Heeding the Call: The Effect of Targeted Two-Round Phone Banks on Voter Turnout

Michelson, Melissa R.; Bedolla, Lisa García; McConnell, Margaret

doi:10.1017/s0022381609990119

Cited by 45 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Michelson et al (2009) find that follow-up telephone calls the day before or the day of an election significantly augment the effectiveness of previous GOTV contacts. These studies indicate the impact of mobilization messages delivered via telephone is quite ephemeral and only effective just before an election.…”

Section: Ras Model Of Voter Turnout: Message Timing and Effects Acrosmentioning

confidence: 82%

Mobilization Effects Using Mail

Murray

Matland

2013

Political Research Quarterly

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bstractWe use field experiments in Texas and Wisconsin to address voter mobilization and turnout by evaluating nonpartisan get-out-the-vote (GOTV) messages delivered via mail during 2010 gubernatorial campaigns. We manipulate three factors in the messages: social pressure, descriptive-and injunctive-voting norm consistency, and message timing. The results present an initial field-based confirmation that norm-consistent messages increase turnout; demonstrate significant message timing effects, which are mediated by state election rules; and indicate social pressure's effectiveness varies significantly more than previously found. These diverse findings suggest researchers place a greater emphasis on context v/hen evaluating experiments and the effects of mobilization messages.

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Section: Ras Model Of Voter Turnout: Message Timing and Effects Acrosmentioning

confidence: 82%

Mobilization Effects Using Mail

Murray

Matland

2013

Political Research Quarterly

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“…Get Out the Vote experiments typically include a remark such as “Can I count on you to vote?” (Gerber and Green, :150), which is similar to a pledge. Michelson, Bedolla, and McConnell explicitly use pledge or commitment theories to underpin their field experiment on the use of repeat phone calls to increase voter turnout, arguing that it is the act of making a commitment, whether written or verbal, which motivates people to follow through on their promise (Michelson, Bedolla, and McConnell, ). Our approach differs from these voter mobilization campaigns in that we ask participants to make a more active response to the pledge invitation, requiring some additional effort on their part, completing and posting a pledge card, making a phone call, or sending an email.…”

Section: Pledgesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of a Pledge Request and the Promise of Publicity: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Charitable Donations

Cotterill

John

Richardson

2012

Social Science Quarterly

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Objective This study investigates whether asking people to make a pledge causes them to donate to a charitable cause and whether the promise of public recognition increases the effectiveness of the request. Method A randomized controlled trial in Manchester, United Kingdom, where households were sent letters asking them to donate a book for school libraries in South Africa. Results People who are asked to make a pledge and offered local public recognition are more likely to make a book donation than the control group. The combination of requesting a pledge and offering publicity raises book donations from 7.3 percent to 8.9 percent of households, an effect size of 22 percent. Asking people to pledge alone, without the promise of publicity has no statistically significant impact on giving. Conclusion Combining a pledge request and the promise of local publicity increases individual charitable donations.

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“…The empirical literature on the topic is remarkably thin. A recent contribution related to this line of inquiry finds suggests targeted, follow-up phone calls to committed voters increases the effectiveness of phone-bank campaigns (Michelson et al 2009), but greater scholarly attention has been devoted to investigating frequency effects (see Green and Gerber 2008 for a discussion about frequency of direct mail contacts and voter turnout) or the cumulative impact of combined treatments (Ramirez 2005). One recent study (Nickerson 2007) recognizes this void in the literature and seeks to test whether timing influences the effectiveness of GOTV phone calls delivered by a professional phone bank instructed to engage potential voters in a conversational way.…”

Section: Extant Scholarship On Message Timing Phone Calls and Mobilimentioning

confidence: 99%

Timing Is Everything? Primacy and Recency Effects in Voter Mobilization Campaigns

Panagopoulos

2010

Polit Behav

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The timing of message delivery in political campaigns is a key component of strategy. Yet studies that examine the impact of message timing on political behavior are surprisingly rare. Although one recent study finds that appeals delivered closer to Election Day will be most effective (Nickerson, American Journal of Political Science 51 (2): [269][270][271][272][273][274][275][276][277][278][279][280][281][282] 2007), methodological considerations render this conclusion tentative and suggest the impact of message timing remains an open question. In this paper I report the results of a randomized field experiment designed to compare the mobilization effects of nonpartisan messages delivered via commercial phone banks at different points during a campaign cycle. The results of the experiment, conducted during the November 2005 municipal elections in Rochester, New York, suggest calls delivered early on during a campaign cycle can also be effective.

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Heeding the Call: The Effect of Targeted Two-Round Phone Banks on Voter Turnout

Cited by 45 publications

References 18 publications

Mobilization Effects Using Mail

Mobilization Effects Using Mail

The Impact of a Pledge Request and the Promise of Publicity: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Charitable Donations

Timing Is Everything? Primacy and Recency Effects in Voter Mobilization Campaigns

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