Going with the flow

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to examine motorcycle driving norms and their implications for social marketing practice. It investigates whether misperceptions of descriptive norms related to motorcycle speeding behaviour are prevalent among young motorcyclists, and whether there is an association between these misperceptions with their speeding behaviour. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional survey of 541 young motorcyclists was carried out as the second phase of a larger project, which examined the role of social norms related to road safety attitudes and behaviours. Findings The results showed misperceptions of perceived speeding norms among both male and female young motorcyclists. There was an association between normative misperceptions and speeding behaviour, and between speeding behaviour and approval to speeding behaviour by young motorcyclists. In addition, peer presence was found to moderate the relationship between misperceptions of speeding norms and speeding behaviour. Originality/value The study contributes to addressing the call for study of social norms marketing and health risks in non-Western contexts. Further, the results provide support for social marketers to consider the use of social norms approach in designing social marketing campaigns to promote safe motorcycle driving behaviours.