Campaign Signs - Do They Really Work?

It’s an age old question: which came first, the campaign sign or the campaign supporter? Okay, maybe not, but inquiring minds (not to mention political candidates, campaign strategists, and voters) want to know: do political yard signs really work? That is, do they convert casual sign observers into bona fide voters? In the paragraphs that follow, we explain what exactly political signs do and don’t do. On the whole, we make the case that whether you’re running for school board or Senate, campaign signs will be a valuable part of your overall election strategy.

When Political Signs Work

Increasing Name Recognition

Have you ever wondered why elected officials spend so much time appearing on late-night talk shows, riding in parades, updating their social media accounts, and doing other things that have little or nothing to do with making laws? They do it because in politics, name recognition is the name of the game. Prominent political scientist David Mayhew once said that, for politicians, “To be perceived at all is to be perceived favorably.” Thus, one of any candidate’s principle tasks is to make prospective voters familiar with his or her name.

The question remains, however: do yard signs truly generate name recognition? A recent study by Vanderbilt University’s Cindy Kam and Elizabeth Zechmeister suggests that they do. In the study, the scholars placed four large signs for the imaginary school board candidate “Ben Griffin” on a street where roughly half of the parents passed each day as they drove their children to and from school. Three days after the signs were put up, the local PTA surveyed parents about their preferences in the upcoming school board election. The survey results indicated that parents who drove along the street where signs were placed were ten percent more likely to say that Ben Griffin was one of their top three choices for the position. The huge difference in favorability for Ben Griffin between those who saw the signs and those who didn’t suggests that campaign signage is a viable way for candidates to build name recognition.

Getting Out The Vote

Another way that political signs can improve a candidate’s electoral prospects is by reminding supporters to vote. Although signs are unlikely to change a voter’s mind about a particular candidate, they may help remind people who already like the politician to vote on Election Day if used strategically.

Political scientist Costa Panagopoulos recently tested whether campaign signs would actually increase voter turnout by studying the 2005 municipal elections in New York City. After identifying 14 election districts whose historical voter turnout was nearly identical, Panagopoulos strategically stationed sign-toting volunteers at busy intersections in 7 randomly selected districts. The large white signs stated “Vote Tomorrow” in blue letters. In the actual election, the voter turnout in the 7 districts where volunteers held signs (the “treatment” group) was 3.6 percent higher than the turnout in the districts where signs were not displayed (the “control” group). this difference may seem trivial, a three percent increase in vote percentage can have a huge impact on a close election. Moreover, this increase in turnout seems to be comparable to the results of other “get out the vote” techniques such as door-to-door contacting, phone calls, and direct mail, which often require significantly more resources (time, money, and manpower) than does signage.

As the research summarized above illustrates, campaign signage can have a meaningful effect on voter turnout. Candidates who use signs strategically may be able to target the people who are inclined to vote for them, perhaps by placing signs in areas where supporters are highly concentrated.

Yard Signs and Social Cues

Classic studies in political science (see, for example,Voting by Berelson, Lazarsfeld and McPhee, 1954) have found that a person’s family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers can have a strong impact on who they vote for. Political signage may help reinforce these powerful social forces by serving as voting cues. In other words, signs can spreads political information between two people even if a political discussion never takes place.

For example, imagine that two neighbors, Tim and Wilson, are good friends who talk about most everything—except politics. When Wilson places a political sign in his yard for Jill Taylor, a local school board candidate, Tim notices the sign on his way to and from work but doesn’t think much about it. When the election arrives, Tim goes to the polls to vote for a friend running for city council. After voting for his friend, Tim comes to the portion of the ballot that asks about the school board vote. Although he is not familiar with any of the candidates, Tim remembers that his friend Wilson supports Jill Taylor. While his personal knowledge is limited, Tim knows that he trusts Wilson, so he votes for Jill. Just as in this scenario, voters use “information shortcuts” to make ballot decisions all the time. While campaign signs may not inspire instant confidence in a candidate per se, they can help uninformed voters connect a candidate’s name to friends or family members that they trust. In this way, candidate’s can use signage to tap personal networks that are powerful sources of vote motivation.

Campaign Signs as Political Participation

Campaign signs can also provide supporters with a way to express themselves politically, allowing them to voice their opinions and feel connected to a candidate. Political scientists Todd Makse and Anand Sokhey argue that “Yard signs constitute an important, symbolic aspect of what we might call an ordinary individual’s “total campaign experience.” In other words, posting signs can be a form of political participation in and of itself.

Signs can also provide campaign volunteers with a way to openly show their friends and neighbors the candidate that they support. In a way, signs can function as a symbol of the volunteer’s hours of hard work for the campaign. Moreover, sign drives give campaign faithful the opportunity to have tangible evidence of their dedication to the cause; whenever they see a sign-lined street, they will feel they have accomplished something important. Candidates who want their supporters to feel that they are truly involved in the campaign and are able to fully express their political voices should incorporate political signs into their overall election strategy. As Maske and Sokhey observe, “Campaign professionals may debate the power of yard signs as a mobilization tool, but . . . these signs are anything but trivial to the individuals who display them.”

Local Elections: The Power of Visibility

Ironically, campaign signs tend to be used most when they are least effective—presidential elections. Since presidential races are extremely visible to the public eye, nearly everyone who is going to vote has relatively defined opinions about the candidates involved. Because of this, campaign signs are unlikely to have a major impact. As behavioral psychologist Mark Sibicky notes in a recent interview, “Signs do little to change anyone’s mind that is already made up.” At the same time, signs can have an important effect on elections in which candidates are relatively unknown. Candidates for municipal offices such as school board, sheriff, city council, mayor, and judgeships are often relatively unknown, so the added name recognition generated by political signage is invaluable.

Additionally, because municipal offices in many localities omit partisan labels from the ballot, voters who are unable to make a decision based solely on political party may turn to the candidates whose names they are most familiar with. Politicians running for lesser-known state offices such as state auditor, treasurer, and even attorney general can also benefit from the increased notoriety that signs provide.

Source: http://www.signs.com/blog/do-political-signs-work-running-an-effective-legal-sign-campaign/