Stepping Back from Social Norms Campaigns: Comparing Normative Influences to Other Predictors of Health Behaviors

Abstract

Recent health campaigns on college campuses have used a social norms approach, which suggests that one's perceptions of others' attitudes and behaviors are the key components in attitude and behavior change. However, the efficacy of social norms campaigns has been mixed. This study was conducted to assess the relationships among sociodemographics, normative perceptions, and individual attitudes on 3 health behaviors. Students at 2 universities (N = 393) completed questionnaires assessing how these variables related to their consumption of alcohol, tobacco use, and exercise behaviors. Regressions indicated that each of these variables was associated with behavior, but varied independent variables emerged as the salient predictors among behaviors. In several conditions the effect of normative perceptions on behaviors was not significant, a finding in direct opposition to social norms marketing. In all 3 behavioral conditions, the variable accounting for the greatest variance was whether or not the individual liked participating in that particular behavior. Thus, although some social norms marketing may be meeting with success, it may be the case that predicted attitudinal and behavioral changes will not be found when applied across diverse health topics.

The potential of peer social norms to shape food intake in adolescents and young adults: a systematic review of effects and moderators

“…Several important moderators or potential moderators were identified that should be taken into account when considering the influence of peer social norms on young people's food intake. This is in line with previous findings that the effects of social norm interventions on health behaviour are far from consistent (Cameron & Campo, 2006). It is likely that this seeming inconsistency across studies reflects the role of moderators of the relation between social norm messages and health behaviour that are not yet well understood.…”

“…Together, these previous syntheses provide clear indications that social norms play a role in food intake (Robinson, Blisset, et al, 2013;Robinson, Thomas, et al, 2014) and provide an account of the (evolutionary) mechanisms explaining why human beings follow social norms related to eating (Higgs, 2015). However, the potential for social norms to improve health behaviour, including food intake, is by no means ubiquitous, with various studies also showing null effects or even negative results (for an overview, see Cameron & Campo, 2006). Due to potential publication bias, it is possible that additional unpublished studies exist that also showed no relation between social norms and food intake.…”

Alcohol consumption among college students: An agent‐based computational simulation

“…Other studies found that the average number of drinking days per month ranged from 4.34 to 10 [19][20][21]. These statistics compare very well with the average drinking rates from our simulations (see Figures 3-7).…”

“…Larimer and Cronce compiled data from many studies used to measure the effectiveness of prevention programs and found that many programs do not provide significant benefit [28]. Additionally, Cameron and Campo found that the like or dislike of drinking was the most influential factor in determining a person's attitude [21]. One possible extension of the program is to add variables that track weekly comparisons of abstinence rates and monitor the effects of varying the degree of attitude adjustments resulting from friends' experiences.…”

Heavy Episodic Drinking and Alcohol Consumption in French Colleges: The Role of Perceived Social Norms

“…Factors other than perceived norms identified for alcohol use among higher education students include gender, alcohol expectancies and drinking motives, perceived harm, other substance use and academic discipline (Borsari et al, 2007;Cameron and Campo, 2006;Kuntsche et al, 2004;Sher and Rutledge, 2007;Webb et al, 1997).…”