I wonder how many issues have enough people on the same side to cause a general change. Smoking is a great example of that happening, but I don't know how many other issues can cut through the clutter of images and advertising we are bombarded with to effectively sway people. Maybe it just takes a long time to see results.
I definitely think you have a valid point about bumper stickers becoming part of a larger message. I wonder if the messages are canceling each other out: for every pro-hunting sticker there may very well be a vegan sticker, so there's no weight one way or the other.
On the other hand, there's often the concentration of one message in a localised community, reinforcing itself and converting locals who weren't conforming... I think that's a whole new post.
In the end, I still suspect that most people who use bumper stickers to so to advertise and reinforce their own chosen identities, and any conversion would be a bonus. But I could be wrong, not having anything to afix a sticker to.
no subject
I definitely think you have a valid point about bumper stickers becoming part of a larger message. I wonder if the messages are canceling each other out: for every pro-hunting sticker there may very well be a vegan sticker, so there's no weight one way or the other.
On the other hand, there's often the concentration of one message in a localised community, reinforcing itself and converting locals who weren't conforming... I think that's a whole new post.
In the end, I still suspect that most people who use bumper stickers to so to advertise and reinforce their own chosen identities, and any conversion would be a bonus. But I could be wrong, not having anything to afix a sticker to.