Using Social Norms to Change Behavior and Increase Sustainability in the Real World: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Yamin Yamin,Fei Fei,Levy Levy,Lahlou Lahlou

doi:10.3390/su11205847

Abstract

Behavioral change interventions based on social norms have proven to be a popular and cost-effective way in which both researchers and practitioners attempt to transform behavior in order to increase environmental and social sustainability in real-world contexts. In this paper, we present a systematic review of over 90 empirical studies that have applied behavioral change interventions based on social norms in field settings. Building on previous research about the sources of information that people use to understand social norms and other local determinants of behavior, we propose a framework organized along two axes that describe intervention context (situated interventions applied in the same context where the target behavior happens versus remote interventions that are applied away from that context) and type of normative information leveraged (interventions that provide summary information about a group versus interventions that expose participants to the opinions and behaviors of others). We also illustrate successful applications for each dimension, as well as the social, psychological and physical determinants of behavior that were leveraged to support change. Finally, based on our results, we discuss some of the elements and practical mechanisms that can be used by both researchers and practitioners to design more integral, effective and sustainable social norm intervention in the real world.

Highlights

Administrators, policymakers and practitioners are increasingly aware of how transforming individual and collective trends of behavior is essential to achieve their goals [1,2,3]
A systematic exploration of how these and other intervention mechanisms have been applied in the empirical literature was still lacking and could greatly inform the design and research of social norm interventions to increase sustainability in real-world contexts. We present such a review from a wide sample of over 90 empirical studies that have applied behavioral change interventions based on social norms in field settings
The two dimensions described above are not applied independently, but are rather combined in very different ways in order to achieve their desired effects. Some studies used both remote and situated interventions, and others used both group summary information and exposure to behaviors and opinions. By representing these dimensions in a simple Cartesian system presented in Figure 3, we propose an analytic framework that can help understand and characterize how normative information is transmitted in behavioral change interventions based on social norms

Summary

Introduction

Administrators, policymakers and practitioners are increasingly aware of how transforming individual and collective trends of behavior is essential to achieve their goals [1,2,3]. Influencing social norms, or the rules that describe what a certain reference group considers to be typical or desirable behavior in certain contexts and situations [9], is a popular way in which researchers and practitioners attempt to transform behavior in real-world contexts [3,8,10,11,12,13]. These initiatives have often focused on behavioral changes that increase the environmental and social sustainability of their target contexts. Successful examples include both challenges directly related to environmental issues such as energy and water consumption [14,15], sustainable transport use [16,17], recycling [18,19] and food choices [20,21,22], as well as broader social sustainability issues such as alcohol consumption [23], hygiene [24,25], and harassment and violence [6,26]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion