Winning Hearts with Weak Arguments
Politicians ask their supporters for a lot, from monetary donations to holding campaign signs near busy intersections – often in frigid weather. Such big asks would seem to call for strong, cogent pitches. After all, who’d volunteer for a candidate who couldn’t even explain her positions on the issues? As it turns out, lots of us. In fact, recent research suggests that in some cases, providing weak arguments in favor of a candidate or cause leads supporters to engage in greater advocacy than providing strong ones.
In an experiment conducted in the months prior to the 2012 United States presidential election, several Stanford University researchers – Omair Akhtar, David Paunesku, and Zakary Tormala – asked one hundred and sixty five members of a national online sample to report their feelings about President Barack Obama’s bid for reelection. Based on their responses, respondents were categorized into pro- and anti-Obama voters.
The researchers then showed some respondents a series of strong, compelling arguments from other voters in favor of President Obama’s reelection, like these:
I support President Obama because he has done a great job under extremely difficult circumstances. He inherited a broken economy, two wars, and an America with a battered international reputation. He’s made significant progress towards reversing all of these problems.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=winning-hearts-with-weak-arguments
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