Van de Vyver & John, 2017: Encouraging to nominate a local building as a community asset with social norms had no effect on the likelihood of Parish councils who reviewed more information or who nominated a building over three weeks to four months
Reference:
Van de Vyver, J., & John, P. (2017). A field experiment: Testing the potential of norms for achieving behavior change in English parishes. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 47(6), 347-352.
Download PDFSummary:
Parish councils in England were sent (1) no email, (2) an email urging them to nominate a local building or land as “an asset of community value” (“Protect a community asset—it is quick and easy”), or (3) a similar email but one that also referenced a social norm (“Parishes and local groups all over the country are nominating community assets. Over 1,000 assets have already been listed.”). There was no difference by condition in the percentage of recipients who click on the link for more information within 3 weeks of sending or the number of community assets listed within 4 months of the email.
Psychological Process:
Need
Need to BelongWhat Desired Meaning is At Stake?
What is the Person Trying to Understand?
To Feel Connected, Included, Respected, and Valued by OthersApproach to Desired Meaning
What about it?
Link Belonging to a Behavior or Attitude to Motivate Positive ChangeHow?
Psychological Question Addressed
What is typical or valued in my social community?What is typical or valued in my social community?Changing beliefs about social norms to motivate positive behaviorsPsychological Question Addressed
What is typical or valued in my social community?Psychological Process 2:
Psychological Process 3:
Social Area:
Civic behavior
Intervention Technique:
Direct labeling, of social norms