WOW! Simple wording change dramatically increases voter turnout

[Ian David]

WOW! Simple wording change dramatically increases voter turnout

Share this startling new research with every progressive you know, especially those working in campaigns, and especially those working the GOTV effort in the last few days before an election. A simple change in wording, when taking a pre-election survey, can dramatically increase voter turnout. Presumably this can be used when working the phones for GOTV efforts.

Bryan and his team first sent out surveys to just 38 people prior to the 2008 presidential election. Half the group got a survey asking if it was important to vote, the other half got surveys asking if it was important to be a voter. 87.5 responded yes to the second question while only 55.6 did so with the first.

Feeling he was on to something, Bryan then set his sights higher, for his next experiment, he and his team sent surveys to 133 registered voters in California one day before the 2008 election. Afterwards, using voting records, he was able to ascertain that 82% of those who got the “vote” question actually voted, while 96% of the “voter” group did {actually vote}.

<snip>

NEVER say this: < ... ... > ALWAYS say this instead:
"It's important for you to vote." < ... ... > "It's important for you to be a voter."
"Are you going to vote on Tuesday?" < ... ... > "Are you going to be a voter on Tuesday?"
"Is there anything we can do to help you vote?" < ... ... > "Is there anything we can do to help you be a voter?"
"This new law would make it harder for you to vote." < ... ... > "This new law would make it harder for you to become a voter."
"The Republicans are threatening your right to vote." < ... ... > "The Republicans are threatening your right to be a voter."

More:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/07/19/996262/-WOW!-Simple-wording-change-dramatically-increases-voter-turnout

[BlueCaliDem]

1. K&R ~ Personalize it! No. 1 word in every person's vocab is his/her own name

I never forget that. So that makes sense.

My husband is a manager in a high end furniture store, and he's the most successful salesman on their record. People write about him on Yelp and take the time to write letters in longhand to the owner of the store he manages.

The common theme? It's all about how he makes them feel. Personal service. Personable. Kind. Honest. Took their headaches away, etc., etc., etc.

[Faryn Balyncd]

2. Wow

[FBaggins]

3. Doesn't look like a statistically relevant sample

Certainly not enough to go on here for this to "be the ONLY wording we use in GOTV efforts and in media buys from now on."