The social norms marketing approach has been used in a variety of contexts to alter problematic behaviors that are believed to occur at least in part as a consequence of misperceived norms. Behavior change occurs by correcting the misperception that leads some individuals to engage in non-normal behavior because they believe it to be normal. [...]
The social norms approach (SNA) to changing problematic behaviors has been in use for roughly 30 years. SNA has been applied to a variety of unhealthy behaviors (e.g., seatbelt nonuse, smoking, drinking, marijuana use, bullying, sexual assault, etc.) with diverse populations ranging from elementary school pupils to adults, administered as interventions at the personal, group, [...]
Check out NSNC in the news about our efforts to reduce high-risk drinking among students! Study: MSU campaign helped reduce high-risk drinking among students How MSU helped reduce high-risk drinking among students Myth-busting ads cut high-risk college student drinking How MSU helped reduce high-risk drinking among students
No one likes being told what to do. College students, especially, finding their independence for the first time, are not a fan of hearing what they should be doing. After all, everyone has the right to make a choice for themselves. So, it gets tricky when the choices we see students making turn out to [...]
A recent article in WSJ (yes, WSJ not an SSJ) includes using electronic media to share noms about drinking as a technique to reduce student drinking. Click here to read the article.
Who does well in groups where unhealthy behaviors are the norm? One frequent concern about the social norms approach is, “what if the majority of a population engages in the unhealthy behavior?” In social norms marketing, we believe that there’s always a positive norm that can be highlighted: for example, even if the majority of [...]
Do you want to learn more about the population you work with? Many college health professionals want to better understand the attitudes and behaviors of the students they work with, so they can design effective interventions and social marketing campaigns. There are a huge number of existing questionnaires that are designed to measure all kinds [...]
We were recently challenged to address a seemingly simple question. However, as with most questions worth asking, the seeming simplicity is deceptive. Here's the question and how we addressed it. Is “positive” advertising better than “negative” advertising? To answer this question, we have to consider a number of variables, including domain, audience, focus and purpose. Domain: [...]
Cronce and Larimer, from the University of Washington, offer a review of the efficacy of individually-focused interventions to prevent risky drinking and associated negative consequences among college students. Title Individual-focused approaches to the prevention of college student drinking Abstract Alcohol consumption is prevalent among college students and can become problematic for some. Numerous randomized controlled trials have evaluated the efficacy [...]
Using a general population sample from New York City, these researchers estimated the separate and combined effects of alcohol outlet density and perceived social norms on alcohol use disorder, controlling for confounding factors. Title The roles of outlet density and norms in alcohol use disorder Abstract Background. Alcohol outlet density and norms shape alcohol consumption. [...]
