The Role of Persuasion Strategies in Motivating Individual and Collective Action

Voluntary citizen participation is often viewed as a meaningful solution to a wide range of societal problems. However, while volunteerism is widely endorsed by individuals from across the political spectrum, citizens' behaviors often fall short of their civically-minded attitudes. Beginning with these premises, this chapter develops a conceptual model to explain voluntary civic behavior, and identifies persuasion strategies that can effectively initiate and sustain voluntary citizen participation. Research suggests that there is great practical potential in employing persuasion strategies that focus on both promoting participation and on overcoming barriers to involvement. These findings have implications above and beyond volunteerism, informing our understanding of persuasion and voting behavior, as well as social movement participation.