Unresponsive and Unpersuaded: The Unintended Consequences of Voter Persuasion Efforts∗

Can we use randomized field experiments to understand if and how persuasion efforts by campaigns work? To answer this question, we analyze a field experiment conducted during the 2008 presidential election in which 56,000 registered voters were assigned to persuasion in person, by phone, and/or by mail. We find persuasive appeals by canvassers had two unintended consequences. First, they reduced responsiveness to the follow-up survey, particularly among infrequent voters. This surprising finding has important implications for statistical analysis of persuasion. Second, the persuasive appeals possibly reduced candidate support and certainly did not increase it. This counterintuitive finding is supported by multiple statistical methods and suggests that at least some citizens find political campaign contact to be highly off-putting.