & Fitch’s consumer perception with 18 – 34 year olds was split evenly between positive and negative feedback, coming in not far below rivals H&M and American Eagle. ... read more

71-year-old multimillionaire Martha Stewart’s very public foray into online dating drove up Match.com’s consumer Recommend scores for the first half of May, but strangely not with her own age group. Scores for 18 – 34 year olds made a significant leap over that time while the 50+ demographic saw Recommend scores fall. On April 26th, Stewart announced on the Today show that she was putting her profile on Match.com in her search for Mr. Right. Her Match.com profile said she was seeking men age 55 to 70. On May 9th, two of Martha’s suitors, both 68-years-old, appeared with her on ... read more

(Week of 5/11/2013)  Two in three Americans follow the news about the kidnappings, captivity and escape of three women in Cleveland, Ohio closely – and nearly half in the latest Economist/YouGov Poll think Ariel Castro, arrested for the crimes, should receive the death penalty if he is found guilty. This is lower than the percentage favoring the death penalty for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who was arrested in connection with the April Boston Marathon bombings. 54% of those in a late April Economist/YouGov Poll supported the death penalty if Tsarnaev were to be convicted. For Castro, support for the death penalty is just as high ... read more

While Americans overall have an increasingly negative attitude to the Affordable Care Act, they still approve of most its provisions Three years after it passed, the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, is still at the center of a heated debate. With its major provisions slated to begin next year, new research from YouGov Omnibus shows that while Americans have a increasingly negative view of Obamacare overall, they still agree with many of its major provisions. When asked to compare their views on Obamacare with last year, 41% of Americans said they had a more negative view of Obamacare, ... read more

(Week of 5/4/2013)  Americans want Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the surviving suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings, to be tried in the civilian court system, not by a military tribunal. The latest Economist/YouGov Poll shows Americans – very narrowly – favoring civilian trials for most other accused of terrorist activities, too. But there is one exception: although by 67% to 15% the public would like to have those currently held at Guantanamo tried, they want those trials to be held in military tribunals, and not to move those accused into the criminal justice system. Democrats, liberals and African-Americans would move those trials into the ... read more

You may want to skip the candy and flowers, and think about getting mom a set of wrenches this Mother’s Day. The number one best perceived brand by US mothers is currently Craftsman with the number five brand being Black & Decker. “Home repair and maintenance has not been the sole province of men for a while,” says YouGov BrandIndex CEO Ted Marzilli. “The weak economy has made everybody a do-it-yourselfer to save money. Given these results, it seems out of touch to portray doing the handiwork around a house as a man’s job.” YouGov BrandIndex’s top 10 ranking of ... read more

Americans approve of Jason Collins' decision to come out by a margin of two-to-one, and by a higher margin among NBA fans.  Jason Collins became the first professional athlete in one of the four major leagues to publicly state he is homosexual. The latest YouGov research shows that 55% of Americans approve of his decision to come out, while 25% disapprove.   Sports fans were also more likely than the general public to support his decision to make the announcement, with hockey fans (68%) being more likely than football (59%) or baseball (59%) fans to support Jason Collins. 65% of ... read more

North Dakota television news anchor AJ Clemente was recently fired after swearing on air during his first day on the job believing he was not yet live on the air. AJ even got advice from legendary newsman Tom Brokaw about the incident — “We all swear, we just don’t get caught.” Well, what do the viewers think? A recent Omnibus survey revealed that 57% of respondents believed that AJ should have been given a second chance. When asked about their own habits in the workplace, 59% of respondents said they had sworn in the workplace. 69% of those that had ... read more

(Week of 4/27/2013)  After his first hundred days in office, in April, 2009, nearly six in ten Americans in the Economist/YouGov Poll approved of the way Barack Obama was handling his job. After his second hundred days, perceptions are not as good: 47% approve of how he is handling his job, and just as many disapprove. Sluggish economic growth since 2009 hasn’t helped. Then, perceptions may have been helped by the President’s honeymoon period with the country: one in four said the economy was getting better. Now, even though there has been improvement, that percentage hasn’t budged. Now, as then, just over a ... read more