The Harris Poll is an American market research and analytics company that has been tracking the sentiment, behaviors and motivations of American adults since 1963. In addition to the traditional consulting offered, Harris has developed software data platforms that allow brands to track health and campaign success.
The Harris Poll was started by Louis Harris, an opinion pollster who founded his own firm, Louis Harris & Associates, in 1956. The business was later, in 1999, rebranded Harris Interactive. It was acquired from Nielsen in 2017 by the Stagwell Group, which hired co-chief executive officers John Gerzema and Will Johnson, who relaunched the firm as The Harris Poll.[1] Stagwell founder and managing director Mark Penn was chairman and CEO of MDC Partners. The Harris Poll is headquartered in Chicago and New York City, with additional offices in Washington, D.C., and Rochester, New York.
The monthly Harvard–Harris Poll is a partnership between The Harris Poll, HarrisX, and Harvard University's Center for American Political Studies.[2]
History
Louis Harris did polling for candidate John F. Kennedy in 1960, as head of Louis Harris & Associates, the company he had launched in 1956. Harris then began The Harris Poll in 1963, which is one of the longest-running surveys measuring U.S.