scholarly journals With a little help from my peers: Depicting social norms in a recommender interface to promote energy conservation

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alain Starke ◽  
Martijn Willemsen ◽  
Chris Snijders
Keyword(s):  
Energy Conservation ◽  
Social Norms ◽  
Recommender Systems ◽  
Behavioral Change ◽  
Show Evidence ◽  
User Data ◽  
Specific Source ◽  
Smart Thermostat ◽  
Normative Messages ◽  
Do So

How can recommender interfaces help users to adopt new behaviors? In the behavioral change literature, nudges and norms are studied to understand how to convince people to take action (e.g. towel re-use is boosted when stating that ‘75% of hotel guests’ do so), but what is advised is typically not personalized. Most recommender systems know what to recommend in a personalized way, but not much research has considered how to present such advice to help users to change their current habits. We examine the value of presenting normative messages (e.g. ‘75% of users do X’) based on actual user data in a personalized energy recommender interface called ‘Saving Aid’. In a study among 207 smart thermostat owners, we compared three different normative explanations (‘Global’, ‘Similar’, and ‘Expert’ norm rates) to a non-social baseline (‘kWh savings’). Although none of the norms increased the total number of chosen measures directly, we show evidence that the effect of norms seems to be mediated by the perceived feasibility of the measures. Moreover, how norms were presented (i.e. specific source, adoption rate) affected what measures were chosen within our Saving Aid interface.

scholarly journals Promoting Energy-Efficient Behavior by Depicting Social Norms in a Recommender Interface

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 1-32
Author(s):  
Alain Starke ◽  
Martijn Willemsen ◽  
Chris Snijders
Keyword(s):  
Human Computer Interaction ◽  
Social Norms ◽  
Energy Saving ◽  
Recommender Systems ◽  
Behavioral Change ◽  
Energy Efficient ◽  
User Data ◽  
Smart Thermostat ◽  
Normative Messages ◽  
Do So

How can recommender interfaces help users to adopt new behaviors? In the behavioral change literature, social norms and other nudges are studied to understand how people can be convinced to take action (e.g., towel re-use is boosted when stating that “75% of hotel guests” do so), but most of these nudges are not personalized. In contrast, recommender systems know what to recommend in a personalized way, but not much human-computer interaction ( HCI ) research has considered how personalized advice should be presented to help users to change their current habits. We examine the value of depicting normative messages (e.g., “75% of users do X”), based on actual user data, in a personalized energy recommender interface called “Saving Aid.” In a study among 207 smart thermostat owners, we compared three different normative explanations (“Global.” “Similar,” and “Experienced” norm rates) to a non-social baseline (“kWh savings”). Although none of the norms increased the total number of chosen measures directly, we show that depicting high peer adoption rates alongside energy-saving measures increased the likelihood that they would be chosen from a list of recommendations. In addition, we show that depicting social norms positively affects a user’s evaluation of a recommender interface.

scholarly journals Crafting Normative Messages to Protect the Environment

2003 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 105-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert B. Cialdini
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Social Norms ◽  
Adolescent Suicide ◽  
Injunctive Norms ◽  
Descriptive Norms ◽  
Information Campaigns ◽  
Alcohol And Drug Use ◽  
Normative Appeals ◽  
Normative Message ◽  
Normative Messages

It is widely recognized that communications that activate social norms can be effective in producing societally beneficial conduct. Not so well recognized are the circumstances under which normative information can backfire to produce the opposite of what a communicator intends. There is an understandable, but misguided, tendency to try to mobilize action against a problem by depicting it as regrettably frequent. Information campaigns emphasize that alcohol and drug use is intolerably high, that adolescent suicide rates are alarming, and—most relevant to this article—that rampant polluters are spoiling the environment. Although these claims may be both true and well intentioned, the campaigns' creators have missed something critically important: Within the statement “Many people are doing this undesirable thing” lurks the powerful and undercutting normative message “Many people are doing this.” Only by aligning descriptive norms (what people typically do) with injunctive norms (what people typically approve or disapprove) can one optimize the power of normative appeals. Communicators who fail to recognize the distinction between these two types of norms imperil their persuasive efforts.

Do Extrinsic Incentives Undermine Social Norms? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Energy Conservation

2016 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
pp. 413-428 ◽  
Author(s):  
José A. Pellerano ◽  
Michael K. Price ◽  
Steven L. Puller ◽  
Gonzalo E. Sánchez
Keyword(s):  
Energy Conservation ◽  
Social Norms ◽  
Field Experiment

scholarly journals Changing Culture to Change Society?

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mireia Borrell-Porta ◽  
Joan Costa-Font ◽  
Azusa Sato
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Cultural Norms ◽  
Large Set ◽  
Identity Change ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Relevant Variable ◽  
Policy Variable ◽  
Show Evidence ◽  
European Values ◽  
Cultural Persistence

Can culture be a policy variable, and hence of use to change society? What can we infer from the existing datasets and methods in economics? How different it is from what social scientists define as culture? Drawing on evidence from migrants interviewed in the European Values Study 2008- 2010 we show evidence of cultural persistence on a large set of attitudes suggesting that culture is a relevant variable for policy to account for. We then offer its downsides and then move to the meaning of culture in other social sciences which allows for more general equilibrium effects, and we propose to focus instead on cultural identity change reflecting newly internalized cultural norms. We argue that on the basis of the existing evidence there is some scope for changing cultural social norms that shape the locus of value (meaningfulness) in a society, which can in induce forms of ‘social change’. However, unlike with social norms, core beliefs in a society are likely to be culturally persistent.

scholarly journals Social Norms and Energy Conservation Beyond the US

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Andor ◽  
Andreas Gerster ◽  
Jörg Peters ◽  
Christoph M. Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
Energy Conservation ◽  
Social Norms ◽  
The Us

Dimensions of Cultural Variation

2019 ◽  
pp. 67-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter B. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Multilevel Modeling ◽  
Cultural Differences ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Measurement Bias ◽  
Cultural Variation ◽  
Close Attention ◽  
The Social ◽  
Do So

To understand cultural differences, we need to find ways to characterize the variations in the social contexts in which people are located. To do so, we must focus on differences between contexts rather than differences between individuals. Most research of this type has examined differences between nations in terms of dimensions. Treating each nation as a unit, contrasts have been identified in terms of values, beliefs, self-descriptions, and social norms. The most influential difference identified concerned the dimension of individualism–collectivism, which has provided the theoretical framework for numerous studies. The validity of this type of investigation rests on close attention to aspects of measurement to ensure that respondents are able to make the necessary judgments and to respond in ways that are not affected by measurement bias. Where many nations are sampled, multilevel modeling can be used to show the ways in which dimensions of culture affect social behaviors.

scholarly journals Children's Acoustic and Linguistic Adaptations to Peers With Hearing Impairment

2018 ◽  
Vol 61 (5) ◽  
pp. 1055-1069 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonia Granlund ◽  
Valerie Hazan ◽  
Merle Mahon
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Impairment ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Frequency Range ◽  
Older Children ◽  
Lexical Diversity ◽  
Vowel Space ◽  
Show Evidence ◽  
Problem Solving Task ◽  
Do So

Purpose This study aims to examine the clear speaking strategies used by older children when interacting with a peer with hearing loss, focusing on both acoustic and linguistic adaptations in speech. Method The Grid task, a problem-solving task developed to elicit spontaneous interactive speech, was used to obtain a range of global acoustic and linguistic measures. Eighteen 9- to 14-year-old children with normal hearing (NH) performed the task in pairs, once with a friend with NH and once with a friend with a hearing impairment (HI). Results In HI-directed speech, children increased their fundamental frequency range and midfrequency intensity, decreased the number of words per phrase, and expanded their vowel space area by increasing F1 and F2 range, relative to NH-directed speech. However, participants did not appear to make changes to their articulation rate, the lexical frequency of content words, or lexical diversity when talking to their friend with HI compared with their friend with NH. Conclusions Older children show evidence of listener-oriented adaptations to their speech production; although their speech production systems are still developing, they are able to make speech adaptations to benefit the needs of a peer with HI, even without being given a specific instruction to do so. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.6118817

Laughter, Humor, and Comedy in Ancient Philosophy

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Reference Point ◽  
Ancient Philosophy ◽  
Social Function ◽  
Future Research ◽  
The Third ◽  
Educational Role ◽  
Comic Poetry ◽  
Do So

Ancient philosophers were very interested in the themes of laughter, humor, and comedy. They theorized about laughter and its causes, moralized about the appropriate uses of humor and what it is appropriate to laugh at, and wrote treatises on comedic composition. Further, they were often merciless in ridiculing their opponents’ positions, often borrowing comedic devices and techniques from comic poetry and drama to do so. The volume is organized around three themes or sets of questions. The first set concerns the psychology of laughter. What is going on in our minds when we laugh? What background conditions must be in place for laughter to occur? Is laughter necessarily hostile or derisive? The second set of questions concerns the ethical and social norms governing laughter and humor. When is it appropriate or inappropriate to laugh? Does laughter have a positive social function? Is there a virtue, or excellence, connected to laugher and humor? The third set of questions concerns the philosophical uses of humor and comedic technique. Do philosophers use humor exclusively in criticizing other rivals, or can it play a positive educational role as well? If it can, how does philosophical humor communicate its philosophical content? This volume aims not to settle these fascinating questions but more modestly to start a conversation about them, in the hope that the volume will be both a reference point for discussions of laughter, humor, and comedy in ancient philosophy and an engine for future research about them.

Understanding Stress-Strain Behavioral Change in Fabrics for Compression Bandaging

2020 ◽  
pp. 153473462091209
Author(s):  
Wan Syazehan Ruznan ◽  
Raechel M. Laing ◽  
Bronwyn J. Lowe ◽  
Cheryl A. Wilson ◽  
Timothy J. Jowett
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Change ◽  
Compression Therapy ◽  
Lower Leg ◽  
Rate Of Change ◽  
Laboratory Setup ◽  
Compression Bandaging ◽  
Tensile Tester ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Rapid Drop ◽  
Do So

Bandages are common in many health-related treatments, including management of edema of the lower limb where they may remain in place for several days. The behavior of 2 bandage fabrics was investigated after exposure for up to 5 days to a multiaxial extension laboratory setup on a tensile tester in compression mode. The fabrics were extended 20% and remained under that machine setting. Stress-relaxation over time was determined by analyzing the rate of change over 24 hours and over 5 days. Most change, a rapid drop in force, occurred during the first 15 minutes; thereafter, for the next 12-hour period, a slower rate of decrease was observed. Both fabrics continued to relax gradually during the next 12 hours and continued to do so for up to 5 days. Little further change was evident during the last 12 hours or so. This phenomenon suggests that rewrapping may be appropriate (albeit not practical) after 12 hours of compression therapy to optimize the compression given to the lower leg. Relaxation behavior of these 2 fabrics can be explained using the generalized Maxwell-Wiechert model.

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