Populus Group – which owns Populus Limited and fieldwork agency, Populus Data Solutions – said the new metric would offer previously unattainable insight into this sub-section of society who are typically hidden in survey data.

The Diversity Index will be available as an analysis variable on all Populus nationally representative research, has been produced using multivariate statistical analysis to combine demographic characteristics with people’s views and values.

It is weighted in favour of how respondents relate to topics and sentiments, and their relationship to the external environment. It represents a significant step towards incorporating social attitudes and values within analysis.

The new ‘diverse’ group are typically, though not exclusively, younger, more ethnically and religiously diverse, have higher educational attainment and live in more densely populated areas. They embrace change and report stronger awareness of, and affinity to, disruptor brands, than the total population.

Karsten Shaw, head of analytics at Populus, said: "Rather than just focusing on demographics – which are often no longer as discriminating as they used to be – this index, which combines a range of demographic factors with social attitudes and values, is highly predictive of the performance of leading and disruptor brands as well as political and wider attitudes."