Choosing to Encourage or Discourage: Perceived Effectiveness of Prescriptive Versus Proscriptive Messages

Abstract

The estimated cost of repairing damage caused to recreational sites annually is in the hundreds of millions of dollars. These depreciative activities also reduce the quality of visitors' experiences in the damaged areas. Indirect methods, such as visitor education through brochures and signs, continue to be the least controversial management approaches to depreciative acts. Yet, the literature on studies examining the most effective message presentations remains sparse. A survey mailed to randomly selected National Association for Interpretation members assessed the perceived effectiveness of communications that encouraged positive conduct (prescriptive messages) versus those that discouraged negative conduct (proscriptive messages) in wildland and urban settings. Almost invariably, respondents viewed the encouragement-based prescriptive messages as more effective than the discouragement-based proscriptive messages. This finding stands in sharp contrast to an earlier study that discovered a preponderance of proscriptive versus prescriptive messages on signs in both wildland and urban recreational environments. Thus, although the great majority of interpreters see the encouragement of positive conduct as more effective, in practice, messages on signs are much more likely to discourage negative conduct. Reasons for this discrepancy are considered.

Can school children influence adults’ behavior toward jaguars? Evidence of intergenerational learning in education for conservation

“…Initial attitude: 'positive' for scores above 0, 'neutral/negative' for scores 0 or below that intended.. When reactance is likely to be an issue, communication campaigns would arguably be more effective if they rely on descriptive norms (involving perceptions of which behaviors are typically performed) rather than injunctive norms (involving perceptions of which behaviors are typically disapproved of) (Cialdini 2003), and strive to promote positive conduct (with prescriptive messages) rather than demote negative conduct (with proscriptive messages) (Winter et al 2000).…”

The role of normative prompts and norm support cues in promoting light-switching behavior: A field study

“…Communicating descriptive, injunctive or non-normative information in a message forces the use of different wording (Jacobson et al, 2011) and therefore may impact a sign's 10 vividness (Frantz, Rhoades, & Lehto, 2005) and its emotional charge (Winter, Sagarin, Rhoads, Barrett, & Cialdini, 2000). In terms of vividness, researchers usually address the role of attractiveness, readability and comprehension of signs as elementary factors that impact a sign's effectiveness (Frantz et al, 2005;Meis & Kashima, 2017).…”

The Role of Tourism Impacts on Cultural Ecosystem Services

“…The most prominent form of educational messaging to minimize recreational impacts is Leave No Trace, developed through the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics and administered through the federal land managing agencies, as well as many state and urban park organizations [61]. The results of this study highlight the importance of Leave No Trace strategies and similar minimum impact ethics programs to not only protect the ecological resources [62][63][64][65][66][67][68], but also promote positive affect. This study suggests that when visiting park and protected area settings where visitors are more compliant with management strategies, including indirect approaches such as those promoted by the Leave No Trace Center and similar minimum-impact ethics programs, visitors may experience higher levels of positive affect, and therefore greater achievement of cultural ecosystem services.…”