{"id":519,"date":"2015-07-10T14:46:25","date_gmt":"2015-07-10T12:46:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/?p=519"},"modified":"2015-09-02T10:53:25","modified_gmt":"2015-09-02T08:53:25","slug":"10-tips-to-increase-voter-participation-8-use-social-pressure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/en\/increasing-voter-turnout\/10-tips-to-increase-voter-participation-8-use-social-pressure","title":{"rendered":"10 Tips to Increase Voter Participation: #8 Use “Social Pressure”"},"content":{"rendered":"

The term “social pressure” has truly negative connotations. This primarily stems from the word “pressure”, which is used in the context of force or – especially nowadays – exhaustion in the workplace. However, social pressure is a phenomenon that has been around for as long as forms of community have existed. Because, as described in the previous tip to increase voter participation, people instinctively align themselves to what others are doin<\/a>g<\/u>. This has to do with belonging – and when one looks far back into the history of evolution, it also stems from survival strategies.<\/p>\n

People also simply adjust themselves to the prevailing opinion of the group. And they do what most of the others do. Sigmund Freud described and recorded this in the early 20th century. Carried over to your election, this means that when a lot of people go to vote, others will join them. The only thing you have to do to utilise this social pressure is: advertise.<\/p>\n

\n

“If a person has no reason to do something, they have a reason not to do it.”<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u2013 Sir Walter Scott, Scottish poet and writer \u2013<\/p>\n

What exactly is meant by “social pressure”?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In the field of psychology there are entire essays on social pressure, e.g. as a foundation for mass phenomena. In simple terms, social pressure means the influence of society, family or other communities on the opinion or actions of individuals.<\/p>\n

In short: Many people do something when they see others doing it. They want to fit in with social norms and rules, and not stick out for contrary behaviour. To this end, voting is also a form of civil “duty”. This applies both to political elections as well as others, such as within a company, a union or another form of community.<\/p>\n

How can I utilise the dynamics of social pressure during an election?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

When many voters show that they have participated in the election, non-voters feel more strongly obligated to cast their ballots as well. However, if one disregards those who are fully dedicated, voters will be less motivated on their own to persuade others to vote or to engage themselves more than is necessary. After all, they are voters as well and not the electoral organisers or election ambassadors.<\/p>\n

Yet if the voters can show that they have voted without any effort, many will follow. It is best to provide buttons for them to put on. You may also create digital copies, e.g. “I voted!” badges for social networks. Stickers are also a possibility – as always, your creativity here has no limits.<\/p>\n

Little tip:<\/strong> Buttons, stickers, badges, etc. are usually only worn, distributed or shared online if they are aesthetically appealing<\/strong>. Quietly invest in a graphic designer who can draft an attractive or funny design.<\/p>\n

However, you have to hurry a bit: As was recently revealed by a study from the South China Normal University, social pressure only works directly and does not last long<\/u><\/a>. After three days, the pressure to subscribe to a group dynamic or opinion abates once more.<\/p>\n

Picture Source: Dwight Burdett<\/a>e (CC-BY 3.0-Licence<\/a>)<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The term “social pressure” has truly negative connotations. This primarily stems from the word “pressure”, which is used in the context of force or – especially nowadays – exhaustion in the workplace. However, social pressure is a phenomenon that has been around for as long as forms of community have existed. Because, as described in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":809,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","ub_ctt_via":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[88],"tags":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/voter-turnout_5.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Matthias Schubert","author_link":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/author\/m-schubert"},"yoast_head":"\n10 Tips to Increase Voter Participation: #8 Use "Social Pressure" - POLYAS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/en\/increasing-voter-turnout\/10-tips-to-increase-voter-participation-8-use-social-pressure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"de_DE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"10 Tips to Increase Voter Participation: #8 Use "Social Pressure" - POLYAS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The term “social pressure” has truly negative connotations. This primarily stems from the word “pressure”, which is used in the context of force or – especially nowadays – exhaustion in the workplace. However, social pressure is a phenomenon that has been around for as long as forms of community have existed. Because, as described in […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/en\/increasing-voter-turnout\/10-tips-to-increase-voter-participation-8-use-social-pressure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"POLYAS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-07-10T12:46:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-09-02T08:53:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/voter-turnout_5.jpg?fit=750%2C420&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"420\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Matthias Schubert\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Verfasst von\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Matthias Schubert\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Gesch\u00e4tzte Lesezeit\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 Minuten\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/en\/increasing-voter-turnout\/10-tips-to-increase-voter-participation-8-use-social-pressure\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/en\/increasing-voter-turnout\/10-tips-to-increase-voter-participation-8-use-social-pressure\",\"name\":\"10 Tips to Increase Voter Participation: #8 Use \\\"Social Pressure\\\" - POLYAS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-07-10T12:46:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-09-02T08:53:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/98104228cf095df07868c881c84b9a4a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/en\/increasing-voter-turnout\/10-tips-to-increase-voter-participation-8-use-social-pressure#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"de-DE\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/en\/increasing-voter-turnout\/10-tips-to-increase-voter-participation-8-use-social-pressure\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/en\/increasing-voter-turnout\/10-tips-to-increase-voter-participation-8-use-social-pressure#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Startseite\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/de\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"10 Tips to Increase Voter Participation: #8 Use “Social Pressure”\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"POLYAS\",\"description\":\"the blog for secure online voting\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"de-DE\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/98104228cf095df07868c881c84b9a4a\",\"name\":\"Matthias Schubert\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"de-DE\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ee26d952ed0c4fc696181da71daeeab5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ee26d952ed0c4fc696181da71daeeab5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Matthias Schubert\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/author\/m-schubert\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"10 Tips to Increase Voter Participation: #8 Use \"Social Pressure\" - POLYAS","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/en\/increasing-voter-turnout\/10-tips-to-increase-voter-participation-8-use-social-pressure","og_locale":"de_DE","og_type":"article","og_title":"10 Tips to Increase Voter Participation: #8 Use \"Social Pressure\" - POLYAS","og_description":"The term “social pressure” has truly negative connotations. This primarily stems from the word “pressure”, which is used in the context of force or – especially nowadays – exhaustion in the workplace. However, social pressure is a phenomenon that has been around for as long as forms of community have existed. Because, as described in […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/en\/increasing-voter-turnout\/10-tips-to-increase-voter-participation-8-use-social-pressure","og_site_name":"POLYAS","article_published_time":"2015-07-10T12:46:25+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-09-02T08:53:25+00:00","og_image":[{"width":750,"height":420,"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/voter-turnout_5.jpg?fit=750%2C420&ssl=1","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Matthias Schubert","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Verfasst von":"Matthias Schubert","Gesch\u00e4tzte Lesezeit":"3 Minuten"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/en\/increasing-voter-turnout\/10-tips-to-increase-voter-participation-8-use-social-pressure","url":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/en\/increasing-voter-turnout\/10-tips-to-increase-voter-participation-8-use-social-pressure","name":"10 Tips to Increase Voter Participation: #8 Use \"Social Pressure\" - POLYAS","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-07-10T12:46:25+00:00","dateModified":"2015-09-02T08:53:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/98104228cf095df07868c881c84b9a4a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/en\/increasing-voter-turnout\/10-tips-to-increase-voter-participation-8-use-social-pressure#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"de-DE","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/en\/increasing-voter-turnout\/10-tips-to-increase-voter-participation-8-use-social-pressure"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/en\/increasing-voter-turnout\/10-tips-to-increase-voter-participation-8-use-social-pressure#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Startseite","item":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/de"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"10 Tips to Increase Voter Participation: #8 Use “Social Pressure”"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/","name":"POLYAS","description":"the blog for secure online voting","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"de-DE"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/98104228cf095df07868c881c84b9a4a","name":"Matthias Schubert","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"de-DE","@id":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ee26d952ed0c4fc696181da71daeeab5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ee26d952ed0c4fc696181da71daeeab5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Matthias Schubert"},"url":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/author\/m-schubert"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/voter-turnout_5.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p72Pnr-8n","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":352,"url":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/en\/increasing-voter-turnout\/10-tips-to-increase-voter-participation-3-create-a-sense-of-belonging","url_meta":{"origin":519,"position":0},"title":"10 Tips to Increase Voter Participation: #3 Create a Sense of Belonging","date":"05\/06\/2015","format":false,"excerpt":"During the Bundestag election in 2013 it became clear that the imbalance in voter participation is growing. According to the study \"Divided Democracy - Political Participation and Democratic Satisfaction before the Bundestag Election 2013\" from the Bertelsmann Stiftung, the election results were \"no longer socially representative\"[1]. It became apparent that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Voter-turnout"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Wahlbeteiligung_32.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":397,"url":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/en\/increasing-voter-turnout\/10-tips-to-increase-voter-participation-5-consider-the-needs-of-modern-voters","url_meta":{"origin":519,"position":1},"title":"10 Tips to Increase Voter Participation: #5 Consider the needs of modern voters","date":"19\/06\/2015","format":false,"excerpt":"It is nothing new that especially the younger generations spend a majority of their lives online. Almost everywhere you see people with smartphones or tablets, and 87 per cent of all German households have computers with internet access (source: Statista 2015). One may find that bad - yet it also\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Voter-turnout"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/voter-turnout_5.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":449,"url":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/en\/increasing-voter-turnout\/10-tips-to-increase-voter-participation-6-start-polls","url_meta":{"origin":519,"position":2},"title":"10 Tips to Increase Voter Participation: #6 Start polls","date":"26\/06\/2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The voting period has already started and you want to get voters on board who haven't yet cast their ballots? But circular emails and letters too often end up in the (digital) wastebasket. One reason for this is that everything you are writing is mostly repetitive. The voters already know\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Voter-turnout"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/voter-turnout_6.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":486,"url":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/en\/increasing-voter-turnout\/10-tips-to-increase-voter-participation-7-employ-election-ambassadors","url_meta":{"origin":519,"position":3},"title":"10 Tips to Increase Voter Participation: #7 Employ election ambassadors","date":"03\/07\/2015","format":false,"excerpt":"In America, being invited to vote by celebrities is already a common practice. Stars from the music and film industries like Pharrell Williams, Clint Eastwood, Madonna or George Clooney ask fellow citizens - often through the internet and social networks - to participate in elections. Celebrities from Hollywood enjoy great\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Voter-turnout"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Wahlbeteiligung_7.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":321,"url":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/en\/increasing-voter-turnout\/10-tips-to-increase-voter-participation-2-the-personal-approach","url_meta":{"origin":519,"position":4},"title":"10 Tips to Increase Voter Participation #2: The Personal Approach","date":"29\/05\/2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Right after the Landtag election in Bremen the subject of decreasing voter participation was openly discussed once more. Less people continue to vote, partially because less people now believe that they can change anything. The key to voter participation is called motivation - belonging to something, being able to change\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Voter-turnout"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":563,"url":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/en\/increasing-voter-turnout\/10-tips-to-increase-voter-participation-9-motivate-young-voters","url_meta":{"origin":519,"position":5},"title":"10 Tips to Increase Voter Participation: #9 Motivate Young Voters","date":"17\/07\/2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Considering the needs of modern voters - that was the subject of our fifth tip to increase voter participation. Naturally, a large number of these modern voters consist of the younger generation. This younger generation lives digitally to a far greater extent than the generation before: They communicate digitally, they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Voter-turnout"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/voter-turnout_9.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=519"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1014,"href":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519\/revisions\/1014"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.polyas.de\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}