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How Much GOTV Mail is Too Much? Results from a Large-Scale Field Experiment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 September 2017

Donald P. Green  and
Adam Zelizer
Donald P. Green
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA, e-mail: dpg2110@columbia.edu
Adam Zelizer
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA, e-mail: apz2002@columbia.edu
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Abstract

This study evaluates the turnout effects of direct mail sent in advance of the 2014 New Hampshire Senate election. Registered Republican women were sent up to 10 mailings from a conservative advocacy group that encouraged participation in the upcoming election. We find that mail raises turnout, but no gains are achieved beyond five mailers. This finding is shown to be consistent with other experiments that have sent large quantities of mail. We interpret these results in light of marketing research on repetitive messaging.

Keywords

Voter turnoutfield experimentpolitical advertising
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Experimental Political Science , Volume 4 , Issue 2 , Summer 2017 , pp. 107 - 118
Copyright
Copyright © The Experimental Research Section of the American Political Science Association 2017 

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