Richard Sweum Undecided, Unsure, Unmotivated or all of the above!
You can't escape hearing about it...the clandestine but ubiquitous category of voter referred to as "the undecideds." Who are these people and how could they have escaped the rabid onslaught the past 12 months of political advertisements, bumper stickers, events? Could anyone really be "undecided." I can understand a person being "conflicted" about their choice, but not undecided. Maybe they just can't admit it to themselves what their choice is...people like to appear much more contemplative than they actually are. All poling aside, when conflicted people typically choose "not to choose."
I have seen this countless times with home buyers, a conflicted potential buyer doesn't flip a coin, make a pros and cons sheet and calculate their choice, they end up NOT BUYING. When faced with having to either settle for less than complete satisfaction OR not buying...the vast majority of the time I see home buyers "not buy."
There are classes for Realtors about how to help buyers overcome their own objections to a particular property, how to help a buyer develop an appropriate response to a home inspection and all that it uncovered. Most Realtors come by this naturally without even having to think about it. A perfect house never fits a buyer perfectly, it is about helping a home buyer to view an 80% fit as not only acceptable, but terrific!
In Real Estate, the buyer has a helper--a couple of them infact, the Realtor and often times the lender...two people that only get paid IF the buyer gets to the point of being delighted with an 80% fit! In elections, there is no one "holding the hand" of the voter...no realtor, no lender, helping the voter to overcome their objections and uncertainty. Also, there is no one who really knows IF they voted or not. They can say that they voted, even lie about who they voted for, but there is no one except themselves that really knows! How many people do this? It is impossible to know because polling/surveys require honest participation, and you are asking someone to be honest about lying...a difficult task.
I don't know much, but I do know a few things...home buyers who are undecided are in actuality conflicted between competing wants, desires, and goals...they are uncertain about which competing desires needs to be ignored and which ones need to be highlighted. Similarly, uncertainty leads to inaction and not buying. I would hazard to guess that while studies suggest that "undecided voters who actually vote" break in favor of the challenger, I submit that most undecided voters don't vote at all, because voting takes effort, motivation, sacrifice of time...and one is usually not going to exert energy unless they are motivated. How hard is it to be motivated if your are undecided?
Richard Sweum Undecided, Unsure, Unmotivated or all of the above!
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