Social norms marketing
Campaigns that correct misperceptions of what others do or approve of, to shift behavior toward the true norm.
What it means
Social norms marketing communicates accurate information about the prevalence of a behavior or attitude to change conduct, typically by correcting a widespread misperception. It rests on the finding that people often overestimate undesirable behaviors (how much peers drink, cheat, or waste energy) and conform to the exaggerated norm; revealing the real, healthier norm can pull behavior toward it. The approach hinges on using descriptive norms truthfully and pairing them with injunctive cues to avoid the boomerang effect, in which telling already-good performers what others do drags them toward the worse average. Results are mixed and context-dependent: it works best when the misperception is genuine, the reference group is relevant, and the message is credible. It matters because it harnesses one of the strongest social levers — and, done carelessly, illustrates how a norm message can backfire.
Examples
A campus campaign showing that 'most students have 0–2 drinks when they party' — the true figure — reduces heavy drinking among students who had wildly overestimated their peers.
A council flyer telling residents that most neighbours already sort their recycling correctly lifts compliance, because people had quietly assumed they were among the few bothering.
Teenagers routinely overestimate how many classmates vape; a poster stating the true, much lower share strips away the sense that not vaping makes you the odd one out.
First described in H. Wesley Perkins & Alan Berkowitz (1986).