This study investigates whether voters and non-voters respond differently to pro-social water conservation messages in a large-scale randomized controlled trial. During the 2016 Southeast drought, half of 35,000 targeted households received randomly assigned encouragement for water conservation.

Key Findings:

* Households with frequent voter histories (primary/general elections from 1990-2008) showed significantly higher responsiveness to the pro-social messages. This suggests that citizens who participate regularly in electoral processes may demonstrate stronger commitment to collective action and public goods contributions.

* There was no statistically significant difference in conservation responses between Republican and Democrat households, despite partisanship being a common political variable expected to influence behavior.

Why It Matters:

These findings provide empirical evidence for the connection between voting frequency and engagement with other cooperative behaviors. The results indicate that pro-social messaging may be more effective if tailored towards informed citizens who frequently participate in democratic processes.