Do lawn signs make a difference?
Posted at 11:34 AM on October 18, 2010
by Bob Collins
(14 Comments)
Filed under: Marketing and advertising, Politics
A photo, sent to me by my colleague Jon Gordon, inspires me into deep political thought. It's a clever sign, but do lawn signs make a difference for candidates?
Scroll down, then close your eyes and tell me the name of the candidate.
Sometimes, a lawn sign can lead to more questions than answers. Like this one, sent to Jon by Thomas Freeman.
Why is a guy named Johnsoin using plaid as a background? It's probably an attempt to tap into the Paul Bunyan sensibility in Bemidji.
Two years ago the Walker Art Center allowed people to make their own lawn signs (via Flickr)...
... and proved that people are more creative than politicians.
My guess is lawn signs work better for low-on-the-ticket races. In my district, we have 24 people running for judge. In a completely unscientific survey on News Cut last week, an overwhelming majority of people said they rarely seem to know who they're voting for when it comes to voting for judges. So perhaps the "I've heard of him/her" voter can be influenced by a sign.
A photo, sent to me by my colleague Jon Gordon, inspires me into deep political thought. It's a clever sign, but do lawn signs make a difference for candidates?
Scroll down, then close your eyes and tell me the name of the candidate.
Sometimes, a lawn sign can lead to more questions than answers. Like this one, sent to Jon by Thomas Freeman.
Why is a guy named Johnson using plaid as a background? It's probably an attempt to tap into the Paul Bunyan sensibility in Bemidji.
Two years ago the Walker Art Center allowed people to make their own lawn signs (via Flickr)...
... and proved that people are more creative than politicians.
My guess is lawn signs work better for low-on-the-ticket races. In my district, we have 24 people running for judge. In a completely unscientific survey on News Cut last week, an overwhelming majority of people said they rarely seem to know who they're voting for when it comes to voting for judges. So perhaps the "I've heard of him/her" voter can be influenced by a sign.
Comments (14)
Funny thing, I was just thinking about this. I have written that lawns signs are bad use of a candidate's time and money. But just recently I have come to change my mind on them. I think many people, even 'educated' voters, have less time and energy. I think even the best will look around their local streets and vote for the people they remember from signs.
I would agree that they are better for low on the ticket races, especially if I see a sign on the lawn of a neighbor I know. Depending on the neighbor it might either mean I vote for against the candidate. But if it is someone I don't know much about and I know the neighbor I might ask what they know about the candidate.
There's also the horserace factor, with people wanting to vote for the winner. Lawn signs operate as polls for the lower race candidates.
I work with a guy who puts up lots of political yard signs. This is how I measure who is not getting my vote, and in fact the reason I do vote. I vote just to cancel his.
I admit it. I voted for someone this year (absentee) based on yard signs. I didn't know who to vote for in a local election and thought back to all the lawn signs I saw for a particular candidate. They were in the yards of people who had signs for other candidates I like, so I voted for her. Maybe a bad decision, but it happened.
It's the same with any marketing campaign. The more times you are bombarded with an image, the more likely that image will come to mind when you make your decision. Just as the facts contradict personal reporting on how much advertising affects their consumption, I would bet that lawn signs have a higher impact on elections than they are perceived to.
While lawn signs are a major offender of sight pollution, they also seem to be the least vindictive part of a campaign. Could you imagine discourse in this country if all campaigns were simply sign run?
"I am voting for x."
"I am voting for y."
"Let's go get pizza."
In the past- lawn signs were fun for me. Now, in these lean economic times- I'm paying more attention to who is named in these signs.
When i vote at the poll, I'll be checking off "Edina Reality" ...whoever THAT is!!
All I know is I've no plans to vote for the peoples who's signs are right on the other side of my property line...
Nothing against my neighbors, or those politicians... But putting the sign right next to my yard makes it appear as if I'm also supporting them, which I don't.
I recently ran for judge in Ramsey County, in a nine-person primary for an open position. I made lots of signs, included my Website address so people could look for more information after seeing them, and put up far more of them than any of my opponents.
I finished seventh.
Reflecting on that, I don't think that signs do much to attract or convince the undecided voter. You have to put them up, otherwise you're not even trying. Their biggest effect, though, was not in drawing voters' interest at first but sustaining enthusiasm once they were on board. Having lots of signs up shows that the candidate and volunteers are working hard, and that you, the voter, have made a credible choice. It still comes down to drawing voters to you in the first place, though, and signs in and of themselves don't accomplish that. There was little correlation between where I had great sign placement and the end result.
Thanks for the reminder of the Walker lawn sign project.
I know someone who decided not to buy a house in a neighborhood in which the majority of signs were for one party's candidates because it made him think he would not be welcome there.
I will sometimes infer political leanings of lower-ticket races based on combinations of signs; if one candidate for "dog catcher" is consistently co-placed with Dem or Rep signs I have some insights into them?? I have a low ticket race (County Attorney) I am unsure of in my district and this pairing will probably influence my vote in part.
This is a great question. Well, it's at least a Good Question. We looked at this a couple years ago, and the trainers at Wellstone Action say that lawn sign money is wasted money that could be spent on direct mail. For the most part, lawn signs are about ego stroking the candidate - who likes to see their signs when they campaign... and ego stroking the volunteers. Here's the Good Question segment from WCCO.
Glad to see My Yard Our Message lives on. Also interesting that The Daily Show is doing a semi-similar thing for their rally: saneornot.com, but the quality, uhh, leaves a lot to be desired.
When I first ran for the senate, I knocked on doors for 5 or 6 weeks before we put out signs. Then there were a lot of "who are you?" comments at the door. But after the signs went up, the comments became "I know you. You have those turquoise signs up."
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