In
2016, 69 million Millennials were eligible to vote. Almost the same amount as Baby Boomers.
Source:
Pew Research Center
But,
only 34 million Millennials voted, versus 48 million Baby Boomers. That's 49% of eligible Millennial voters
versus 69% of eligible Boomers. (Fry, 2017)
Perhaps it is because Boomers were raised to believe that voting was their civic duty.
Perhaps it is because Boomers were raised to believe that voting was their civic duty.
So,
the obvious question is - how do we get more Millennials to vote?
One
way is to help people make a concrete plan.
That increased voting by 4.1%.
But
telling them that they and their neighbors would be informed about who voted
after the election resulted in a 8.1% increase.
The
biggest increase came from those that identified with the tribe in answering
the question - how important is it to you to be a voter? Framing the issue based on self-identity versus
action - i.e. "How important is it
to you to vote?" increased turnout by 10.9%. (Syal & Ariely, 2016)
Another
option being explored is text messaging.
According to a study from Simmons, 51% of Millennials are willing to
share their mobile number for a good reason and the opportunity to help others. SMS has a 98% open rate, and 83% of the
messages are read within three minutes of delivery. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez used the texting app
Relay to help her win her Democratic primary. While, Bernie Sanders used it to organize
volunteers in 2016. (Pavelcsyk, 2018)
But
perhaps the most intriguing approach is gamifying. Tonight, Samantha Bee is launching a new live
mobile game similar in style to HQ Trivia.
Each day there will be 10 questions and those who answer correctly will
split a cash prize. There will be prizes
for registering to vote and finding your polling place. And, they have big plans for National Voter
Registration Day (9/25) and Halloween - of course - because the idea won't work
if the game isn't fun. (Weprin, 2018)
So. Why do you think helping people make a plan
increases turnout? Why would sharing
their voting patterns be even more effective?
And why is getting people to identify themselves as voters the most
successful of these three approaches?
Will
you share your mobile number for a good cause?
How do you feel about marketing via text? Are you receiving marketing messages via text
now? Are you responding? Is cause marketing different than other
marketing?
Finally,
what do you think of the gamifying idea?
Do you like games? Will you play
this one? Do you think others will?
At the
end of the day, which of these approaches do you think will be most successful
and why?
9/13/18
update: The game launched and promptly crashed last night. More here...
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/samantha-bee-app-gamify-midterms-crashed_us_5b9a0eb7e4b05092ceed2ecd
Fry, R. (2017,
July 31) Millennials and Gen Xers
outvoted Boomers and older generations in 2016 election. pewresearch.org Retrieved September 11, 2018, from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/07/31/millennials-and-gen-xers-outvoted-boomers-and-older-generations-in-2016-election/
Syal,
S. & Ariely, D. (2016, September 1)
How Science Can Help Get Out the Vote.
scientificamerican.com Retrieved September 11, 2018, from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-science-can-help-get-out-the-vote/
Pavelcsyk,
J. (2018, September 7) Politics With
Purpose: Mobilizing Millennials Beyond Likes And Shares. mediapost.com. Retrieved September 11, 2018, from https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/324809/politics-with-purpose-mobilizing-millennials-beyo.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline&utm_campaign=110842&hashid=qPjrjs2d4CzuoIyymSYheeVOsxs
Weprin,
A. (2018, September 11) TBS' Samantha
Bee Hopes Streaming Mobile Game Will Drive Viewers To Vote. mediapost.com. Retrieved September 11, 2018, from https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/324811/tbs-samantha-bee-hopes-streaming-mobile-game-will.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=readnow&utm_campaign=110901&hashid=uqqx0UvOI-Dz9SmOVzBACoNyK8k
