Gaming the Vote: Why Elections Aren't Fair by William Poundstone

I am in the middle of Gaming the Vote, by William Poundstone, and I'm coming to a greater understanding of negative campaigning, and marketing in general. Lee Atwater (referred to as "The Most Evil Man in America") is a political mastermind in this type of campaigning.

He was the person who used the Willie Horton case against Michael Dukakis. The incident was screened first for liberal voters who had a visceral reaction to hearing about an furloughed convict committing a heinous act. Americans, the book states, don’t like negative ads – that is, they say that when they’re asked. But we are strongly moved by such things. I certainly don’t advocate tactics like Lee Atwater used, but this does clearly show the utterly important role of emotions in people’s decision making. People heard about Willie Horton, and just could not support Michael Dukakis. A reasoned, nuanced position would not be able to overcome such strong emotion. If we want to motivate people, we need to tap into those strong emotions. People can intellectually move towards and away from voting for a person, or buying something, but if that strong emotion is in place, the intellectual considerations will likely follow in the direction of the emotions.

This tendency to let our emotions lead us makes it all the more imperative that people are honest and ethical about what they are offering. Promising weight loss in 30 days, for instance, doesn’t just play to people’s desire to get things over with, or be lazy, but also the shame they feel about their current situation. People who want to make more money may be in serious financial trouble. However, people are always encountering varying marketing signals; eat here, shop here, etc. We need to attract peoples’ attention, and engage them. The offer, then, needs to be clear about what using a program or product will entail, and what can be reasonably expected. A politician pointing out a lax policy on crime in their opponent better have a solid anti-crime policy in place, as sooner or later, that’s what will be expected. So tap into emotions, but know that your product must fulfill its promise.