Prompting healthier eating: Testing the use of health and social norm based messages.

Robinson, Eric; Fleming, Alexander; Higgs, Suzanne

doi:10.1037/a0034213

Cited by 158 publications

(157 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Descriptive norms seem to be a strong and stable predictor of healthy and sustainable consumption, while the impact of injunctive norms seems to be weaker and less consistent [33][34][35]. A positive interaction between descriptive and injunctive norms for sustainable consumption has also been reported [16].…”

Section: Social Norm Approaches To Promote Pro-environmental Decisionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…Social norm interventions are typically implemented using signs displaying a normative message [14,34,35]. For example, hotel guests have been asked to reuse their towels by a message written on door hangers [36], park visitors have been invited not to steal petrified wood by signs installed in the park [15], public toilet users have been asked to switch off the light by means of colorful prompts [37], and consumers have been informed about the health food choices of other consumers via signs installed on the shopping basket [35,38].…”

Section: Social Norm Approaches To Promote Pro-environmental Decisionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Social Norms Intervention Going Wrong: Boomerang Effects from Descriptive Norms Information

2018

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Abstract:A large body of research supports the idea of social norms communication promoting pro-social and pro-environmental behaviour. This paper investigates social norms communication in the field. Signs prompting consumers about sustainable seafood labels and informing them about other consumers' sustainable choices were displayed in supermarkets in Norway and Germany. Seafood sales (sustainably labelled versus unlabelled products) were observed before, during, and after the implementation of the signs. The expected change towards more sustainable choices was generally not found. In Norway, the choice of sustainable seafood increased in the prompt-only condition, but the effect was neutralised when social norms information was added. In Germany, social norm messages lead to a decline in sustainable choices compared to baseline, a boomerang effect. Overall, an increase in the purchase of seafood (both sustainably labelled and unlabelled) was noted during the intervention. A second study was carried out to further explore the finding that consumers were mainly primed with "seafood" as a food group. In a laboratory setting, participants were confronted with stereotypical food pictures, combined with short sentences encouraging different consumption patterns. Subsequently, they were asked to choose food products in a virtual shop. Confirming the findings of Study 1, participants chose more of the groceries belonging to the food group they were primed with. These studies suggest that social norms interventions-recently often perceived as "the Holy Grail" for behaviour change-are not as universally applicable as suggested in the literature. According to this study, even descriptive norm messages can produce boomerang effects.

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Section: Social Norm Approaches To Promote Pro-environmental Decisionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Section: Social Norm Approaches To Promote Pro-environmental Decisionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Social Norms Intervention Going Wrong: Boomerang Effects from Descriptive Norms Information

2018

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“…Lally et al (55) found that perceptions of peers' attitudes towards consuming different food types did not predict intake, whereas perceptions of what peers were eating were predictive. Mollen et al (62) too found no evidence that an injunctive norm increased healthier food intake and we have also found that a message about approval of fruit and vegetable consumption did not affect eating behaviour (66) .…”

Section: Effect Of Norm Typesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We recently conducted two studies in which university students viewed flyers and posters about the daily fruit and vegetable intake of other students (66) . Participants either saw materials emphasising the health benefits of eating fruit and vegetables or information about fruit and vegetable eating norms.…”

Section: Experimentally Manipulating Non-context-specific Eating Normsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social influences on eating: implications for nutritional interventions

2013

Self Cite

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We review recent research on the effect of social context on food intake and food choice and assess the implications for nutritional interventions. We focus on studies of modelling of eating behaviour and the impact of perceived eating norms on the amounts and types of food that individuals eat. We suggest that social context influences eating via multiple mechanisms, including identity signalling and self-presentation concerns. However, building on existing theoretical models, we propose that social factors may be particularly influential on nutrition because following the behaviour of others is adaptive and social norms inform individuals about behaviours that are likely to be optimal ('if everyone else is doing it, I probably should be'). Guided by understanding of the potential underlying mechanisms, we discuss how social norms might be used to promote healthier nutrition.

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“…Studies on small samples of college students exist in the literature, but tend to be controlled experiments looking at high and low caloric intake as a reaction to a cue such as an informational flyer (Robinson, Fleming, & Higgs, 2014), papers (Berger & Rand, 2008;Berger & Heath, 2008) or information about what others ate (Yamasaki, Midzuno, & Aoyam, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving Understanding about Social Influences on Food Choices in College Students: A Pilot Study

Basch

Grodner

Prewitt

2016

GJHS

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The impact of social influences on food choices in college settings is of great importance because students are vulnerable to new forming identities at this time. The purpose of this pilot study is to determine the degree to which social influences impact food choices in a sample of college students. A 22-item survey instrument was created to determine the extent to which students have experienced being influenced by others when making food related purchasing decisions. A total of 257 out of a 323 students invited (80% response rate) in 11 sections of a personal health course responded to the survey. The overwhelming majority of respondents were reportedly comfortable ordering whatever they wanted when in the presence of their friends (n=249; 97%). Students were more likely to feel pressure to make a healthy choice than an unhealthy choice if everyone else was (45.1% vs. 31.5%), but fewer felt this way when asked specifically if their friends were ordering (28.4% vs. 21%). Social influences surrounding food choices are a topic that has gained momentum recently, however more research needs to be conducted to determine the reasons why social influences affect certain college students especially in comparing healthy versus unhealthy food choices.

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Prompting healthier eating: Testing the use of health and social norm based messages.

Abstract: For the promotion of healthy eating, social norm messages may be more effective than health messages for consumers failing to adhere to dietary guidelines.

Cited by 158 publications

References 36 publications

A Social Norms Intervention Going Wrong: Boomerang Effects from Descriptive Norms Information

A Social Norms Intervention Going Wrong: Boomerang Effects from Descriptive Norms Information

Social influences on eating: implications for nutritional interventions

Improving Understanding about Social Influences on Food Choices in College Students: A Pilot Study

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