Randomized field trial reveals that interactive phone calls increase volunteer recruitment among political party members, indicating that two-way dialogue mobilizes diverse activists.
Key Points
To determine whether personal outreach methods providing voice opportunities can expand and diversify a political party's active volunteer base.
Conducted two randomized field experiments in the Netherlands involving over 35,000 party members before the 2021 general and 2022 municipal elections.
Randomly allocated members to receive a personal telephone call allowing them to express their opinions, an informational email, or both.
Personal phone calls increased volunteer sign-up rates by 83% in Study 1 and by 361% in Study 2, generating the strongest increases among younger members.
Email invitations had no statistically detectable effect on member volunteer recruitment.