The effectiveness and efficiency of using normative messages to reduce waste: A real world experiment

Although they are only home to 16% of the global human population, high-income countries produce approximately one third of the world’s waste, the majority of which goes to landfills. To reduce pressure on landfills and natural systems, environmental messaging should focus on reducing consumption. Messages that signal social norms have the potential to influence people to reduce their consumption of comfort goods, such as straws, which are not a necessity for most people. We conducted a randomized field-experiment at a marine park in Portugal to test whether different normative messages reduced visitors’ paper straw use when compared to non-normative messages. We found that a message framed around a positive injunctive norm significantly reduced straw use compared to a non-normative message. We estimated that using the message at 17 park concession stands could keep over 27500 straws out of landfills annually and save the park money after two years.

What Influences People’s Tradeoff Decisions Between CO2 Emissions and Travel Time? An Experiment With Anchors and Normative Messages

One of the today’s greatest challenges is to adjust our behavior so that we can avoid a major climate disaster. To do so, we must make sacrifices for the sake of the environment. The study reported here investigates how anchors (extrinsic motivational-free information) and normative messages (extrinsic motivational information) influence people’s tradeoffs between travel time and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the context of car travel and whether any interactions with environmental concern (an intrinsic motivational factor) can be observed. In this study, people received either a CO2, health or no normative message together with either a high anchor, a low anchor, or no anchor. People that received both a high anchor and a CO2 emission normative message were willing to travel for a longer time than those that only received a high anchor. If a low anchor was presented, no differences in willingness to travel for a longer time were found between the three different conditions of normative message groups, i.e., CO2 normative message, health normative message, or no normative message. People with higher concern for the environment were found to be willing to travel for a longer time than those with lower concern for the environment. Further, this effect was strongest when a high anchor was presented. These results suggest that anchors and normative messages are among the many factors that can influence people’s tradeoffs between CO2 emission and travel time, and that various factors may have to be combined to increase their influence over pro-environmental behavior and decisions.

KOPERASI MEMBANGUN KARAKTER BANGSA (Sebuah Kajian Filosofis)

Two political economy thoughts that dominated the 19th and 20th centuries are liberalism and socialism. These two great ideologies originate from a philosophy that emphasizes individuality (liberalism) and another philosophy that emphasizes collectivity (socialism). These two ideologies face each other and have produced a world socio-economic order for approximately two centuries, where the influence we still experience today in Indonesia and that is what appears in the constitution of the Republic of Indonesia. Starting from the socio-economic order stated in the constitution, in the following we can review three fundamental political characteristics of the nation, namely the ideology of the nation state, the Pancasila State, and the unitary state. The existence of these three political entities - if we really examine the constitutional normative message about the national economy and social welfare - can only be guaranteed by cooperatives. Cooperatives as the pillars of the national economy can shape and guarantee the three Indonesian political characteristics.

Honesty: A Multidimensional Study as Motivation for National Character Building

Honesty has discussed in various disciplines. Honesty studies have carried out to examine the relationship of honesty with many factors that influence certain fields of science. This study aims to present a multidimensional study to convey the goodness of honesty as a tangible manifestation of the normative message that honesty guide to goodness and it will lead to happiness. This study uses a text analysis method in the form of a literature review through searching several resources. The sources that found is analysed by Wilson's procedure. The results of this study shows that honesty as a whole has a good impact on the physical health and mental health of individuals. Honesty related to many psychological attributes. Therefore, it recommended embedding motivations in educational honesty that concluded from various scientific disciplines.

Framing Descriptive Norms as Self-Benefit Versus Environmental Benefit: Self-Construal’s Moderating Impact in Promoting Smart Energy Devices

Recently, awareness has been raised concerning the importance of sustainable energy use. Nevertheless, many obstacles must be overcome to change individuals’ energy consumption habits. This study examines how a message should be framed to convince individuals to purchase a smart energy device that provides feedback on household energy use. As such, this device can assist households in adjusting their energy-wasting habits. Through two experimental studies, this paper examines how a descriptive normative message, indicating that the majority of US households have already purchased a smart energy device, can increase individuals’ intention to purchase the device. Both studies consider the moderating influence of the self-construal, which refers to individuals’ consideration of themselves as either part of a group (interdependent self-construal) or independent from others (independent self-construal). The first study (n = 231) reveals that a descriptive norm (versus no norm) leads to a higher purchase intention through an enhanced normative influence regardless of participants’ self-construal. The second study (n = 128) adds to the finding that combining a descriptive norm with a self-benefit (versus environmental) frame more strongly impacts the purchase intent of individuals with a dominant independence. No significant differences are identified between the two benefit frames’ effectiveness among individuals with a dominant interdependence.

The Five Origins of European Populism

This essay deals with the five origins of European populism. It touches upon a number of themes in the lexicon of re-globalization and the changing warp of populist globalization as a process. It carries a lively normative message, principally as to the required comportment of the European Union during a period of global change and dislocation, which prefigures, or may give rise to a post-populist era.

Sitting through life? Psychosocial Antecedents of Sedentary Behaviour in a Post-Secondary Setting

Currently, there is a paucity of research on the psychosocial antecedents of sedentary behaviour (SB) in a post-secondary setting. Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) constructs may influence sedentary behaviour amongst students. Further, normative messages may be one tool for altering perceptions of sedentary behaviour. However, the effect of descriptive norm messages on sedentary behaviour is currently unknown. The primary purpose of this study is to examine students’ perceptions of sedentary behaviour; the secondary purpose is to investigate whether the receipt of a normative message is an efficacious tool for reducing students’ sedentary behaviour. Post-secondary students will complete an online questionnaire and will randomly receive an injunctive norm, descriptive norm, or control sedentary behaviour message. The questionnaire will measure demographics, TPB constructs, and self-reported SB. One week later, they will complete the same questionnaire. Multiple regression and ANOVAs will be used to address the two study purposes, respectively. Results may inform future interventions aimed at decreasing students’ sedentary behaviour levels.

More “Bank” for the Buck: Microtargeting and Normative Appeals to Increase Social Marketing Efficiency

Successful conservation in the United States relies on collective stewardship by millions of private landowners, challenging those agencies and nongovernment organizations tasked with engagement and outreach. Perennially limited resources compound this challenge, highlighting a deep need for efficient social marketing. In the following research, we test the efficacy of two social marketing strategies—microtargeting and normative appeals—through a randomized controlled trial of an integrated social marketing campaign targeting riparian landowners in the Pennsylvania portion of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. We used a microtargeting algorithm to predict landowners’ likelihood of responding to a conservation outreach campaign to create treatment groups of high-likelihood prospects versus random prospects (i.e., no microtargeting). A normative appeal was also included as an experimental factor in the campaign communicating that forested riparian buffer investments were common among similar landowners. Among microtargeted landowners, we observed a 66% increase in response to a riparian restoration survey compared to the control group. Additionally, we found a significant influence of a normative message among random (nonmicrotargeted) prospects, increasing response by 23% over the control group. We conclude conservation outcomes may be more efficiently achieved by deploying these marketing techniques on a wider scale to a variety of conservation challenges.