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Background: The prevalence of vaping among young people is a public health crisis. Social norms can contribute to the problem, but also to the solution. Objective: The current study examined young adults' responses to anti-vaping messages that varied on two features: social norms and behavioral framing. Methods: College students (N = 270) were randomly assigned to one of five conditions in a 2 (social norm: dynamic norm, static norm) X 2 (behavioral framing: vaping, not vaping) between-subjects factorial design with a no message control condition (n range = 49–58 in each condition). Results: Independent samples t-test, univariate analysis of variance, and structural equation modeling were used to test hypotheses and answer research questions. Results showed main effects of social norm, such that the dynamic (vs. static) norm message led to higher preconformity (p <.001) and self-efficacy (p =.012), and lower freedom threat (p =.040) and reactance (p <.001). There was also an indirect effect of dynamic norm on attitude as mediated by self-efficacy (p =.040). No main effect of behavioral framing was observed. Few interactions between social norm and behavioral framing were observed on preconformity (p <.001), anger (p <.001), and negative cognitions (p =.003). Conclusion: Overall, findings suggest a persuasive advantage for a dynamic norm relative to a static norm. Theoretically, these findings add to the literature suggesting the persuasiveness of dynamic norms. Practically, these results imply anti-vaping campaigns targeting young populations should communicate the changing (dynamic) norms in regard to (not) vaping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Imagine if more and more households in your community started separating waste, would this trend inspire you to do the same? Previous research on social norms has been predominantly static, focusing on individual behavior and neglecting the potential of leveraging group dynamics. To address this gap, we conducted two field studies using group feedback to activate dynamic norms. Using an A-B-A time-series design in two communities, we collected 21,555 observations of waste disposal behavior. During the intervention period, we publicly displayed the weekly changing participation rates of household kitchen waste separation within the community, a strategy referred to as dynamic normative feedback. Both communities experienced a significant increase in participation in waste separation. Furthermore, the feedback effect persisted for up to three months after the intervention was removed. Our findings demonstrate that group dynamic normative feedback could be an effective strategy for promoting long-term separation behavior and have implications for waste management.

This study investigates the influence of dynamic norms messages on behavioral intention via perceived future descriptive norms for two different pro-environmental behaviors and tests for the moderating role of group identity in the relationship between dynamic norms and behavior. The findings of an experiment show that perceived future descriptive norms mediate the effect of dynamic norms messages on behavioral intention. In addition, the pattern of dynamic norms message effects is dependent on group identity. When the reference group in a message is viewed as an in-group member and similar to oneself, dynamic norms messages are more influential than conventional low descriptive norms messages; on the other hand, when the reference group is perceived as an out-group and dissimilar to oneself, conventional low descriptive norms messages are more influential than dynamic norms messages. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An emerging line of research has been exploring how changes in social norms can lay the ground for shifts toward sustainability. This pre-registered study investigated the influence of communicating static and dynamic norms (2 Static x 2 Dynamic, between-subjects design) on respondents' beliefs, intentions, information-seeking behavior, and policy support regarding plant-based food. Here, static norms referred to a minority of consumers who believed that plant-based food has a crucial role in sustainability transitions. Dynamic norms referred to how the number of people endorsing this belief had been increasing. The findings (N = 492) revealed that communicating the dynamic aspect of the minority belief increased participants' endorsement of that same belief. Moreover, exposure to dynamic norms (alone or with static norms) had a small positive effect on policy support. These findings add to the growing body of knowledge on dynamic-norm communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While decreasing their meat consumption is one of the most impactful behaviours an individual may carry out to reduce their carbon emissions, it is still a minority behaviour in many parts of the world. Research suggests that communicating information about changing ‘dynamic’ norms may be a useful tool for changing attitudes and behaviours in the direction of those currently held by the minority. This study uses a 2 × 2 mixed design (norm type [dynamic/static] × visual cue [present/absent, and a no-task control), and a follow-up assessment after one week to investigate the effect of making dynamic norms salient on various meat consumption outcomes: attitudes towards meat consumption, interest in reducing one’s own meat consumption, intentions to reduce one’s own meat consumption and self-reported meat consumption. We used an online sample of British participants (N = 1294), ranging in age 18–77 (M age = 39.97, s.d.age = 13.71; 55.8% female). We hypothesized that: (i) dynamic norms will positively influence meat consumption outcomes; (ii) visual cues will accentuate the difference between norm conditions; (iii) using a visual cue will enhance the effect of dynamic norms; and (iv) any effects of dynamic norms will endure over a period of one week. We found no positive effect of dynamic norms (versus static norms) on any outcome at time 1, and no positive effect on changes in outcomes from time 1 to time 2. However, we found a positive interaction of norm type and visual cue at time 1 (although not from time 1 to time 2): the addition of a visual cue to dynamic norm messages enhanced the positive effect of the message at time 1 (but did not enhance the changes occurring from time 1 to time 2). Analyses for changes in self-reported meat consumption did not reach our evidential threshold. We discuss the practical and theoretical implications of these findings.

Excessive consumption poses a significant threat to the environment. Therefore, overall consumption reduction is necessary. The sufficiency strategy aims to achieve this reduction by enabling individual behavioral changes. In the context of mobile phone choices, one way to promote sufficiency is by encouraging consumers to refrain from purchasing new devices and instead prolong the lifespan of their existing ones. As companies play a major role in shaping products and market conditions that influence consumption, they have a responsibility to support consumers in adopting sufficiency-oriented mobile phone use. However, previous research on the effectiveness of sufficiency-promoting communication and the use of dynamic norms in behavior-change interventions has yielded mixed results. We conducted an online experiment with two specific objectives: First, we examined whether messages emphasizing a dynamic norm have positive impacts on individuals' intentions and behavioral choices regarding sufficiency-oriented mobile phone use. The results indicated no significant effects of a sufficiency-promoting message emphasizing a dynamic norm, compared to two other conditions. Nevertheless, regardless of the message people received, one third of the individuals in all groups chose a sufficiency-oriented voucher. Materialism was found to positively predict both the intention to buy a new mobile phone and sufficiency-oriented behavior, partially contradicting our hypothesis. This suggests that sufficiency-oriented consumption may also be motivated by aspirations for status, albeit in the context of sufficiency. In contrast, personal norms for sufficiency consistently predicted intentions or behaviors aligned with sufficiency, however, not always in the direction we hypothesized. Second, we investigated consumers' attributed motives for online media by comparing a search engine, as an unbiased source of information, with an online store driven by commercial interests. Our analysis revealed significant differences in consumers' perceptions, with altruistic motives attributed to the search engine and exploitative motives attributed to the online store. Our results contribute to the ongoing discussion about the requirements for effective communication strategies that promote sufficiency-oriented choices. We confirm the limited effectiveness of interventions based on dynamic norms in online settings. Nevertheless, our study offers valuables insights for designing future communication initiatives aimed at fostering sufficiency-oriented behaviors.

Objective: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. public was encouraged to practice good hand hygiene, such as hand washing or the use of hand sanitizer. Young adults reported lower levels of hand hygiene compared to adults of other ages. The aim of the current study was to test the effectiveness of different messages to promote hand sanitizer use among young adults. Method: Over a 6-week period, we examined whether 3 brief messages (gain-frame, static descriptive norms, dynamic descriptive norms), placed next to sanitizer dispensers in university residence halls, predicted dispenser use in comparison to dispensers with no sign. Amount of sanitizer usage was measured 3 times per week via the weight of dispenser units. We tracked and controlled for the number of positive COVID-19 cases in residence halls because we expected it might influence sanitizer usage. Results: Compared to no signage, dispensers with signs had 35% greater usage, with the static descriptive norms sign associated with greatest usage (46% compared to no sign), although differences did not reach conventional levels of significance. The strongest predictor of sanitizer use was a residence hall's degree of COVID-19 risk based on the hall's case positivity. Conclusions: Dispensers with signs had higher use than those without signs, but this difference was not statistically significant. We conclude that compared to prior research, "nudges" such as evidence-based messaging may have had less of an effect on health behavior engagement due to methodological differences across studies or characteristics of the COVID-19 context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields is a key challenge in many countries. Extant studies have explored why women opt out of STEM fields and how to encourage women to enter these fields. The current research examined the use of dynamic information about the collective change in a behavior over time to increase women's willingness and intention to embark on STEM fields. Across two experimental studies and a mini meta-analysis, we found that when exposed to a message about an increasing number of women choosing to pursue STEM careers over time, female students in high school (Study 1) and college (Study 2) were more likely to declare an intention to enter STEM fields and have more interest in STEM careers. Furthermore, we tested the mediating effects of self-efficacy and perceived identity compatibility (Study 2). The results showed that dynamic norms can increase women's self-efficacy for pursuing a career in STEM fields and perceived identity compatibility, thereby leading to greater interest in STEM fields and more willingness to choose a STEM career. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While decreasing their meat consumption is one of the most impactful behaviours an individual may carry out to reduce their carbon emissions, it is still a minority behaviour in many parts of the world. Research suggests that communicating information about changing 'dynamic' norms may be a useful tool for changing attitudes and behaviours in the direction of those currently held by the minority. This study uses a 2 × 2 mixed design (norm type [dynamic/static] × visual cue [present/absent, and a no-task control), and a follow-up assessment after one week to investigate the effect of making dynamic norms salient on various meat consumption outcomes: attitudes towards meat consumption, interest in reducing one's own meat consumption, intentions to reduce one's own meat consumption and self-reported meat consumption. We used an online sample of British participants ( N = 1294), ranging in age 18-77 ( M age = 13.71; 55.8% female). We hypothesized that: (i) dynamic norms will positively influence meat consumption outcomes; (ii) visual cues will accentuate the difference between norm conditions; (iii) using a visual cue will enhance the effect of dynamic norms; and (iv) any effects of dynamic norms will endure over a period of one week. We found no positive effect of dynamic norms (versus static norms) on any outcome at time 1, and no positive effect on changes in outcomes from time 1 to time 2. However, we found a positive interaction of norm type and visual cue at time 1 (although not from time 1 to time 2): the addition of a visual cue to dynamic norm messages enhanced the positive effect of the message at time 1 (but did not enhance the changes occurring from time 1 to time 2). Analyses for changes in self-reported meat consumption did not reach our evidential threshold. We discuss the practical and theoretical implications of these findings.age = 13.71; 55.8% female). We hypothesized that: (i) dynamic norms will positively influence meat consumption outcomes; (ii) visual cues will accentuate the difference between norm conditions; (iii) using a visual cue will enhance the effect of dynamic norms; and (iv) any effects of dynamic norms will endure over a period of one week. We found no positive effect of dynamic norms (versus static norms) on any outcome at time 1, and no positive effect on changes in outcomes from time 1 to time 2. However, we found a positive interaction of norm type and visual cue at time 1 (although not from time 1 to time 2): the addition of a visual cue to dynamic norm messages enhanced the positive effect of the message at time 1 (but did not enhance the changes occurring from time 1 to time 2). Analyses for changes in self-reported meat consumption did not reach our evidential threshold. We discuss the practical and theoretical implications of these findings., Competing Interests: We declare we have no competing interests, (© 2024 The Authors.)

Social norm perceptions are implicit standards describing what is typically done or seen as acceptable and have shown to be important both in sustaining meat consumption as well as facilitating meat reduction. Norm perceptions depend on individual differences and the contexts (e.g., supermarket, restaurant). Yet, evidence how norm perceptions differ within and across individuals is scarce. The primary aim of this study was to investigate how descriptive, injunctive, and personal norms perceptions favouring meat consumption differ across contexts and meat consumer groups. The second aim was to investigate how generic dynamic norm perceptions vary across meat consumer groups. British meat eaters (n = 1205, 25-65 years) participated in an online cross-sectional survey. Weekly meat, fish and meat substitute consumption was measured with the adapted Oxford Meat Frequency Questionnaire. All but dynamic norm perceptions were measured for the supermarket, restaurant and worksite cafeteria context. Dynamic norms were measured without a specified context. A two-step cluster analysis was conducted to identify meat consumer groups. Descriptive norm perceptions favouring meat consumption were strongest in supermarket and restaurant contexts, compared to the worksite cafeteria. Injunctive and personal norms favouring meat consumption were both perceived strongest in the supermarket, followed by the restaurant, and least in the worksite cafeteria context. Four meat consumer groups were identified and those with higher meat intake (i.e., Meat lovers and Exceeders) perceived norms favouring meat consumption stronger and norms favouring meat avoidance weaker than the groups with lower meat intake (i.e., Flexitarians and Moderates). While norm perceptions differed between meat consumer groups, the pattern of contextual differences is similar for these meat consumer groups. Our findings underscore the importance of considering contexts and meat consumer groups in efforts to reduce meat consumption., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Abstract Recent research has found that dynamic norms —information about collective change in behavior—can promote meaningful personal behavior change, even if that behavior is not currently the norm. Through what psychological processes do dynamic norms operate? We theorized that, when others change, it can lead observers to infer that whatever factors had loomed large as barriers to change do not, in fact, prevent change. If so, dynamic norms may alter diverse salient mechanisms of personal change, and encourage behavior change in diverse contexts. Investigating four domains—smokers' intention to quit, dietary choice, sleep-related behavior, and men's identification as feminist—Experiments 1–4 found that dynamic norms affected three well-established mechanisms of personal behavior change across contexts: the belief that personal change is possible (increased self-efficacy), the belief that change is important to others (injunctive norms), and the belief that change is compatible with one's social identity. In each case, change in the psychological process also statistically mediated change in personal interest and intentions to change. Experiment 5 tested our hypothesis that psychological barriers that loom large would be remedied most. Manipulating the salience of all three barriers within a single context, we found that dynamic norms had a larger impact on salient than less salient barriers. The results suggest that dynamic norms can help resolve diverse psychological barriers to encourage personal change, especially salient barriers. They may thus be a particularly robust source of social influence across contexts. Highlights • Dynamic norms can encourage change through a variety of psychological processes. • Dynamic norms can increase self-efficacy. • Dynamic norms can increase perceptions of prescriptive norms. • Dynamic norms can increase perceived identity compatibility in the adoption of new identities and behavior. • Dynamic norms encouraged positive change in a variety of health and social problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to achieve two goals: to show that probability is not the only way of dealing with uncertainty (and even more, that there are kinds of uncertainty which are for principled reasons not addressable with probabilistic means); and to provide evidence that logic-based methods can well support reasoning with uncertainty. For the latter claim, two paradigmatic examples are presented: logic programming with Kleene semantics for modelling reasoning from information in a discourse, to an interpretation of the state of affairs of the intended model, and a neural-symbolic implementation of input/output logic for dealing with uncertainty in dynamic normative contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current research investigated two rarely used appeals for increasing organ donor registration–both with the potential to backfire. The three-in-1000 appeal explains that less than one percent of people will die in such a way that their organs can be donated. This appeal could heighten awareness that donor registration is needed, but it can also convey that registering is futile. The dynamic norms appeal emphasizes the increasing number of people who are becoming registered donors. This appeal could increase the perceived normative nature of registration, but doing so can also lead potential donors to conclude that enough people are already registered. In Studies 1 and 2, participants recruited from Amazon's Mechanical Turk were randomly assigned to either one of these appeals, and their attitudes toward donor registration and intentions to register as a donor were compared to participants in a no-message control group. Study 2 included a qualitative component where participants were asked to describe their perceptions as to why the message was or was not influential. In both experiments, intentions to register were higher for those in both messaging conditions compared to the control group. Positive attitudes toward organ donation were higher in the three-in-1000 condition compared to the control group for both studies. Those in the dynamic norms condition reported more positive attitudes than the control group in Study 1, but not Study 2. In both studies, there was scant evidence of the messages backfiring. In the qualitative component of Study 2, self-reported reasons for the influence of each method provided insight into how and why these appeals were influential, and indicated signs of underdetection for the dynamic norms message. • Two rarely used appeals for increasing organ donor registrations were investigated. • Messages stating how few people can successfully donate organs increased intentions. • Messages focused on the increasing number of donor registrants increased intentions. • Both approaches have the potential to increase registrations and thus save lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although communicating so-called 'dynamic norms' may promote sustainable consumption behavior, the present study challenges the assumption that their impact is inevitably positive. On the contrary, it seeks to expand current research by establishing when and why sources with vested motives may result in a backfiring effect of dynamic norms. Our experiment (N= 352) investigates consumers' intentions to reduce their meat consumption after reading norm messages from different sources (i.e., a researcher, vegan activist, company representative). In line with the predictions, dynamic norm messages from a researcher led to more sustainable consumption choices than identical messages communicated by a vegan activist or company representative while controlling for gender. Concerning the underlying theoretical mechanisms, a perceived moral superiority and ensuing psychological reactance sequentially explained the backfiring effect for the vegan activist. The backfiring effect for the company representative was mediated by a perceived pro-self-motivation that again resulted in elevated consumer reactance. Overall, the present findings establish the crucial importance of a nudge's source that either fosters or undermines the effectiveness of a dynamic norm message in eliciting sustainable behavior. The results not only contribute to the academic debate on nudging, but can also inform practitioners to choose the most powerful sender (e.g. academics) when designing sustainable norm interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dynamic norms have recently emerged as a powerful method to encourage individuals to adopt an innovation by highlighting a growing trend in its uptake. However, there have been no concrete attempts to understand how this individual-level mechanism might shape the collective population behavior. Here, we develop a framework to examine this by encapsulating dynamic norms within a game-theoretic mathematical model for innovation diffusion. Specifically, we extend a network coordination game by incorporating a probabilistic mechanism where an individual adopts the action with growing popularity, instead of the standard best-response update rule; the probability of such an event captures the population's "sensitivity" to dynamic norms. Theoretical analysis reveals that sensitivity to dynamic norms is key to facilitating social diffusion. Small increases in sensitivity reduces the advantage of the innovation over status quo or the number of initial innovators required to unlock diffusion, while a sufficiently large sensitivity alone guarantees diffusion., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of National Academy of Sciences.)

Perceptions of social norms around eating behavior can influence food choices. Communicating information about how others are changing their eating behavior over time (dynamic descriptive social norms) may motivate individuals to change their own food selection and consumption. Following a four-week baseline period, 22 in-store restaurants of a major retail chain across the UK were randomized to display a dynamic descriptive social norm message intended to motivate a shift from meat-to plant-based meals either during the first two, or last two weeks of the four-week study period. A linear regression model showed there was no evidence of an effect of the intervention (β = -0.022, p = .978, 95% CIs: -1.63, 1.58) on the percentage sales of meat- vs plant-based dishes. Fidelity checks indicated that adherence to the intervention procedure was often low, with inconsistencies in the placement and display of the intervention message. In four stores with high fidelity the estimated impact of the intervention was not materially different. The lack of apparent effectiveness of the intervention may reflect poor efficacy of the intervention or limitations in its implementation in a complex food purchasing environment. The challenges highlighted by this study should be considered in future design and evaluation of field trials in real-world settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social norm interventions are a cheap and convenient strategy to promote proenvironmental behavior change. However, the effectiveness of using them has been debated. The present study argues that the effectiveness depends on one's own internal moral compass, as presented by personal norms. We examined this main assumption across 3 studies focusing on pro-environmental behavior in a food and diets context. Study 1 shows in a cross-sectional design that people with stronger personal norms are more likely to reduce their meat consumption regardless of their perceptions of the static or dynamic social norms towards meat consumption. Furthermore, quasi-experimental findings show that dynamic (Study 2) and static (Study 3) social normative messages are more effective the weaker one's personal norms towards the pro-environmental behavior. Therefore, when evaluating the effectiveness of social norm interventions people's personal norms should be taken into consideration. • The effectiveness of normative messages in changing pro-environmental behavior depends on personal norms. • Stronger personal norms result in more pro-environmental behavior related to food and diet choices regardless of social norms. • Social normative messages are more effective the weaker one's personal norms towards the pro-environmental behavior. • These findings are consistent regardless of whether normative messages are framed statically or dynamically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How can we curb the current norm of unsustainable levels of meat consumption? Research on dynamic norms finds that learning that others are starting to eat less meat can inspire people to follow suit. Across four field experiments, we test efforts to scale dynamic-norm messages by incorporating them into restaurant and web-based menus. Studies 1–3 find increases in vegetarian orders when dynamic norms are included in menus (1–2.5 percentage points), although this effect does not always reach statistical significance and varies across populations and analytic models. In Study 4, dynamic norms significantly reduced vegetarian orders. These results raise two critical questions. First, where and with whom should a dynamic norm message reduce meat consumption? Our field data and past theory point to non-high socioeconomic contexts, and contexts where the reference group of people who have changed is meaningful to consumers. Second, how can the treatment be strengthened? Over five online experiments, we find that the visibility of the messages can be greatly improved, and more relatable norm referents can be selected. Although impacts on food orders appear modest, the minimal costs of scaling menu-based dynamic norm messages and the possibility of improving effect sizes make this a promising approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]