Australian Personas Survey, 2016

The survey covered topics such as political opinions, social values, following media and news, lifestyle and leisure activities, preferred music genres, appealing brands and media personalities, spendings, and household composition. The collected data were used to establish four political personas via factor analysis. These are: (1) left-wing conservative voters (with left-wing economic preferences and mono-cultural, chauvinistic outlook and traditional family values); (2) left-wing progressive voters (culturally permissive cosmopolitan Australians with left-wing economic preferences); (3) right-wing conservative voters (citizens with traditional values, mono-cultural outlook and free-market economic preferences); (4) right-wing progressive voters (those with a cosmopolitan and progressive values, though with free-market entrepreneurial spirit). It is anticipated that additional data collected via the Australian Personas Survey might provide further insights in to these established personas by focusing on personal values, attitudes and lifestyles and potentially reveal additional personas, not previously identified.
The data was collected via the Social Research Centre’s Life in Australia panel, which was created to give Australian researchers, policymakers, academics and business leaders ready access to a scientifically sampled cross section of the Australia community. Life in Australia Panel members were randomly recruited via their landline or mobile phone and provided their contact details so that they can take part in monthly surveys.