Social norms campaigns on alcohol misuse among college students
Social norms campaigns on alcohol misuse provide objective, normative information in order to reduce misperceptions of alcohol use and, ultimately, change drinking behavior (CG-Motor vehicle injury). Such campaigns for college students can be implemented through a variety of means, including posters, mail, online, face-to-face, and mass media approaches (Cochrane-Foxcroft 2015).
What could this strategy improve?
Expected Benefits
Our evidence rating is based on the likelihood of achieving these outcomes:
- Reduced alcohol use
- Reduced excessive drinking
Potential Benefits
Our evidence rating is not based on these outcomes, but these benefits may also be possible:
- Reduced alcohol-related harms
What does the research say about effectiveness? -+
There is some evidence that social norms campaigns on alcohol misuse lead to a small effect on reduced excessive drinking and quantity of alcohol consumption among college students, regardless of delivery mode (Hembroff 2021, Cochrane-Foxcroft 2015). However, effects on alcohol-related problems and frequency of drinking vary with the way the intervention is delivered (Cochrane-Foxcroft 2015). Additional evidence is needed to confirm effects.
Social norms campaigns delivered via web with computer feedback, individual face-to-face interventions, email-based, and marketing approaches, can reduce alcohol-related problems and quantity of consumption, and positively affect drinking norms (Su 2018, Pariera 2018, Cochrane-Foxcroft 2015). Group feedback is less likely to change the frequency of drinking behavior compared to web-based or individual face-to-face feedback approaches (Cochrane-Foxcroft 2015). A university campus-wide social marketing campaign may decrease binge drinking, the frequency of drinking, and negative academic outcomes (Hembroff 2021). An Australia-based study of a large community-based campaign targeting social norms about underage drinking shows an increase of the age at which alcohol initiation is considered acceptable (Jones 2018a).
Studies suggest that using injunctive norms (i.e., what behavior we think other people approve of) can be more effective in changing behavior than using descriptive social norms (i.e., how we think people typically behave) (Rhodes 2020), but others suggest the opposite (Smith 2018). Message framing that focuses on both descriptive and injunctive norms can maximize effects in reducing underage drinking (Padon 2016). In an email-based social norms campaign, rank-framed messages (i.e., informing a college student of their drinking behavior relative to peers) appear to be more effective in reducing alcohol consumption than informing students of how they drink compares to expert recommendations (Pariera 2018). Overall, effective social norms-based interventions are context-specific, apply normative information relevant to participants, and address social, psychological and physical determinants of behavior to support the desired change (Yamin 2019).
Implementation Examples -+
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has developed the College Alcohol Intervention Matrix to help universities and colleges identify effective alcohol interventions, including social norms campaigns (CollegeAIM). Michigan State University has published the results of their social norms campaigns and launched the National Social Norms Center as a resource to promote effective social norms marketing campaigns (NSNC). Hobart and William Smith College is another example of a college that has undertaken an extensive social norms campaign (AEP).
Implementation Resources -+
AEP - Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Alcohol Education Project (AEP).
CollegeAIM - National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. CollegeAIM: Alcohol intervention matrix.
NSNC - National Social Norms Center (NSNC). Michigan State University.
Citations -+
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AEP - Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Alcohol Education Project (AEP).
CG-Motor vehicle injury - The Guide to Community Preventive Services (The Community Guide). Motor vehicle injury prevention.
Cochrane-Foxcroft 2015* - Foxcroft DR, Moreira MT, Almeida Santimano NML, Smith LA. Social norms information for alcohol misuse in university and college students. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2015;2015(12):CD006748.
CollegeAIM - National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. CollegeAIM: Alcohol intervention matrix.
Hembroff 2021* - Hembroff, L. A., Martell, D., Allen, R., Poole, A., Clark, K., & Smith, S. W. (2021). The long-term effectiveness of a social norming campaign to reduce high-risk drinking: The Michigan State University experience, 2000–2014. Journal of American College Health, 69(3), 315-325.
Jones 2018a* - Jones SC, Andrews K, Francis KL, Akram M. When are they old enough to drink? Outcomes of an Australian social marketing intervention targeting alcohol initiation. Drug and Alcohol Review. 2018;37:S375-S383.
NSNC - National Social Norms Center (NSNC). Michigan State University.
Padon 2016 - Padon AA, Rimal RN, Jernigan D, Siegel M, DeJong W. Tapping into motivations for drinking among youth: Normative beliefs about alcohol use among underage drinkers in the United States. Journal of Health Communication. 2016;21(10):1079-1087.
Pariera 2018* - Pariera KL. Replication of a rank-framed social norms experiment. Communication Studies. 2018;69(3):263-271.
Rhodes 2020* - Rhodes N, Shulman HC, McClaran N. Changing norms: A meta-analytic integration of research on social norms appeals. Human Communication Research. 2020;46(2-3):161-191.
Smith 2018* - Smith JR, Louis WR, Abraham C. When and how does normative feedback reduce intentions to drink irresponsibly? An experimental investigation. Addiction Research and Theory. 2018;26(4):256-266.
Su 2018 - Su J, Hancock L, Wattenmaker McGann A, et al. Evaluating the effect of a campus-wide social norms marketing intervention on alcohol-use perceptions, consumption, and blackouts. Journal of American College Health. 2018;66(3):219-224.
Yamin 2019 - Yamin P, Fei M, Lahlou S, Levy S. Using social norms to change behavior and increase sustainability in the real world: A systematic review of the literature. Sustainability. 2019;11(20):5847.