This ad popped up on my Instagram the other day.
In case you are having trouble reading the fine print, it says: "We are not a borough that fails. Queens is at 60.5%"
As I have mentioned the tribe I associate with most is New Yorkers. I was born in Brooklyn, raised in Queens and now live in Manhattan, so I don't associate with a specific borough.
But I suspect others do.
If you live in Brooklyn,
would this ad motivate you to complete your census? What about those who live in Queens? Even if you don't live in either place, what
do you think of this approach? Which of
Cialdini's persuasion principles does it use?
How does the use of statistics affect your opinion? Do you think it will be successful? Would it motivate you?
5 comments:
This ad uses Cialdini’s social proof to motivate Brooklynites to complete their census, with an extra punch of rivalry and tribalism by comparing themselves with neighboring Queens. Queens is also leading by only a small margin, so the race is tight, and victory could be easily achievable if Brooklynites could rally. It reminds me of the current election rhetoric that will continue to ensue for the next 40 days (Help us All!). As a Manhattanite, I don’t think I would be motivated with Manhattan vs. Brooklyn statistics, but perhaps that’s because I am an import, as I would imagine most NYC residents are. I therefore doubt this ad would be effective in New York City.
More broadly, maybe as a New Zealander I might be slightly motivated by Kiwis vs. Aussies statistics, but I still wouldn’t really care. Where I would be passionately motivated by rivalry statistics would be green energy vs. fossil fuels or “any functioning adult” vs. Trump. I think social proof statistics are interesting and might produce 10-15% increases in action as stated in the textbook, but social proof and tribal rivalry on passion topics could be really powerful and motivate higher levels of action. I suppose that is why trigger topics are politicized to create partisan divide.
T e r e s a
Personally, I don’t associate with any specific borough in New York City because I’m from outside of the city. This ad is using the Principle of Authority in Cialdini's persuasion principles by providing precise Census statistics that come from the government. As an audience, I would say the use of statistics adds some credibility to this ad, but it would not affect my opinion on whether I should compete my Census.
On top of that, I don’t think this ad is using a proper approach. The first impression that this ad gives to the audience is negative because it is using a negative tone with the words “only” and “fails”. Such negative tone will make the audience, especially those that associate themselves with Brooklyn, uncomfortable in the first place as they think they are being criticized by this ad for making Brooklyn failed to complete the Census. When the audience perceive such negative tone and feel uncomfortable, it's very likely that they will ignore this ad instead of being motivated by it. Therefore, I don’t think this ad will be successful in motivating people to complete their Census, including me.
However, I think this ad does have rooms for improvement to make it more motivating to the local residents:
1. Change the negative tone to a positive tone. For example, delete the word “only” and words in black and add “We need your help” after the statistics.
2. Add more motivating factors in this ad. For example, try to explain to the audience how a higher rate of Census completion can be beneficial to the borough with their help.
I don’t think this ad would work. It’s true that people like numbers, but people also don’t like to be forced. “Only 56.5% of Brooklyn residents have completed their Census.” This is a fact, but on the other hand, it also indicates that the rest of 43.5% of Brooklynites keeps them from making progress. In my opinion, everyone has the responsibility to complete their census in order to help their countries to improve. I think it would be much more efficient to let people understand their responsibility instead of simply asking them to complete their census. This ad also mentioned that Queens also failed to complete the census. I don’t think this is efficient neither cause it’s giving people an excuse to not complete it.
Zhengbiao Ji
I personally don't think it's a great idea posting something which is nothing but informative because the way it said, "Only 56.5 percent of Brooklyn residents have completed their census". The ad also said, Queens is at 60.5 percent which reminds me of only some numbers. If the objective is to make residents complete their census, the ad has to excite people so people can get it done. People tend to not care if its not interesting, therefore, it would have been more appropriate if the ad was entitled with, "Your census, your voice".
As a Brooklyn resident for the past 10 years, the IG Post above would not motivate me to complete my census, most likely wouldn’t reach residents in Queens. I find that I would be receptive to a narrative that showed endearment from potential representatives towards their constituents (or overall members of the general public). Perhaps, learning more about the potential representatives before an election period, their trajectory in “change” or learning the kind of impacts of such engagement through community town halls, gatherings (such as; Food Festivals, Block Parties).
2020 seems to be one of the most challenging years I’ve ever experienced, as it related to COVID-19. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the amount of deaths involving COVID-19 has been an amount of 188,470, with the majority being the Silent Generation, impacting overall men at 101,819, and women the most (CDC, 2020).
A question that I would have after completing a census is; How soon after a census result (for a community) is completed, can communities learn or experience the impacts of the “5 Big Reasons” why you should fill out your census form? It’s likely that urgency is requested of communities to complete the census form but learning how my completion of the census would impact my community would be just as important to receive, along with the precedent sense of urgency. I also find that it would be important to have lawmakers work for you, and telling them who you are and what you need, might be essential.
References:
“COVID-19 Provisional Counts - Weekly Updates by Select Demographic and Geographic Characteristics.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 23 Sept. 2020, www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/covid_weekly/index.htm.
“Five Big Reasons.” United States Census 2020.
Website: https://www.census.gov/dmd/www/pdf/d3236c.pdf
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