Normative Social Influence is Underdetected
University of Arkansas at Fayetteville · California State University, San Marcos · +4 more institutions
Abstract
The present research investigated the persuasive impact and detectability of normative social influence. The first study surveyed 810 Californians about energy conservation and found that descriptive normative beliefs were more predictive of behavior than were other relevant beliefs, even though respondents rated such norms as least important in their conservation decisions. Study 2, a field experiment, showed that normative social influence produced the greatest change in behavior compared to information highlighting other reasons to conserve, even though respondents rated the normative information as least motivating. Results show that normative messages can be a powerful lever of persuasion but that their…
Citation impact
- FWCI
- 169.96
- Percentile
- 100%
- References
- 59
Authors
5- JMJessica M. NolanCorresponding
University of Arkansas at Fayetteville
- PWP. Wesley Schultz
California State University, San Marcos
- RBRobert B. Cialdini
Arizona State University
- NJNoah J. Goldstein
University of Chicago
- VGVladas Griskevicius
University of St. Thomas - Minnesota, University of Minnesota System
Topics & keywords
- Normative
- Persuasion
- Normative social influence
- Psychology
- Social psychology
- Social norms approach
- Social influence
- Political science
- Life in Land