Social Norms and Social Marketing
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Research and Evaluation Application of Social Norms to Violence |
What are social norms and social marketing, and how do they fit into an environmental management approach to alcohol and other drug (AOD) prevention?
Social norms are people's beliefs about the attitudes and behaviors that are normal, acceptable, or even expected in a particular social context. In many situations, people's perception of these norms will greatly influence their behavior.
Therefore, when people misperceive the norms of their group—that is, when they inaccurately think an attitude or behavior is more (or less) common than is actually the case—they may choose to engage in behaviors that are in sync with those false norms. For example, many studies have shown that college students overestimate how much their peers drink. Prevention experts have argued that this misperception of the norm drives greater alcohol consumption.
Environmental management refers to the Higher Education Center's comprehensive prevention approach, which is grounded in the principle that student decisions about AOD use are shaped by the physical, social, economic, and legal environment in which that behavior occurs. That environment can be shaped by committed prevention advocates, higher education and government officials, and others (see the Center publication, Environmental Management, 1998). Environmental management articulates the need to broaden prevention approaches beyond traditional educational programs to include a range of strategies for changing the campus and community environment.
Student perceptions of drinking norms are part of that campus environment, and correcting student misperceptions about their peers' drinking is an important part of ensuring that inaccurate perceptions about the environment are not negatively influencing student behavior. A growing body of evidence suggests that providing information to students about accurate drinking norms is associated with decreased drinking on campus.
One method frequently used to correct misperceptions is "social marketing," a method of using mass marketing techniques to disseminate information. When colleges conduct marketing campaigns to correct misperceptions of social norms, these campaigns are referred to as "social norms marketing" campaigns.
This web page answers frequently asked questions about social norms and social marketing, summarizes social norms theory and its connection to AOD use, describes how social marketing campaigns and other educational strategies can be used to correct misperceived social norms, gives examples of what some colleges and universities are currently doing in this area, and describes how the theory can be applied to other areas such as violence prevention. It also provides lots of links and additional information for those interested in learning more about this innovative and exciting aspect of AOD prevention work.
We want to know about your school's prevention programs! To submit a description of your social norms program, or to submit other resources to be added to this site, please contact the Higher Education Center at HigherEdCtr@edc.org.
Last Update: May 22, 2006