Everybody Thinks We Should but Nobody Does: How Combined Injunctive and Descriptive Norms Motivate Organ Donor Registration

Abstract

The potential for deceased-donor organ transplants to save lives is severely limited by the number of people registered as donors around the world. Various national and regional health organizations often emphasize low registration rates (i.e., low descriptive norms) in an effort to demonstrate need and encourage registration. However, we predict and find that combining low descriptive norms with high injunctive norms, making salient the discrepancy between what people think they should do and what they actually do, results in greater organ donor registrations than communicating either descriptive or injunctive norms separately. We demonstrate these effects across three focal studies and two follow-up studies conducted online, in the laboratory, and in the field, and show that the findings are mediated by feelings of responsibility. We also demonstrate that making the situation feel psychologically close increases responsibility and intentions to register for low descriptive and high injunctive norms, to the level of combined norms. Our research contributes to the literature on norms and responsibility and can help policymakers and marketers design more effective communication strategies.

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“…However, dynamic DSNA did not significantly reinforce the positive effects of ISNA. These results are somewhat similar to those of Habib et al (2021), who, unlike Smith et al (2012), did not find negative effects caused by social norm conflict but rather a reversed positive effect: The combination of a majority ISNA and a minority DSNA increased organ donor registration. In their recent field experiment, they showed that unaligned SNAs could lead to better results than a minority DSNA or a majority ISNA alone, which is descriptively also reflected in our data.…”

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“… 37 Habib et al found that willingness to register as an organ donor increased when a low descriptive norm was combined with a high injunctive norm, as opposed to applying the norms individually. 78 This interaction arises by stoking a sense of responsibility to act after the incongruent norms highlight salient inconsistencies existing within the group. Although unmeasured, we believe this sense of responsibility to recommend was invoked from this similar interaction.…”

“…Recommendations coming from a convincing proportion of healthcare workers confers the perception that getting vaccinated is a socially desirable action that is expected, which results in a high injunctive norm 37. Habib et al found that willingness to register as an organ donor increased when a low descriptive norm was combined with a high injunctive norm, as opposed to applying the norms individually 78. This interaction arises by stoking a sense of responsibility to act after the incongruent norms highlight salient inconsistencies existing within the group.…”

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“…found that willingness to register as an organ donor increased when a low descriptive norm was combined with a high injunctive norm, as opposed to applying the norms individually. [65] This interaction arises by stoking a sense of responsibility to act after the incongruent norms makes salient regarding inconsistencies existing within the group. Although unmeasured, we believe this sense of responsibility to recommend was invoked from this similar interaction.…”