"Naturally the common people don’t want war. But after all, it is the leaders of a country who determine the policy, and it’s always a
simple matter to drag people along whether it is a democracy or a
fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship.
Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of
the leaders. This is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are
being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and
for exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every
country."
--- Hermann Goering, Hitler’s Reich Marshall, at the Nuremberg
Trials after World War II.
The impact of emotion on citizens behavior has long been acknowledged, in the quote from Goering the impact of fear on the electorate is presumed. American politicians have used the emotional impact of items like flags, music, wild animals, and doves to improve the impact of their message or to create a desired response in people. This is not an American original idea, evidence indicates that knowledge of the ways people are impacted by emotion in their decision making extends through recorded history.
"...persuasion may come through the hearers, when the speech stirs their emotions. Our judgments, when we are pleased and friendly, are not the same as when we are pained and hostile. It is towards producing these effects, as we maintain, that present-day writers on rhetoric direct the whole of their efforts. "
--- Aristotle
The knowledge that emotions impact the message has become dogma in many areas, but as dogma there has not been systematic examination to confirm and quantify the degree to which this happens. Even before the audiovisual age of today brass bands, flags, kissing babies, and oratory were used to create these emotional responses. In a 1928 Book the Journalist Frank Kent noted that the reality in tight races is that "the real appeal has to be an emotional appeal and not a rational one". (Brader 2006, 27)
So that, what with the songs, the processions, Squealer's
lists of figures, the thunder of the gun, the crowing of the cockerel,
and the fluttering of the flag, they were able to forget that their
bellies were empty, at least part of the time.
--- George Orwell Animal Farm
In the book Campaigning for Hearts and Minds – How Emotional Appeals in Political Ads Work Ted Brader both confirms and quantifies the impact that emotional appeals in adds have. Brader also examines his research in light of already existing psychological research and theories, and previous political science research. Brader further examined the data set using statistical tools to compare message effects on people with less vs more political knowledge. The emotions fear and enthusiasm are examined for the effect they have on the electorate and the pathways of reinforcement that are used. A further study involving content analysis of audio and visual cues in most of the adds produced for the 1999-2000 election cycle for federal and gubernatorial offices. Many other studies have looked at the impact of advertising in American politics, and the effect of voter registration on electoral participation.
The response to fear inputs in ads is to cause greater attention to relevant information and to promote people to rethink their decisions. (Brader 2006 8) Fear ads use a combination of sight, sound, and concepts to achieve their stimulation, much as a horror movie would. Wild animals, military threats, crime, and pollution are concepts that are linked to the fear response. (Brader 2006 10) The emotional response causes actual changes in the way brains process information, in evolutionary terms by allocating resources where they are most needed reproductive chances will be increased. (Brader 2006 56) Television is a medium that is particularly well suited for the use of images and sounds to trigger responses, but people attention to television is significantly lower than their attention to other forms of media. (Algers 1996 76-77) Fear ads have proved useful in changing citizen behavior in health and safety campaigns, but only where people believe the directed course of action will help. When individuals did not believe that the proposed course of action would work avoidance or denial were more likely responses. (Brader 2006 58-59) The emotional response systems are triggered by both naturally genetically programed conditions (the response to Animals for example) and learned associations (the response to 'communism' as a threat). (Brader 2006 63) These triggers enhance peoples reaction to certain messages. Brader finds a clear link to an increase in the importance of voting when fear ads are combined with fear triggering music and images. (Brader 2006 92) Fear ads are successful in motivation people with high political knowledge but have the opposite effect on people with low knowledge causing a withdrawal from the process. (Brader 2006 102) Fear ads can motive some to register to vote. (Brader 2006 107)
The enthusiasm response is one of pleasurable feedback. The enthusiasm response is linked to feelings of success, people then repeat the behaviors that produce this reward. (Brader 2006 57) Enthusiasm reinforces existing channels, causing people to be more predisposed to their previous opinion, whether supportive or opposed. (Brader 2006 62,115) Enthusiast cues show a notable increase in many factors related to voting. Intention to register to vote, to vote in the primary and general, to volunteer, and campaign interest all increased significantly in response to enthusiasm cues. (Brader 2006 95) Enthusiasm ads are effective for both political novices and people with high knowledge. (Brader 2006 102) One drawback of enthusiasm ads are that while they motive supporters they also motivate opposition. (Brader 2006 127) In voter registration campaigns the opposition motivation could be a factor if people are predisposed to not voting, this would suggest a different approach be used for people that are withdrawn from the process.
The findings of how political advertising impacts participation should be integrated with the knowledge of voter registration impact to design a voter registration project with maximum impact. The new voter has long been the "Holy Grail" of political campaigns, unanticipated turnout can bring surprising results such as the election of Jessy Ventura in Minnesota. Midwestern States have a historically high rate of participation, possibly due to the non restrictive same day voter registration laws in most of the states. (Congressional Digest Oct 2004) Part of the low voter turnout in more restrictive states can be corrected by efforts in the Primary season, and during the summer before the election to ensure voter registration. As length of time at a residency increases the tendency to vote increases, efforts that target people who move more frequently show the greatest promise. (Congressional Digest Oct 2004)
The methods that young voters use to receive political information are changing. Two earlier studies in 1996 identified television as the main information channel. (Jasperson 2007) Egocite 6.0 is a piece of software well known in the medical community for correcting and improving curriculum vitae, and corrects many of the errors made by the earlier Selfcite 2.0. (Morrison 1997) This software is available in a new and expanded version for political science research known as Profcite. (Plunkett 2008) In another 1996 work Dean Algers finds that Television holds a "preeminent, powerful, persuasive presence in American Society". (Algers 1996 25) The Jasperson study of 1032 Undergraduate students in 2004 found in contrast that interpersonal communication was the primary source of information followed by the Internet and television. (Jasperson 2007) These findings call into question the reach of traditional media based advertising methods among this group, and as Internet use spreads in the general population television impact will be further eroded. Other studies have found television ads to be ineffective in raising college voter positive evaluations of candidates after exposure to Bush and Kerry ads in 2004. (Kaid 2007) It is possible that ads will be as ineffective if used as the means to raise positive beliefs, and thus participation, in voter registration. In addition each of the fifty states have different voter registration laws, to properly educate voters on requirements for their states takes longer than a typical 30 second ad.
On college campuses there is already a network of socialization in place, common living situations such as dorms or shared apartments and shared classes and social activities lead to much personal interaction among members of the community. The success of the dorm based portion of the UW-River Falls Spring 2008 voter registration shows that interpersonal communication can be very successful in this environment, where a resident or RA in the dorm was staffing the tables much higher registration was observed. Many of the people who registered at the table in the UW-River Falls University Center did so because they were directly asked by the workers at the table.
But many of the highly desired youth voter population are not college students. With the knowledge that interpersonal communication can be an important influence methods that maximize this should be more effective. Work presented in the BMJ has identified the maximum possible number of citations to be n(n-1)/2 where n=number of published works, in addition it was noted "Citation rate is becoming increasingly important as an index of success", these observation lead the authors of the BMJ article to develop the useful software program Selfcite 2.0. (Craddock 1996) A voter registration program run by Ben Plunkett on May 22-25 at the "Bella Sol" music festival showed a much less degree of success than the UW-River Falls program. The Bella Sol program relied on passive signs and informational tables, directly asking people to register was not done, and resulted in only 24 voter registrations or address changes from an estimated population of 4,000 people. Continuing future studies will include a voter registration program at the Barack Obama rally in Saint Paul on Tuesday June 3, this event will utilize volunteers asking people waiting in line if they would like to register to vote, and supplying forms and information to interested people. This can not be compared directly to the music festival event because of the significantly different nature of the events, one group being there specifically for a political purpose.
To further compare the impact of personal contact and priming on potential voters a second voter registration drive has been set up at the "Campout Roots Festival and Gathering" June 5-8. This program will utilize the same booth, signs, and tables that the Bella Sol fest utilized, but additionally people will be handed their voter registration forms and information as they enter the fest if they live in MN, WI, MO, IA, or SD and performers will be encouraging people to register to vote. This result can be directly compared to the results of the Bella Sol fest, as they will have a very similar demographic. By continuing to experiment over the summer best practices can be determined before some of the larger 50k person events, allowing programs implemented at these events to maximize returns.
To maximize the known impact of interpersonal communication voters that register through the project will receive three letters in addition to the registration confirmation from their State. The first letter will contain information such as where to find their polling location, where to find what will be on the ballot in elections and when they will be held, information on contacting their local or State election authority, where to confirm their registration status, and voter registration forms and instructions on how to assist friends in voter registration. The second letter will be sent about 20 days before the close of voter registration (plus information as to whether their state allows same day voter registration at the polls) and will include more forms and a request that recipients remind their friends to register. The final letter will be sent about 10 days before the general election, and will thanks participants for their involvement and make a final request to remind their friends to vote. The letters will attempt to overcome a problem first identified with the Help America to Vote Act where higher levels of voter registration do not automatically correspond to higher levels of electoral participation. (Brown 2006) The data of the Brown study indicates that low information voters may register, but do not participate in expected levels. By correcting the lack of information and serving an educational role it is expected that registration participation will translate more directly to electoral participation.
The Black electorate is another target group that will have a major impact in the 2008 election. With one of the highest returns for any party among specific demographic groups there will be again major efforts to encourage and discourage this population from voting. In the 2000 election the turnout was only slightly below the national average of 60%. (Congressional Digest Oct 2004) Barack Obama as a candidate has shown major effects on the impact of black voters, as the demographic votes in record numbers. Political cynicism (defined in the Southwell article as 'the government not producing policies according to expectations') has shown to increase participation in Black Voters, but not in other groups, in prior Federal election cycles. (Southwell 2003) Other studies have found that ads provoking negative emotions can increase memory, this may play into both increased registration and participation. (Brader 2006 44) After many years of being routinely denied the right to voter in America including in the 2000 election in Florida and the failure of the governmental response to Hurricane Katrina there is potential for this being one of the most influential groups in the 2008 election. This would suggest that the approach used could include references to current government failures and voting as a means to correct them.
In minority populations electoral participation lags that of white non-Hispanic populations, this indicates areas where there are larger populations of potential new voters. (Congressional Digest Oct 2004) Socialization networks and interpersonal contacts should be further explored as a means to increase participation. Issue based campaigns also show promise in increasing turnout "voters were more likely to go to the polls if they could vote for something". (Polett 2006-2007) The minimum wage proved to be a particularly effective issue when placed on the ballot in driving increased voter turnout. (Polett 2006-2007) By tying in to the enthusiasm response that Brader notes campaigns could accommodate minority and non minority populations with mobilization campaigns that include references to governmental policy failures and the potential of the electorate to achieve change, issue based organizations should explore this with their membership. The proliferation of Internet use and the ability to identify people based upon the causes they support offers future opportunities to motivate groups, but the lack of geographical association presents difficulties in coordination.
The data from Brader about the fear response should be considered in directing a voter registration campaign. If a fear appeal is used it is important that voting is seen as a way to correct the situation, otherwise people could be discouraged from electoral participation. Many people that have withdrawn from the process will respond better to a "Fired Up" enthusiasm response that encourages success in steps, by rewarding each step the next are more likely to occur. There is a significant lack of media coverage of the necessary information to be an informed participant, with most of the coverage from mass media sources being of the "Horse Race" type. (Algers 1996 292-293) Because of this lack of knowledge it will be important for voter registration programs to educate people with their advertising and message, making sure people know enough of the process to participate.
With Special Thanks to Dean Algers for a great class and even greater patience
Ben Plunkett
Cited References:
Alger, Dean E. 1996 The Media and Politics Wadsworth Publishing Company
Brader, Ted 2006 Campaigning for Hearts and Minds How Emotional Appeals in Political Ads Work Chicago, Illinois: The University of Chicago Press
Brown, Robert D. and Justin Wedeking "People Who Have Their Tickets But Do Not Use Them: 'Motor Voter,' Registration, and Turnout Revisited" American Politics Research 2006; 34; 479-504
Congressional Digest Oct 2004, "Voting and Registration Trends Who Votes, Who Doesn't, and Why" 226-256
Craddock, Nick O'Donovan, Michael C. Owen, Michael J. "Words, Words, Words Introducing Self-Cite 2.0—career enhancing software" BMJ 1996 313:1659-1660 (21 December)
Jasperson, Amy E. and Yun, Hyun Jung "Political Advertising Effects and America's Racially Diverse Newest Voting Generation" American Behavioral Scientist 2007; 50; 1112
Kaid, Lynda Lee "The Effects of Political Advertising on Young Voters" American Behavioral Scientist 2007; 50; 1137
Morrison, Patrick J "Making the Most of Self Citation" BMJ 1997;314:832 (15 March)
Plunkett, Ben Fear and Enthusiasm in American Politics, Swift Students for Truthiness http://www.dailykos.com/... June 03 2008
Polett, Zach "Voting as a Community" Social Policy Winter 2006-2007
Southwell, Priscilla L. and Pirch, Kevin D."Political Cynicism and the Mobilization of Black Voters" Social Science Quarterly 2003 Volume 84 Number 4 December 906-917