Personalized Normative Feedback and the Moderating Role of Personal Norms

Schultz, P. Wesley; Messina, Alyssa; Tronu, Giuseppe; Limas, Eleuterio F.; Gupta, Rupanwita; Estrada, Mica

doi:10.1177/0013916514553835

Cited by 185 publications

(153 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…Finally, we acknowledge the complicating role of environmental identities in the persuasiveness of communication leveraging descriptive and injunctive norms (e.g., Göckeritz et al., ; Kantola, Syme, & Campbell, ; Schultz et al., ). We suggest that research in these traditions extends to encompass interactions with self‐other assessments, to arrive at more universally effective proenvironmental messaging.…”

Section: Implications For Environmental Communicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overestimating One's “Green” Behavior: Better‐Than‐Average Bias May Function to Reduce Perceived Personal Threat from Climate Change

Leviston

Uren

2019

Journal of Social Issues

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The actions of others, and what others approve of, can be a powerful tool for promoting proenvironmental behavior. A potential barrier to the utility of social norms, however, are cognitive biases in how people perceive themselves and others, including the better‐than‐average effect. This effect describes the tendency for people to think they are exceptional, especially when compared with their peers. To investigate the role of the better‐than‐average effect in proenvironmental behavior, we administered questions as part of a larger online survey of 5,219 nationally representative Australians. Participants were asked to report whether they engaged in a list of 21 proenvironmental behaviors, and then asked to estimate how their engagement compared with that of the average Australian. Over half of our participants self‐enhanced; they overestimated their engagement in proenvironmental behaviors relative to others. Self‐enhancement was related to reduced perceptions of personal harm from climate change, more favorable assessments of coping ability, less guilt, and lower moral and ethical duty to take action to prevent climate change. These relationships held when participants skeptical about anthropogenic climate change were removed from analyses. We discuss the implications of the findings for the use of social norms in promoting proenvironmental behavior.

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Section: Implications For Environmental Communicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overestimating One's “Green” Behavior: Better‐Than‐Average Bias May Function to Reduce Perceived Personal Threat from Climate Change

Leviston

Uren

2019

Journal of Social Issues

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“…Research in behavioral science has established that social norms are key drivers of human behavior and when social norms are activated they can be used to improve pro‐social conduct. Normative information has been used fairly extensively in the environmental domain to encourage residential energy conservation (e.g., Emeakaroha, Ang, Yan, & Hopthrow, ; Nolan, Schultz, Cialdini, Goldstein, & Griskevicius, ), water conservation (e.g., Schultz et al, ), and resource conservation in the hospitality industry (e.g., Goldstein, Cialdini, & Griskevicius, ).…”

Section: Social Normsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“We aren’t idlers”: Using subjective group dynamics to promote prosocial driver behavior at long‐wait stops

Player

Abrams

Vyver³

et al. 2018

J Applied Social Pyschol

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Idling engines are a substantial air pollutant which contribute to many health and environmental problems. In this field experiment (N = 419) we use the subjective group dynamics framework to test ways of motivating car drivers to turn off idle engines at a long wait stop where the majority leave their engines idling. One of three normative messages (descriptive norm, in‐group prescriptive deviance, outgroup prescriptive deviance) was displayed when barriers were down at a busy railway level‐crossing. Compared to the baseline, normative messages increased the proportion of drivers that turned off their engines. Consistent with subjective group dynamics theory, the most effective approach was to highlight instances of in‐group prescriptive deviance (47% stopped idling, compared with 28% in the baseline). Implications for health and environmental outcomes and future research are discussed.

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“…These findings suggest the potent impact of descriptive normative influences on some environmentally relevant behaviors, as well as how descriptive and injunctive norms can work together in changing and maintaining proenvironmental actions (see also [75]). More generally, these studies provide evidence supporting the pathway to proenvironmental action that focuses on social, and especially normative, influences.…”

Section: Social Factors Promoting Proenvironmental Actionmentioning

confidence: 86%

“…Empirical research documents the role of social influences in proenvironmental action including social status or reputation concerns [67], expectations of support from close others (i.e., subjective norms [68]), and perceptions of descriptive and injunctive norms supporting ERBs [69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77]. For example, in three experimental studies, the salience of social status motives or being concerned about social reputation significantly influenced people's desire to make more proenvironmental ("green") choices, such as buying a hybrid car, than those who did not receive the social status manipulation [67].…”

Section: Social Factors Promoting Proenvironmental Actionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Web 2.0 and Social Media Technologies to Foster Proenvironmental Action

2015

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Abstract:Research from a variety of disciplines suggests that online technologies (i.e., Web 2.0 and social media) have considerable potential for spurring proenvironmental action; however, relatively little work examines how to effectively capitalize on these communication and organization tools. This review paper describes the Technologies for Proenvironmental Action Model (TPAM), a conceptual framework that explicates how different functions of Web 2.0 and social media (i.e., informational, relational, and experiential) can generate and/or facilitate personal, social, and contextual pathways to environmentally responsible behaviors. As derived from the TPAM, the likelihood of achieving practical goals of increasing proenvironmental behaviors is enhanced when technological functions are matched to the different pathways to proenvironmental action. For example, the relational function of technologies, as exemplified by Social Networking Sites (SNSs), should be particularly effective in communicating social norms supportive of environmentally responsible behaviors. The TPAM is intended as a guide to develop novel approaches, research questions, and methodologies in leveraging Web 2.0 and social media technologies to promote proenvironmental action. Results will contribute to basic theory development and work in applied settings (e.g., local environmental organizations) in order to effectively communicate and organize with different segments of the population to increase sustainable behaviors. OPEN ACCESSSustainability 2015, 7 10621

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Personalized Normative Feedback and the Moderating Role of Personal Norms

Cited by 185 publications

References 62 publications

Overestimating One's “Green” Behavior: Better‐Than‐Average Bias May Function to Reduce Perceived Personal Threat from Climate Change

Overestimating One's “Green” Behavior: Better‐Than‐Average Bias May Function to Reduce Perceived Personal Threat from Climate Change

“We aren’t idlers”: Using subjective group dynamics to promote prosocial driver behavior at long‐wait stops

Using Web 2.0 and Social Media Technologies to Foster Proenvironmental Action

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