Coffee with cows

Your inner cow --> social proof / social norms. Powerful.

An introduction to social proof

All about being packed of other people to your behaviour/beliefs. It is so powerful that we wear ugly shoes (UGGS), because everybody is wearing them.

Conformity, experiment of Shirive and Ash. Other links will show this.

We even are influenced by people, when it goes clearly against our own judgement (not only when we have no clue, so we follow the rest).

Two processes of conformity

1. Normative social influence: we act in line because we want to be liked.
2. Informational social influence: you want to be correct in your judgment; say so because everyone says so, because you think they will know what’s right. (observational learning)

Social norms

Based on conformity. Social norms are what kind of behavior in society/setting is accepted and what is not.

Different social norms

• Injected social norm: the behavior perceived to be commonly (dis)approved. Mostly there is no spoken rule, but everyone knows it.
• Descriptive social norm: the behavior perceived common. If a lot of people are acting a certain way, you are more likely to also act this way (this is probably the most correct wat to act, the most adaptive).

They can be both present in a given situation, but are in conflict. So.. What influence your acting in a situation? It is all up to salience. The extent to what type of social norm is most important.

Using social norms

Hotel has experiment where they manipulate the doorhanger that says to reuse your towel.

Hotel towel reuse (N= 260 rooms)

 “Help the hotel save energy," focusing on the benefit to the hotel. (20%)

 "Help save the environment," emphasizing environmental protection. (31%)

"Help save resources for future generations," highlighting the benefit to future generations. (31%)

"Join your fellow citizens in helping to save the environment," focusing on the descriptive norm (41%)

Curbside recycling

Field experiment with 600 households for 8 weeks

3 groups:

1. Information only

2. No treatment control,

3. Descriptive normative feedback (inform what neighbors are doing)

Baseline (4 weeks), intervention (4 weeks), follow-up (4 weeks)

Trying to reduce air-conditioning in California

[note: deze afbeelding uit het college is door de WorldSupporter redactie verwijderd wegens vermoedelijke inbreuk op het auteursrecht] 

It helps the most when you see your neighbor has a lower energy rate than you. Social prove is very influential in itself, the beauty is that we don’t acknowledge it. We are not accepting it.

Combined control is not doing anything at all.

[note: deze afbeelding uit het college is door de WorldSupporter redactie verwijderd wegens vermoedelijke inbreuk op het auteursrecht] 

Street musicians always put money in the box first. When there is money in the box people are more intended to put their money in it too.

“Why did you put money in it?” Nobody said: because there already was money in there.

You can use social proof in a setting with empty bottles by using a transparent can. You can see lots of people are using it. But the can has to be half full, otherwise people think nobody is using it and then won’t use it themselves.

[note: deze afbeelding uit het college is door de WorldSupporter redactie verwijderd wegens vermoedelijke inbreuk op het auteursrecht] 

How not to use social norms

[note: deze afbeelding uit het college is door de WorldSupporter redactie verwijderd wegens vermoedelijke inbreuk op het auteursrecht]  

 The first one is more focusing on descriptive norms. But you focus on saying that everybody does it, so saying don’t do it won’t work: because people do what other people do.

Taken petrified wood:

Descriptive norm 7,9%

No sign 2,9%

Injunctive norm 1,7%

What is the problem?

[note: deze afbeelding uit het college is door de WorldSupporter redactie verwijderd wegens vermoedelijke inbreuk op het auteursrecht] 

It is showing how much people are (binge) drinking. Presenting this information was to keep students away from binge drinking. But many students saw this and thought; oh, students are drinking so much, I have to do this to.

Using descriptive norms works both ways: drinking less and drinking more.

[note: deze afbeelding uit het college is door de WorldSupporter redactie verwijderd wegens vermoedelijke inbreuk op het auteursrecht]