Validation, Persuasion and Recycling: Capitalizing on the Social Ecology of Newspaper Use

Articles
Werner, Carol M.; Byerly, Sari; White, Paul H.; Kieffer, Matthew (2004). Validation, Persuasion and Recycling: Capitalizing on the Social Ecology of Newspaper Use. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 26, 2, 183-198.
Two experiments used clinical validation to increase scrutiny of messages posted in public settings. The first experiment used a 2 (validation: no/yes) × 2 (persuasion: none/"it i…

Using Normative Social Influence to Promote Conservation Among Hotel Guests

Articles
Schultz, P. W., Khazian, A., Zaleski, A. (2008). Using normative social influence to promote conservation among hotel guests. Social Influence, 3(1), 4-23.
Three field experiments are reported on the ability of printed normative messages to influence conservation behavior among hotel guests. While prior research has shown that social…

The Constructive, Destructive, and Reconstructive Power of Social Norms

Articles
Schultz P. W., Nolan J. M., Cialdini R. B., Goldstein N. J., Griskevicius Vladas (2007). The Constructive, Destructive, and Reconstructive Power of Social Norms. Psychological Science, 18(5), 429-434.
Despite a long tradition of effectiveness in laboratory tests, normative messages have had mixed success in changing behavior in field contexts, with some studies showing boomeran…

Effective Dissemination of Energy-Related Information: Applying Social Psychology and Evaluation Research

Articles
Dennis, M., Soderstrom, E.J., Koncinski, W.S., Cavanaugh, B. (1990). Effective Dissemination of Energy-Related Information: Applying Social Psychology and Evaluation Research. American Psychologist, 45(10), 1109.
Discusses the limitations of previous energy conservation programs in affecting the behavior of individual consumers. Suggests that the rational-economic model upon which they wer…

Normative Social Influence is Underdetected

Articles
Nolan, J. M., Schultz, P. W., Cialdini, R. B., Goldstein, N. J., Griskevicius V. (2008). Normative Social Influence is Underdetected. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34 (7), 913-923.
The present research investigated the persuasive impact and detectability of normative social influence. The first study surveyed 810 Californians about energy conservation and fo…

Media Attention and the Market for 'Green' Consumer Products.

Articles
Thogersen, J. (2006). Media Attention and the Market for 'Green' Consumer Products. Business Strategy and the Environment, 15(3), 145-156.
There are signs that a general 'counter-attack' is now being orchestrated against the 'greens'. This paper surveys the evidence regarding an 'issue-attention' cycle in environment…

A Behavioral Analysis of Peaking in Residential Electrical-Energy Consumers

Articles
Kohlenberg, R., Phillips, T., & Proctor, W. (1976). A behavioral analysis of peaking in residential electrical-energy consumers. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 9(1), 13-18.
Investigated the peaking phenomenon, the tendency for electrical energy users to consume at high rates for brief periods during the day, by analyzing the electrical energy consumi…

A Review of Intervention Studies Aimed at Household Energy Conservation

Articles
Abrahamse, W., Steg, L., Vlek, C., & Rothengatter, T. (2005). A review of intervention studies aimed at household energy conservation. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 25(3), 273-291.
This article reviews and evaluates the effectiveness of interventions aiming to encourage households to reduce energy consumption. Thirty-eight studies performed within the field …

Motivating Residents to Conserve Energy Without Financial Incentives

Articles
McMakin, A., Malone, E., & Lundgren, R. (2002). Motivating residents to conserve energy without financial incentives. Environment and Behavior, 34(6), 848-863.
Given the aim to motivate people to conserve energy in homes, we need to understand what drives people's energy use behavior and how it can be influenced. This article describes a…

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

Articles
Winter, P.L., Sagarin, B.J., Rhoads, K., Barrett, D.W., Cialdini, R.B. (2000). Choosing to encourage or discourage: Perceived effectiveness of prescriptive and proscriptive messages. Environmental Management, 2(6): 588-594.
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 vi…

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