Normative Social Influence is Underdetected
Jessica Nolan and colleagues examine how persuasive normative social influence is and how readily people detect it. In a survey of Californians about energy conservation, beliefs about what others do predicted behaviour better than other relevant beliefs, even though respondents rated those norms as the least important factor in their decisions. In a field experiment, the normative message produced the largest change in behaviour compared with messages stressing other reasons to conserve, even though respondents rated it the least motivating. The authors conclude that normative messages are a powerful persuasion tool whose influence is underdetected.
Jessica Nolan and colleagues examine how persuasive normative social influence is and how readily people detect it. In a survey of Californians about energy conservation, beliefs about what others do predicted behaviour better than other relevant beliefs, even though respondents rated those norms as the least important factor in their decisions. In a field experiment, the normative message produced the largest change in behaviour compared with messages stressing other reasons to conserve, even though respondents rated it the least motivating. The authors conclude that normative messages are a powerful persuasion tool whose influence is underdetected.
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Nolan, J. M., Schultz, P. W., Cialdini, R. B., Goldstein, N. J., & Griskevicius, V. (2008). Normative Social Influence is Underdetected. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34(7), 913-923. doi:10.1177/0146167208316691.