WEEK 5 – Nudge: Influencing Behaviours
Lecture 9 – Norms
Main determinants of social influence:
Compliance: response to a direct request.
Obedience: response to authority.
Conformity: response to social norms.
o How can we change people’s behaviour from real/perceived pressure from
people around them?
Social norms:
Norms are the emergent, consensual standards that regulate group members’
behaviour. Definition by Sherif
You often act like others in the same situation. If most people behave similarly, you
consider this as social proof. ‘this is apparently the way I should act.’
o Emergent: develop gradually during the course of interaction among members.
o Consensual: norms are shared rules of action, they are social standards that are
accepted by a substantial proportion of the group.
Behaviour is in concordance with or deviant from norms in the social context.
o Shared ideas and expectations
o Are flexible and change with the context
You act differently when you are with your mother than when with
friends.
o May be explicit or implicit
How do norms develop?
Through deliberation: we commonly decide on the rules. they are emergent.
Gradually: spontaneously more members start behaving in same way/hold same
opinion.
Importance of norms:
Give structure: direct and organize groups. ‘All noses pointed in same direction.’
Otherwise, you will have to keep discussing how to approach certain things.
Social interactions become predictable and meaningful. We do not have to interpret
and make decisions ourselves all the time.
Social approval: people sometimes feel the pressure to go along with the norm of
certain groups.
o Consequences if not followed up: exclusion from the group.
Example: drinking as a teenager. If you would not drink, you would be
excluded from the group social exclusion.
Descriptive norm: what is done look at other’s behaviour.
Norms that are expressed in a particular situation.
Guide behaviour indirectly via intentions but also directly.
Especially effective in uncertain situations.
Influence via both informational and normative route.
Injunctive norm: what ought to be done moral rules of the group.
The norms we grow up with, are socialized.
, Can cause reactance.
Guide behaviour indirectly by influencing our intentions.
Norms are not always clearly discernible:
People have only limited number of observations to draw upon.
When behaviours are not displayed.
False consensus: overestimation of the likeability of one’s own attitudes and behaviour.
Descriptive vs injunctive norm:
Experiment Cialdini, sign read:
o Descriptive: ‘Many past visitors have removed petrified wood from the park,
changing the natural state of the forest.’
More powerful
o Injunctive: ‘Please do not remove petrified wood from the park, in order to
preserve the natural state of the forest.’
Experiment for reduction of towel usage in hotels:
o Control: ‘Help save the environment. You can show your respect for nature
and help save environment by reusing your towels during your stay.’
o Descriptive: ‘Join your fellow guests in helping to save the environment.
Almost 75% of guests who are asked to participate in our new resource saving
program do help by using their towels more than once.
Proved to be powerful
People underestimate the power of descriptive norms:
Conscious or unconscious influence of norms?
Descriptive norm = a heuristic social proof
Study on energy-saving (Nolan et al., 2008). Two aims:
Influence of descriptive norms as compared to other
predictors, such as attitudes.
What kind of information motivates people themselves to
save energy?
People that received the descriptive norm type information used much less energy.
Article: A Room with a Viewpoint: Using Social Norms to Motivate Environmental
Conservation in Hotels – N.J. Goldstein, R.B. Cialdini, and V. Griskevicius
Considerable economic, societal, and environmental benefits for hotels if the guests reuse
their hotel towels during their stay. How this is currently done: card in the hotel room stating
that reusing the towels helps save the environment.
When consumers learn that ‘7 out of 10 people do something’ or ‘nearly everyone picks this
one’ they are getting information about social norms, specifically about descriptive norms,
which refer to how most people behave in a certain situation. The behaviour of others in the
social environment shapes individuals’ interpretations of and responses to situations,
especially when the situations are novel, ambiguous, or uncertain.
There is a complete absence of a descriptive normative approach in research done to hotel
conservation programs. This research investigates whether using an appeal that conveys
Lecture 9 – Norms
Main determinants of social influence:
Compliance: response to a direct request.
Obedience: response to authority.
Conformity: response to social norms.
o How can we change people’s behaviour from real/perceived pressure from
people around them?
Social norms:
Norms are the emergent, consensual standards that regulate group members’
behaviour. Definition by Sherif
You often act like others in the same situation. If most people behave similarly, you
consider this as social proof. ‘this is apparently the way I should act.’
o Emergent: develop gradually during the course of interaction among members.
o Consensual: norms are shared rules of action, they are social standards that are
accepted by a substantial proportion of the group.
Behaviour is in concordance with or deviant from norms in the social context.
o Shared ideas and expectations
o Are flexible and change with the context
You act differently when you are with your mother than when with
friends.
o May be explicit or implicit
How do norms develop?
Through deliberation: we commonly decide on the rules. they are emergent.
Gradually: spontaneously more members start behaving in same way/hold same
opinion.
Importance of norms:
Give structure: direct and organize groups. ‘All noses pointed in same direction.’
Otherwise, you will have to keep discussing how to approach certain things.
Social interactions become predictable and meaningful. We do not have to interpret
and make decisions ourselves all the time.
Social approval: people sometimes feel the pressure to go along with the norm of
certain groups.
o Consequences if not followed up: exclusion from the group.
Example: drinking as a teenager. If you would not drink, you would be
excluded from the group social exclusion.
Descriptive norm: what is done look at other’s behaviour.
Norms that are expressed in a particular situation.
Guide behaviour indirectly via intentions but also directly.
Especially effective in uncertain situations.
Influence via both informational and normative route.
Injunctive norm: what ought to be done moral rules of the group.
The norms we grow up with, are socialized.
, Can cause reactance.
Guide behaviour indirectly by influencing our intentions.
Norms are not always clearly discernible:
People have only limited number of observations to draw upon.
When behaviours are not displayed.
False consensus: overestimation of the likeability of one’s own attitudes and behaviour.
Descriptive vs injunctive norm:
Experiment Cialdini, sign read:
o Descriptive: ‘Many past visitors have removed petrified wood from the park,
changing the natural state of the forest.’
More powerful
o Injunctive: ‘Please do not remove petrified wood from the park, in order to
preserve the natural state of the forest.’
Experiment for reduction of towel usage in hotels:
o Control: ‘Help save the environment. You can show your respect for nature
and help save environment by reusing your towels during your stay.’
o Descriptive: ‘Join your fellow guests in helping to save the environment.
Almost 75% of guests who are asked to participate in our new resource saving
program do help by using their towels more than once.
Proved to be powerful
People underestimate the power of descriptive norms:
Conscious or unconscious influence of norms?
Descriptive norm = a heuristic social proof
Study on energy-saving (Nolan et al., 2008). Two aims:
Influence of descriptive norms as compared to other
predictors, such as attitudes.
What kind of information motivates people themselves to
save energy?
People that received the descriptive norm type information used much less energy.
Article: A Room with a Viewpoint: Using Social Norms to Motivate Environmental
Conservation in Hotels – N.J. Goldstein, R.B. Cialdini, and V. Griskevicius
Considerable economic, societal, and environmental benefits for hotels if the guests reuse
their hotel towels during their stay. How this is currently done: card in the hotel room stating
that reusing the towels helps save the environment.
When consumers learn that ‘7 out of 10 people do something’ or ‘nearly everyone picks this
one’ they are getting information about social norms, specifically about descriptive norms,
which refer to how most people behave in a certain situation. The behaviour of others in the
social environment shapes individuals’ interpretations of and responses to situations,
especially when the situations are novel, ambiguous, or uncertain.
There is a complete absence of a descriptive normative approach in research done to hotel
conservation programs. This research investigates whether using an appeal that conveys
