2020 Is Insane! Understand Voter Emotions to Know Why.

It’s hard to find the right words to describe this election cycle. 2020 is like the gift that keeps on giving…🤯 Nothing feels normal, especially with a worldwide pandemic, an economic crisis, a vacant supreme court seat, and a divisive presidential election.

Voters are definitely feeling all this and more as their lives have been turned upside down. If you’re wondering why the election cycle is so unpredictable, it’s because voters are feeling uncertain, anxious, angry, and defeated.

Do you—or anyone you know—make rational decisions when you feel this way?

We’ve heard from other political pollsters that messages aren’t connecting with voters this cycle as they have in the past. 

You know why? Because voters feel very differently right now than they have in the past.

Just knowing the images (fav/unfav) of the candidates and the ballot is not going to cut it when trying to persuade voters in this environment. It’s imperative to know the “why” behind voter beliefs toward a certain candidate to understand exactly what’s driving that “somewhat favorable” response on the image test or a “probably” on the ballot test.

To give you a peek behind the curtain of Cygnal Political Emotive Analysis (CPEA)—which allows you to understand exactly what voters are feeling down to 110 secondary emotions—here’s how the perfect candidate makes them feel:

And here’s how they feel in general right now:

See the difference? It’s a stark contrast…and the primary reason this election cycle has been so difficult!

We have conducted Emotive Analysis across the country in races from US Senate down to state legislative, and the findings have been incredibly useful to our clients. Our clients have been able to turn the tide in some pretty unfavorable political environments by unlocking the emotional tone they need to take in messaging and voter outreach.

Instead of just talking about the issues that matter to key voter groups, our campaigns were able to lead with connective emotion words while weaving in exact phrases these key voter groups used to describe those feelings they have about a topic. Connecting the right message and voter group can move the needle, but attaching the right emotion to that message can turn the tide.

This transforms an ad from generating an “I care about that issue” response from a voter to “that candidate feels how I do about that issue.” When you hit this second chord instead of the first, you earn a vote. People vote for candidates who make them feel that they “understand people like me.”

So as we hit the home stretch, if you’re struggling to move the ballot and connect with voters the way you have in the past, consider a Cygnal Political Emotive Analysis brushfire (gut check) poll to get that missing piece of (emotional, connecting) information and rack up a WIN on Election day.