Abstract: Social norms are “rules and standards that are understood by members of a group, and that guide or constrain social behavior without the force of law” (Cialdini & Trost, 1998, p. 152). Frequently, normative messages are exchanged among group members through communication (Kincaid, 2004), including descriptive norms, one’s perceptions about the prevalence of behavior (i.e., what is commonly done by others) and injunctive norms, one’s perception of what is socially approved or disapproved (Cialdini et al.,1990). Normative influence on promoting healthy and environmental attitudes and behaviors has been well documented. 

 

In this talk, I will present findings from my previous and ongoing research on health and environmental issues (e.g., COVID-10 prevention, food waste reduction, reusable bag promotion among grocery shoppers), guided by the theory of normative social behaviors (TNSB; Lapinski & Rimal, 2005), which offers a model of the normative influence on behaviors, moderated by cognitive mechanisms, including outcome expectations, group identity, and injunctive norms.