Which of the following would you choose as the most effective message to urge a hotel guest to reuse their towel?

1. Help the hotel save energy
2. Help save the environment
3. Partner with us to help save the environment
4. Help save resources for future generations
5. Join your fellow citizens in helping to save the environment

The first message highlights the benefit to the hotel, while the second emphasizes how the action protects the environment. The third is about cooperating to save the environment, while the fourth appeals to the benefits to future generations. The last message describes what your social peers are doing; it turns out this message is the “right one” – 41% of hotel guests receiving this message reused their towels. The least effective message was the first one.

This example is from a study conducted by researchers at Arizona State University (see Shaping Pro-Environmental Behaviors online at Psychology Matters, http://www.psychologymatters.org/environment.html; 11/29/2005), and it is one of a growing number of studies supporting the “social norms” approach to addressing community-wide issues.

The idea behind the social norms approach is that we tend to look to our peers for cues on the “right way” to behave or react in any given situation. For example, if a college student perceives that his or her peers commonly drink, smoke cigarettes, or don’t wear their seatbelts, then that student will be more likely to engage in these behaviors. That is, a person’s behaviors are not only a result of the individual’s personality and values, but also the social context in which that person operates. Social norms uses accurate information about this social context, in the form of positive group norms, to affect widespread behavior change.

Interestingly, research is showing that there are a lot of misperceptions out there on what it is your peers are actually doing. For example, the actual number of students that drink alcohol, or drive without seatbelts, is quite a bit less than the perceived number engaged in these activities. Correcting these misperceptions can result in changing people’s behaviors. “With repeated exposure to a variety of positive, data-based messages, the misperceptions that help to sustain problem behavior are reduced, and a greater proportion of the population begins to act in accord with the more accurately perceived norms” (Haines et al, 2005).

The power of this approach is stunning: 35% reduction in cigarette use and 30% reduction in alcohol use among high school students; 41% lower smoking initiation rate among Montana teens; 40% reduction in alcohol use among college students – all within two years of implementation (Haines et al, 2005).

Possible applications of this approach in Southern Nevada include: reducing the number of OHV’s going off-trail; reducing the incidents of graffiti and other damage to cultural resources; reducing the amount of litter and desert dumping in our deserts. To use this approach, we would have to clearly define the issue; understand the population, their perceptions, and where they get information from; and implement a plan to expose the population to social norm messages.

Past approaches to these issues have been traditional prevention efforts, focusing on the problems (“This is your brain. This is your brain on drugs!”). The social norm approach highlights solutions and the biggest asset we have: the actual norms of the target population (Most students choose not to use) (Haines et al, 2005).