King's University College at Western University, 266 Epworth Avenue, London, Ontario N6A 2M3, Canada.
York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3, Canada.
Accid Anal Prev. 2016 Jul;92:184-8. doi: 10.1016/j.aap.2016.03.006. Epub 2016 Apr 13.
Campaigns advocating behavioural changes often employ social norms as a motivating technique, favouring injunctive norms (what is typically approved or disapproved) over descriptive norms (what is typically done). Here, we investigate an upside to including descriptive norms in health and safety appeals. Because descriptive norms are easy to process and understand, they should provide a heuristic to guide behaviour in those individuals who lack the interest or motivation to reflect on the advocated behaviour more deeply. When those descriptive norms are positive - suggesting that what is done is consistent with what ought to be done - including them in campaigns should be particularly beneficial at influencing this low-involvement segment. We test this proposition via research examining booster seat use amongst parents with children of booster seat age, and find that incorporating positive descriptive norms into a related campaign is particularly impactful for parents who report low involvement in the topic of booster seat safety. Descriptive norms are easy to state and easy to understand, and our research suggests that these norms resonate with low involvement individuals. As a result, we recommend incorporating descriptive norms when possible into health and safety campaigns.
倡导行为改变的活动通常将社会规范作为一种激励手段，偏爱规范性规范（通常被认可或不被认可的）而不是描述性规范（通常做什么）。在这里，我们研究了在健康和安全呼吁中包含描述性规范的好处。由于描述性规范易于处理和理解，它们应该为那些缺乏兴趣或动机深入思考所倡导行为的人提供一种启发式的指导行为的方法。当这些描述性规范是积极的——表明所做的与应该做的一致时——在活动中包含这些规范对于影响这个低参与度的群体尤其有益。我们通过研究检验了这一观点，该研究考察了有儿童需要使用增高座椅的父母使用增高座椅的情况，发现将积极的描述性规范纳入相关活动对于那些报告对增高座椅安全话题参与度低的父母尤其有影响力。描述性规范易于陈述和理解，我们的研究表明这些规范与低参与度的个体产生共鸣。因此，我们建议在可能的情况下将描述性规范纳入健康和安全活动中。
