Social norms interventions are effective at changing behavior

What is it about?

We combined the results of a large number of studies that looked at the effects of communication about social norms on behavior. We found that it is possible to change behavior by changing people's beliefs about how prevalent a behavior is, so-called social norms marketing. The changes tend not to be very large, but they are statistically significant. The most effective interventions tend to be those that also provide personalized feedback. For example, telling a college student that most students on their campus drink moderately and that their own behavior exceeds the norm is likely to reduce that student's drinking.

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Why is it important?

There has been a lot of research into social norms in the past, but the body of work can be confusing because not all studies show significant effects of norms. We used meta-analytic methods, meaning we combined the results of a large number of studies and analyzed them statistically. This allows us to understand the overall effect of these social norms interventions. Finding that there is an overall effect of social norms manipulations, and finding the types of manipulations that are most effective, can help practitioners to develop more effective programs to change behaviors.

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