Proving that data can be compiled on just about everything, marketers can tell a person’s political slant based on the restaurants they visit.
The Wall Street Journal breaks downImag numbers showing that liberals tend to eat at restaurants like California Pizza Kitchen and P.F. Chang’s, while conservatives tend to prefer Cracker Barrell and Longhorn Steakhouse.
Not surprisingly, one of the most liberal fast food chains is Chipotle, while conservatives prefer Whataburger and Chick-Fil-A.
The survey assigns liberal and conservative scores to different establishments based on their customers’ political preferences. A 100 is average, a 120 is 20% more liberal or conservative than average, 80 is 20% less than average, and so on. Some places, likeBurger KingBKW -0.50%, have liberal and conservative indexes that are both below average because they attract more independents.
There are clearly regional biases here. The supermarket chain Harris Teeter scores 113 on the conservative index, probably because its stores are predominately located in the Southeast. Oregon-based supermarket Fred Meyer, which is owned by Kroger and has stores in the Pacific Northwest, scores 154 on the liberal index.
Among fast-food establishments, the most liberal customers eat at Au Bon Pain. The most conservative: Krystal, Schlotsky’s Deli and Whataburger.
