The POTUS Prestige Effect: When Presidents Visit Local Businesses, It Registers Big

The Obama Effect
WASHINGTON - JANUARY 10: (AFP OUT) President-elect Barack Obama (2L) poses with local police officers after eating at Ben's Chili Bowl January 10, 2009 in Washington, DC. Obama ordered a chili half smoke at the Washington landmark during a lunch with the DC mayor. (Photo by Joshua Roberts-Pool/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON - JANUARY 10: (AFP OUT) President-elect Barack Obama (2L) poses with local police officers after eating at Ben's Chili Bowl January 10, 2009 in Washington, DC. Obama ordered a chili half smoke at the Washington landmark during a lunch with the DC mayor. (Photo by Joshua Roberts-Pool/Getty Images)

When the president stops in with the family to buy books or with a foreign president to eat burgers, the POTUS effect registers big. That's because a lot of businesses visited by the president of the United States see an uptick in business -- and profits -- from the customers that follow.

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