Instant Market Research? There's An App for That

Social polling platform Show of Hands provides a quick, inexpensive and efficient alternative to traditional market research

PORTLAND, Ore., July 9, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Show of Hands (www.showofhands.mobi), a popular social polling platform with more than 300,000 downloads, has released a new desktop site and 2.0 version of its smart phone and tablet app, announced founder Tony Bacos. The enhanced offerings make it easier, more informative and more entertaining for users to ask and answer questions on a variety of topics.

Show of Hands 2.0 blends the valuable insight gained from real-time market research with the flexibility and relationship-building benefits offered by social media. "This potent combination will have profound implications for corporations, small businesses, media, politicians, and education," Bacos said.

Show of Hands enables users to weigh in on a variety of topics and see how their opinions compare to those of their neighbors as well as people on the opposite end of the political, financial and/or geographic spectrum. Users remain completely anonymous, which, Bacos notes, encourages truly honest responses.

Show of Hands is also an incredible resource for companies and organizations looking for quick, yet detailed, consumer insight and preference measurement. For example, a real-time polling event during the 2012 Super Bowl collected 100,000 votes on advertisements that aired during the game. Show of Hands distributed a ranking of fans' favorite ads at the end of the game — two full days before any media outlets.

New questions are released several times a day and responses, often complete with insightful comments, pile up quickly. Questions are revealing (Are there any companies that you refuse to do business with because of their political views, in spite of the fact that you like their products?), controversial (Should unrestricted abortion be legal throughout the duration of a pregnancy?) and sometimes just entertaining (Can you do an unassisted pull-up?). There's also a brand photo poll in which users click on a photo to indicate their preference (for example, Coke or Pepsi).

After providing their opinion, Show of Hands users can slice and dice real-time data to see how other groups of Americans feel. Viewing results of a question about pull-up proficiency, for example, we saw that Republicans appear to be the "stronger" political party (59% of Republicans said they can perform an unassisted pull-up, compared to 47% of Democrats) and that folks in Arkansas must work out a lot more than their counterparts in Rhode Island (64% of Arkansas respondents replied in the affirmative, compared to just 37% of Rhode Island participants).

About Show of Hands
Show of Hands (www.showofhands.mobi) is a social polling platform that's free and anonymous, which broadens participation and promotes users' comfort in sharing opinions. Since its 2009 debut, Show of Hands has been downloaded to more than 300,000 smart phones and tablets and has generated more than 45 million votes on a wide range of topics. A desktop site (showofhands.mobi) launched in 2013.

Contact: Marlita Blackman
Tel. 313-962-2600 office / 313.790.1076 cell
Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Show of Hands