Behavior Research Center

Earl de Berge is Chairman of the Board, Director of Research International and founder of the Behavior Research Center (BRC). He received a B.A. in Political Science from Antioch University. He received a M.A. and partially completed the doctoral program in Political Science at the University of Arizona. In 1965, he founded the Behavior Research Center as a continuation of the polling techniques and public policy interests he developed in graduate school. He is a recognized authority on population sampling, study design and interpretation. Areas of special interest include communications, banking, health care, corporate image, commercial development, and travel and hospitality industries.

As a native of Arizona, de Berge is an astute observer and a disciplined student of the West. He pioneered the first regional, nonpartisan public opinion polls and created the award-winning Rocky Mountain poll in 1969. As editor, he is credited with raising national awareness of western markets and tracking political attitudes. Beyond election cycles, de Berge recognized the importance of longitudinal surveys of Hispanic communities, attitudes and consumer practices as well as the need to track local business trends. This resulted in his trademarked LatinoTrack (formerly HispanicTrack) and BusinessTrack reports. Today, much of his work is focused on consumer studies involving Latinos in the United States and Central America.

Earl de Berge is an accomplished writer and author. His survey reports for clients are distinguished by their clarity, insights, and candor. He has published articles and critical analyses on polling methodologies, research techniques, and interpretation of survey results in business, marketing and research journals. Apart from his national reputation as an innovator and critical thinker, de Berge is a clear communicator who can translate survey methodologies and findings into language the public can understand. He is often quoted in the media and is a frequent radio and television commentator. He has served as an expert witness in courts of law and on numerous civic and cultural boards. Mr. de Berge is a self-described gentleman rancher with an artistic talent for sculpting metal and painting.

Earl de Berge and his wife and business partner Suzanne share an abiding interest in traditional cultures, sustainability, and public welfare issues. Inspired by volunteer work with the Earthwatch Institute, Earl and Suzanne founded two non-profit organizations in Guatemala, Semillas para El Futuro and the Southern Maya Project for Archaeology and Community (SMPAC). Their mission is to help the citizens of the mountain community of Chocolá "plan and achieve prosperity based on balanced development principles that protect cultural tradition, the natural environment and preserve Mayan and post-colonial history."

The Behavior Research Center was founded in 1965 by Earl de Berge and is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona with a field office in Guatemala. The company was conceived as a Western alternative to the established pollsters in the East. BRC is an independent polling company specializing in opinion polling and market research. The BRC provides polling services for private and public organizations, including corporations, non-profit organizations, municipalities, counties, social services, government agencies, and universities. Their clients and projects can be found throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Central America.

In 1980 the company developed a Consumer Confidence and Buying Index. That same year BRC was invited to join other selected research firms to become charter members of the Roper Center Research Council - the largest archive of survey data in the world and an adjunct of Yale University, Williams College and the University of Connecticut.

BRC has introduced a number of innovations to scientific polling. In the early 1990s, they created a specific consumer survey previously known as the HispanicTrack (now called LatinoTrack) that focuses on the consumer behavior, concerns and issues affecting the Hispanic community. The initial BRC report states that the impetus for this project was not only due "to the enormous importance of the Hispanic population segment but also the critical need for accurate, timely data on the needs, opinions and problems of Hispanics." The LatinoTrack surveys along with the nationally renowned Rocky Mountain poll are internally funded by BRC and are conducted in the public interest. While BRC no longer conducts polls for individual political candidates, it remains influential and closely watched by state and municipal governments.

Critical to the company's success are Bruce Hernandez, Senior Vice President and Jim Haynes, Chief Executive Officer. Hernandez is a leading expert on population sampling study design, and quality control and has been with the company for over 30 years. Haynes has been instrumental in strategic planning for BRC's North American development and has expertise in corporate and non-profit research projects.