Social Norms marketing sucessful or not in changing behaviour

In our society we have a number of society norms that we abide by. For example, there is an unwritten rule of how one should behave in an elevator. For example, it is proper to face front, stand away from strangers, and not to look at others. When a social norm is broken people may respond with alarm, humor, fear, irritation, or an array of other emotions. When you think of a norm, you are probably thinking about being normal. But in psychology terms, norm means, a standard or representative value for a group. The norm that is more common to people is a social norm. Meaning expectations about what behavior, thoughts, or feelings are appropriate within a given group within a given context.

My mother has always told me that certain things should not be done in public. Social norms are opinions and beliefs that are shared amongst a group. Throughout our lives our parents tell us things that aren’t socially acceptable, and that there are consequences for those actions. Those that don’t act in ways that are socially acceptable are isolated from society. Norms help to guide the general public by reinforcing it with a punishment in waiting.

Two groups, one group for academic setting and one for the relaxed setting of 10 university students will be used in this 2 by 2 design. The students will be offered a credit within one of their third year marketing courses, while ensuring they are legal drinking age to participate within this study. There will be two sets of this type of study, one for a negative drinking and driving advertisement and another for a positive drinking and driving advertisement (see appendices 1 and 2). The four different groups will be taken to the setting, where a negative or positive advertisement will be shown. Then, the students will be asked to causally consume 1 to 2 alcoholic beverages with the advertisements still in sight within the setting. The students will then be asked a few questions regarding if they decide to drink and proceed to drive home or find a safer alternative to make it home.

In our society we have a number of norms that we abide by. For example, there is an unwritten rule of how one should behave in an elevator. It is “proper” to face front, stand away from strangers, and not to look at others. When a social norm is broken people may respond with alarm, humour, fear, irritation, or an array of other emotions. When you think of a norm, you are probably thinking about simply being normal. But in psychology terms, norm means a standard or representative value for a group. A social norm is some sort of an expectation that our society has that is deemed normal by that society; they tell us which behaviors, thoughts, or feelings are appropriate within a given

“Social norms are rules and standards that are understood by members of a group, and that guide and/or constrain human behavior without the force of laws” (Steg, 2013, p. 154). Social norms have two areas or types they fall into. Injunctive norms are considered behavior that is approved or disapproved and descriptive norms are described as behavior shown by the members of a group. Individuals follow social norms for the rewards involved and the individual wants to avoid rejection and ridicule from societal members. “Social norms can exert a powerful influence on pro-environmental behavior through normative and informational influence” (Steg, 2013, p. 162). Behavior is influenced through normative and informational influences, also moderator variables that may decrease or increase the strength of the influence. Moderator variables contain the size of the group in question, the salience of the norm, if the group is considered an in-group, and the individual personal norms. “A wide variety of research shows that the behavior of others in the social environment shape individuals’ interpretations of, and responses to, the situation, especially in novel, ambiguous, or uncertain

357). This intervention aims to reduce both frequency and amount of alcohol consumed regularly by college students. The study focuses primarily on… “Specific subgroups of university populations such as mandated undergraduates, fraternity and sorority members, and incoming freshman” (Amaro, 2010, p. 357). The intervention consisted of two sessions ranging from 45 minutes to 60 minutes in length and “the student was given alcohol self-monitoring cards to complete with the study nurse between the first and second sessions” (Amaro, 2010, p. 358). On the second session students received a personalized feedback packet that contained different data such as their readiness to change, their alcohol consumption, and other things like their belief about alcohol consumption (Amaro, 2010, p. 358). In order to ensure proper intervention procedures nurses were sat in on by other nurses to ensure proper protocol (Amaro, 2010, p. 358). After completing this intervention students were asked to have one follow-up 6 months later and … “there was a significant decrease in participants’ reports of past 6-month alcohol use…” (Amaro, 2010, p. 358).

For instance, another study set out to investigate binge drinking at a single event, where students are encouraged to consume predetermined amounts of alcohol, such as the fourth year fifth challenge. The fourth year fifth is a challenge to fourth year college students, to consume a fifth of alcohol for the last football game. The research consisted of three focus groups with fourth year college students. Out of the 1,205 respondents, a total of 217 students reported they succeeded, or attempted, the fourth year fifth challenge. The respondents stated they participated in the challenge because it was a challenge, sense of accomplishment, wanting to participate in a tradition, and social ability (Foster, Bass, & Bruce, 2011). Much like the other research relating to socializing, this study only focuses on college students, so the external validity is low. In order to gain richer insight into social norms for an entire population, other research should be conducted with an improved representative

Social norms can dictate and justify how people behave. In order to justify their actions, some people

In the United States, binge drinking among college students continues to be a prevalent health issue due to the potential negative consequences that can impact their safety and wellbeing. While there are a number of factors that may potentially influence a college students’ decision to use alcohol, research suggests that social norms conveyed on social networking sites such as Facebook can have a strong influence drinking behavior. This paper will give an overview of the current literature surrounding this issue and propose a qualitative research project that will help expand our knowledge of perceived drinking norms and the use of online social networking sites. The purpose of this study is to explore college students’ perceptions of displayed references to alcohol use on Facebook and what presentations would cause them to worry for a friend’s health and safety. This information may potentially be valuable in the development of effective evidence-based intervention programs aimed at decreasing binge drinking among college students.

With different events and perspectives being introduced all around the world, norms are always changing. Norms are accepted, but this world isn’t perfect so norms are also rejected meaning this is where judgement, stereotypes, and the way people react are brought upon. Norms are categorized into four different

Creating a world-wide campaign that follows a similar ideals to that of the alcoholthinkagain campaign that has been implemented in Australia,

The social norms and the in-group dynamic seem to go great together, since both seem to push peoples behaviors into what is acceptable. For example, in Cialdin the injunctive norm was manipulated in Study 4 with unwept and sweep litter and allows us to see how the importance of social approval. It is important to understand the in-group dynamic since it may be instill in our genes to seek social acceptance, since it help us see the behaviors of people. Hence, I believe that messages cannot encompass every one, but rather they should be localized, since every community varies on what is acceptable behavior. Now if we take what we know of the approval of disapproval of behaviors and add into the mix Schultz & Zelenzy (2003) reframing that

answers to the dynamic relationship between motives for norm conformity and the situational context in which those norms occur.

Barnett(2011) defined norms as being principles of the accepted behavior for actors with given identity. Rules and norms are embedded in the society which people live in and comprises of things that one totally know. Moreover, norms tend to have a greater power in constaining behavior. With regards to the general public of a society, rules and norms would have an impact in shaping state behavior. It seems clear that norms are

Human behaviour is the response to given stimuli, which are socially and environmentally affected. This response is something that can easily be influenced and shaped through many personal, situational, social, biological, mental factors. In this essay the case of social norms influencing human behaviour will be analyzed using previous studies. Social norms are part of a larger influential scale generally named as social influence. Social influence is the exercise of power that an individual or a group can use on other individuals or society in order to alter their attitudes, behaviours and lead them to a desired