Nudging Turnout: Mere Measurement and Implementation Planning of Intentions to Vote

23 Pages Posted: 30 Mar 2007 Last revised: 29 Sep 2008

See all articles by Kosuke Imai

Kosuke Imai

Princeton University - Department of Political Science

Daniel G. Goldstein

Microsoft Research New York City

Anja S. Göritz

University of Erlangen-Nuremberg-Friedrich Alexander Universität Erlangen Nürnberg

Peter M. Gollwitzer

New York University (NYU) - Department of Psychology

Date Written: March 26, 2007

Abstract

Randomized experiments, conducted during the 2006 US midterm election and the 2005 German federal election, examined the impact on voter turnout of two simple treatments. The effects of a mere measurement treatment (asking people if they intend to vote) and an implementation intentions treatment (asking people how they intend to vote), were estimated for both one-shot goals (e.g., voting on Election Day) and open-ended goals (e.g., voting early) with deadlines in either days or months in the future. Mere measurement increased voter turnout for open-ended goals and for proximal one-shot goals but not for distant one-shot goals. Implementation intentions increased voter turnout for both open-ended and one-shot goals in the near and long term.

Keywords: mere measurement, implementation intentions, voting, turnout, elections, surveys

JEL Classification: C11, C93, D72

Suggested Citation

Imai, Kosuke and Goldstein, Daniel G. and Göritz, Anja S. and Gollwitzer, Peter M., Nudging Turnout: Mere Measurement and Implementation Planning of Intentions to Vote (March 26, 2007). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=977000 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.977000

Kosuke Imai

Princeton University - Department of Political Science ( email )

Corwin Hall
Princeton, NJ 08544-1012
United States

Daniel G. Goldstein (Contact Author)

Microsoft Research New York City ( email )

641 Avenue of Americas
New York, NY 10011
United States

Anja S. Göritz

University of Erlangen-Nuremberg-Friedrich Alexander Universität Erlangen Nürnberg ( email )

Lange Gasse 20
Dept. of Social and Organizational Psychology
Nuremberg, Bavaria 90403
Germany

HOME PAGE: http://www.goeritz.net

Peter M. Gollwitzer

New York University (NYU) - Department of Psychology ( email )

New York, NY 10003
United States

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