Normative Social Influence is Underdetected

2008/05/09 by Jessica M. Nolan, P. Wesley Schultz, Robert B. Cialdini +2 · 2 citations
Environmental Science · Social Sciences · Psychology · #Environmental Education and Sustainability #Social and Intergroup Psychology #Climate Change Communication and Perception #Normative #Persuasion #Normative social influence #Psychology #Social psychology #Social norms approach #Social influence #Political science

paper · doi:10.1177/0146167208316691

openalex publication_date 2008/05/09 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

The present research investigated the persuasive impact and detectability of normative social influence. The first study surveyed 810 Californians about energy conservation and found that descriptive normative beliefs were more predictive of behavior than were other relevant beliefs, even though respondents rated such norms as least important in their conservation decisions. Study 2, a field experiment, showed that normative social influence produced the greatest change in behavior compared to information highlighting other reasons to conserve, even though respondents rated the normative information as least motivating. Results show that normative messages can be a powerful lever of persuasion but that their influence is underdetected.

Citations

• The halo effect: Evidence for unconscious alteration of judgments.
• A study of normative and informational social influences upon individual judgment.
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• Social Influence: Compliance and Conformity
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