scholarly journals The role of issue familiarity and social norms: findings on new college students’ alcohol use intentions

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajiv N. Rimal ◽  
Saar Mollen
Keyword(s):  
Alcohol Consumption ◽  
Social Norms ◽  
Behavioral Intentions ◽  
Outcome Expectations ◽  
The United States ◽  
Injunctive Norms ◽  
Descriptive Norms ◽  
Consumption Intentions ◽  
Behavioral Issue ◽  
Design And Methods

<em>Background</em>. Scholars in a variety of disciplines are interested in understanding the conditions under which social norms affect human behavior. Following the distinction made between descriptive and injunctive norms by the focus theory of normative conduct, the theory of normative social behavior predicts that the influence of descriptive norms on behavior is moderated by injunctive norms, outcome expectations, and group identity. We extended the theory by testing the proposition that the influence of descriptive norms on behavior would be greater under conditions of greater issue familiarity, defined as the ease with which one can cognitively access the behavior or behavioral issue. <em>Design and Methods</em>. The model was tested in the domain of alcohol consumption intentions by conducting a survey among incoming students (n=719) to a large university in the United States. Data indicated that students in the sample were well representative of the university population. <em>Results</em>. The influence of descriptive norms on behavioral intentions was moderated by issue familiarity, as predicted. Familiarity was a facilitator of behavior: the influence of descriptive norms on behavioral intentions was greater under conditions of high, rather than low, familiarity. The overall model explained 53% of the variance in alcohol consumption intentions. <em>Conclusions</em>. Public health interventions promoting health behaviors need to take into account the extent to which the behaviors are familiar to the target audience. The influence of norms appears to be weaker when the behavior is unfamiliar or novel. Implications for theory and interventions for reducing alcohol consumption are discussed.

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.

scholarly journals The Relative Importance of Values, Social Norms, and Enjoyment-Based Motivation in Explaining Pro-Environmental Product Purchasing Behavior in Apparel Domain

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (17) ◽  
pp. 6797 ◽  
Author(s):  
Insook Ahn ◽  
Soo Kim ◽  
Munyoung Kim
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Social Norms ◽  
Intrinsic Motivation ◽  
Social Norm ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Purchasing Behavior ◽  
Injunctive Norms ◽  
Descriptive Norms ◽  
Consumption Behavior

Changing consumption behavior can offer co-benefits in reduction of environmental issues and encouraging improvements to environmentally friendly or sustainable production. We propose a novel value-social norm-enjoyment-based motivation (VSE) model and test the factors that influence individual pro-environmental apparel purchasing behavior. Data were obtained from 353 college students in Korea and analyzed by using SEM. Our results show that individuals who endorse bio-altruistic values who engage in eco-friendly environmental behavior in apparel domain are influenced by descriptive norms and injunctive norms. Further, enjoyment-based motivation was found to be a key mediator among bio-altruistic value, descriptive norms, and injunctive norms on pro-environmental purchasing behavior. However, injunctive norms do not directly influence purchasing behavior, but rather, are integrated to enjoyment-based intrinsic motivation, then indirectly affect purchasing behavior.

scholarly journals 'Welcome' Changes? Descriptive and Injunctive Norms in a Wikipedia Sub-Community

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan T. Morgan ◽  
Anna Filippova
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Injunctive Norms ◽  
Normative Influence ◽  
Descriptive Norms ◽  
Online Groups ◽  
Open Collaboration ◽  
Sustainability Research ◽  
Focus Theory

Open online communities rely on social norms for behavior regulation, group cohesion, and sustainability. Research on the role of social norms online has mainly focused on one source of influence at a time, making it difficult to separate different normative influences and understand their interactions. In this study, we use the Focus Theory to examine interactions between several sources of normative influence in a Wikipedia sub-community: local descriptive norms, local injunctive norms, and norms imported from similar sub- communities. We find that exposure to injunctive norms has a stronger effect than descriptive norms, that the likelihood of performing a behavior is higher when both injunctive and descriptive norms are congruent, and that conflicting social norms may negatively impact pro-normative behavior. We contextualize these findings through member interviews, and discuss their implications for both future research on normative influence in online groups and the design of systems that support open collaboration.

scholarly journals How to Solve the Social Norm Conflict Dilemma of Green Consumption: The Moderating Effect of Self-Affirmation

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wanda Ge ◽  
Guanghua Sheng ◽  
Hongli Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Social Norm ◽  
Injunctive Norms ◽  
Descriptive Norms ◽  
Green Consumption ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Conflict Situations ◽  
Maximum Utility ◽  
The Social

Social norms are important social factors that affect individual behavioral change. Using social norms to promote green consumption is receiving increasing attention. However, due to the different formation processes and mechanisms of the behavioral influence of the different types of social norms, using social norms to promote green consumption often has social norm conflict situations (injunctive norms + negative descriptive norms). Thus, it is difficult to attain the maximum utility of social norms. The present research found that social norm conflict weakens the role of injunctive norms in promoting green consumption. Specifically, negative descriptive norms weaken the role of injunctive norms in promoting green consumption. Alienation, which manifests through powerlessness and meaninglessness, plays a mediating role in the relationship between social norm conflict and green consumption. Self-affirmation moderates the mediating role of alienation between social norm conflicts and green consumption. Self-affirmation reduces the alienation caused by social norm conflict, thereby alleviating the weakening effect of social norm conflict on green consumption.

scholarly journals Netiquette Between Students and Their Lecturers on Facebook: Injunctive and Descriptive Social Norms

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 205630511878962
Author(s):  
Stephanie B. Linek ◽  
Anika Ostermaier-Grabow
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Empirical Study ◽  
Social Norms ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Individual Case ◽  
Subjective Perception ◽  
Injunctive Norms ◽  
Descriptive Norms ◽  
The Individual

There is an ongoing discussion if and how students and lecturers should interact with each other on social networks. In this article, we present an empirical study on the so-called netiquette for Facebook contacts between students and their lecturers (hereinafter called SL-contacts). In addition, we investigated the subjective perception of the majority’s behavior. This enabled a comparison between two different kinds of social norms: the injunctive norms (netiquette) and the descriptive norms (majority). Database was an online survey with 2,849 participants (2,550 students and 299 lecturers). SL-contacts were quite rare in our sample and usually initiated by students. Our results showed that the appropriateness of SL-contacts depends on the individual case. In addition, we found that injunctive and descriptive norms are in line with each other. Overall, our results indicate that there is a common ground of understanding, and SL-contacts are less critical than they might appear.

scholarly journals Descriptive Norms and Prototypes Predict COVID-19 Prevention Cognitions and Behaviors in the United States: Applying the Prototype Willingness Model to Pandemic Mitigation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurel M Peterson ◽  
Marie Helweg-Larsen ◽  
Sarah DiMuccio
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Health Behaviors ◽  
Behavioral Intentions ◽  
The United States ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Willingness To Participate ◽  
Descriptive Norms ◽  
Prototype Willingness Model ◽  
Prevention Behavior

Abstract Background Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, prevention behavior adoption occurred in a rapidly changing context. In contrast to expectancy-value theories, the Prototype Willingness Model (PWM) is well-suited for investigating novel and socially informed behaviors. Purpose We explored whether PWM social cognitions predicted coronavirus prevention behaviors. Method A representative sample of United States adults (N = 738; Mage = 46.8; 51.8% women; 78% white; April 2020) who had not had COVID-19 reported PWM predictor variables (perceived vulnerability, prevention descriptive norms, prototypes engaging in prevention behavior, and prevention behavioral intentions). Two weeks later, participants reported their prevention behaviors (handwashing, mask-wearing, social distancing, etc.) and future public health behavioral willingness (contact tracing, temperature checks, etc.). Results Controlling for putative demographic, past behavior, and coronavirus-contextual (e.g., local infection rates) covariates, mediation models indicated that higher norms and favorable prototypes were associated with greater prevention behavioral intentions, which in turn predicted increased prevention behavior, F(18, 705) = 92.20, p &lt; .001, R2 = .70. Higher norms and favorable prototypes associated both directly and indirectly (through greater prevention behavioral intention) with greater willingness to engage in emerging public health behaviors, F(15, 715) = 21.49, p &lt; .001, R2 = .31. Conclusions Greater descriptive norms and favorable prototypes for prevention behavior predicted: (a) future prevention behaviors through increases in behavioral intentions and (b) willingness to participate in emerging public health behaviors. These results held across demographic groups, political affiliation, and severity of regional outbreaks. Public health efforts to curb pandemics should highlight normative prevention participation and enhance positive prototypes.

Guilt Enhances the Persuasive Effects of Injunctive But Not Descriptive Social Norms

2020 ◽  
pp. 194855062095058
Author(s):  
Ryan P. Jacobson ◽  
Kathryn J. L. Jacobson ◽  
Allecia E. Reid
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
State Level ◽  
Public Service Announcement ◽  
Descriptive Norm ◽  
Injunctive Norm ◽  
Injunctive Norms ◽  
Descriptive Norms ◽  
Norm Violations ◽  
Control Message ◽  
Guilt Proneness

The focus theory of normative conduct asserts that distinct processes are involved in responding to injunctive norms versus descriptive norms. This research tested the prediction that guilt would be more strongly involved in motivating conformity to injunctive than descriptive norms. Study 1 demonstrates that people anticipate feeling guiltier following injunctive than descriptive norm violations. Studies 2 and 3 demonstrate that guilt proneness and state-level guilt enhance the persuasiveness of messages framed with injunctive norms but not control-framed or descriptive norm–framed messages. Finally, Study 4 shows that a guilt-arousing public service announcement is more effective if framed using an injunctive norm than a descriptive norm or a control message. These results augment understanding of the different ways that injunctive and descriptive norms influence behavior and have applied implications for social norms marketing interventions.

How expatriates work in dangerous environments of pervasive corruption

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 443-460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl Greppin ◽  
Bo Carlsson ◽  
Adrian Wolfberg ◽  
Nnaoke Ufere
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Policy Research ◽  
Subjective Norms ◽  
Injunctive Norms ◽  
Descriptive Norms ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research And Practice ◽  
Personal Norms

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to help understand how US expatriates living and working in dangerous environments characterized by pervasive corruption deal with the phenomena and make decisions about the degree to which they get involved. Design/methodology/approach To answer this question, 30 US executives who worked in such countries were interviewed. Findings Some executives refused to participate in corrupt practices; others chose to reluctantly succumb to extortion, while others willingly participated in corruption. The study found that social norms played a significant role in their decisions. There are four social norms: personal norms, subjective norms, injunctive norms, and descriptive norms. US executives rely on personal norms and injunctive norms for deciding to refuse to participate in corrupt practices, on descriptive norms and subjective norms for deciding to reluctantly succumb to extortion, and on descriptive norms and personal norms for deciding to willingly participate in corruption. Originality/value These findings illustrate what motivates US executives to make decisions about participating in corruption when living and working in countries with pervasive corruption. This has implications for policy, research, and practice.

Rumor has it: The effects of virality metrics on rumor believability and transmission on Twitter

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (12) ◽  
pp. 4807-4825 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ji Won Kim
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Behavioral Intentions ◽  
Social Norm ◽  
Injunctive Norms ◽  
Normative Influence ◽  
Online Experiment ◽  
Descriptive Norms

This study examines the effects of virality metrics on the judgment of a rumor on Twitter. In an online experiment ( N = 203), a tweet about the rumor related to the issue of food safety was presented with the variations of virality metrics (i.e. the number of retweets, likes, and replies). The results showed that exposure to high virality metrics resulted in greater perceptions of descriptive norms and injunctive norms of sharing the tweet message, and in turn, increased message believability and viral behavioral intentions. Overall, findings demonstrated the normative influence of virality metrics. Implications of the current findings are discussed in light of social norm theories and online rumor literature.

scholarly journals How gender- and violence-related norms affect self-esteem among adolescent refugee girls living in Ethiopia

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Stark ◽  
K. Asghar ◽  
I. Seff ◽  
B. Cislaghi ◽  
G. Yu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Adolescent Girls ◽  
Peer Group ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Outcome Variable ◽  
Injunctive Norms ◽  
Descriptive Norms ◽  
Gender Inequity ◽  
Personal Attitudes

Background.Evidence suggests adolescent self-esteem is influenced by beliefs of how individuals in their reference group perceive them. However, few studies examine how gender- and violence-related social norms affect self-esteem among refugee populations. This paper explores relationships between gender inequitable and victim-blaming social norms, personal attitudes, and self-esteem among adolescent girls participating in a life skills program in three Ethiopian refugee camps.Methods.Ordinary least squares multivariable regression analysis was used to assess the associations between attitudes and social norms, and self-esteem. Key independent variables of interest included a scale measuring personal attitudes toward gender inequitable norms, a measure of perceived injunctive norms capturing how a girl believed her family and community would react if she was raped, and a peer-group measure of collective descriptive norms surrounding gender inequity. The key outcome variable, self-esteem, was measured using the Rosenberg self-esteem scale.Results.Girl's personal attitudes toward gender inequitable norms were not significantly predictive of self-esteem at endline, when adjusting for other covariates. Collective peer norms surrounding the same gender inequitable statements were significantly predictive of self-esteem at endline (ß = −0.130; p  =  0.024). Additionally, perceived injunctive norms surrounding family and community-based sanctions for victims of forced sex were associated with a decline in self-esteem at endline (ß = −0.103; p  =  0.014). Significant findings for collective descriptive norms and injunctive norms remained when controlling for all three constructs simultaneously.Conclusions.Findings suggest shifting collective norms around gender inequity, particularly at the community and peer levels, may sustainably support the safety and well-being of adolescent girls in refugee settings.

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