Changing Real-World Behavior with Behavioral Requests and Social Norms Messages: A Meta-Analysis of Results from Field Experiments

<title>Abstract</title> <p>To determine the effects of social norms on behavior, researchers have developed so called “social norms messages” highlighting that a behavior is socially normative. A close examination of the stimuli used in previous studies reveals that many messages—labeled as social norms messages by the authors—simply ask people to do a certain behavior without referencing a social norm (e.g., “Please wash your hands”). We conducted a meta-analysis to compare the effects of these “behavioral requests” to “pure” social norms messages, i.e., messages explicitly communicating that one’s peers either do or approve of a behavior. Across 290 comparisons between persuasive messages tested in field experiments, we observed only two types of messages that led to behavior change relative to control conditions: behavioral requests and behavioral requests paired with descriptive norms messages. Overall, we note the powerful effect of behavioral requests and establish an agenda for future research.</p>