Why your Get Out The Vote leaflet may well be worded wrongly

Via Business Insider comes this advice on how to get people to do things:

Use nouns instead of verbs to get people to change their behavior.

In one study, people were asked two versions of the same question: “How important is it to you to vote in tomorrow’s election?” and “How important is it to you to be a voter in tomorrow’s election?” Results showed that participants in the “voter” condition were more likely to cast their ballots the next day.

That’s likely because people are driven by the need to belong, and using a noun reinforces their identity as a member of a specific group.

Yet the typical Get Out The Vote (GOTV) leaflet in an election campaign asks people to vote, not to be a voter.

Also of relevance: What do the academics say? How to improve your polling day operation