Means, Motive, and Opportunity

In this chapter, we focus on several aspects of the process by which people come to display signs. First, we present survey respondents with a hypothetical scenario regarding the decision to display a sign, examining which considerations predict a willingness to display. Second, we ask displayers to identity their motives for displaying, drawing on the distinction between expressive and instrumental motives for participation. Third, we examine how sign displayers obtain signs, distinguishing between those who seek out signs and those who receive them from campaigns. Finally, we consider timing as an informative aspect of sign displaying, exploring the dichotomy between early displayers, who act as de facto opinion leaders in their neighborhoods, and late displayers, who may be influenced by social pressure. Several of our findings challenge conventional wisdom about sign displaying, as we find evidence that displayers are proactive and think of signs in primarily expressive terms.