As progressively minded political people, we’re pleased to find that people are coming across the messages we believe in. As purveyors of progressive political bumper stickers, our income is dependent upon people actually buying those stickers. The difference between someone viewing a bumper sticker and someone buying a bumper sticker is the difference between a message that draws attention and a message that someone decides they want to share. Looking at a bumper sticker is an indication of curiosity; buying a bumper sticker is an act of commitment.
On the left you’ll see the ten most often viewed bumper stickers from our progressive collection in the past week; on the right you’ll see the ten most often bought bumper stickers from the same collection from the same time period.
As you can see, these lists do not have a great deal of overlap. The bumper stickers that are present on both lists represent a current, high-stakes political topic: that of health care reform. Some bumper stickers people come across (FOX News, Voldemort) may stem from searches by people looking for information, not necessarily for stickers. Other bumper stickers people buy (pro-Obama, anti-war, anti-terror, anti-Guantanamo, Maine Marriage “No on 1″) reflect a high conversion rate: not too many people are looking for these messages right now, but the people who are looking for them are committed to sharing their message.
