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…

The Effect of Tailored Information, Goal Setting, and Tailored Feedback on Household Energy Use, Energy-Related Behaviors, and Behavioral Antecedents

Articles
Abrahamse, W., Steg, L., Vlek, C., & Rothengatter, T. (2007). The effect of tailored information, goal setting, and tailored feedback on household energy use, energy-related behaviors, and behavioral antecedents. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 27(4), 265-276.
In this multidisciplinary study, an Internet-based tool was used to encourage households (N = 189) to reduce their direct (gas, electricity and fuel) and indirect energy use (embe…

Putting Text in Context: The Conflict Between Pro-Ecological Messages and Anti-Ecological Descriptive Norms

Articles
Oceja, L., & Berenguer, J. (2009). Putting text in context: The conflict between pro-ecological messages and anti-ecological descriptive norms. The Spanish Journal of Psychology, 12(2), 657-666.
In the present work we test whether the effectiveness of ecological messages may be canceled out when they conflict with the descriptive norm that is salient in the situation. In …

Using Social Norms to Reduce Household Energy Consumption

Cases
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.
Background  In the two projects described below, information was delivered to households in order to foster norms that support reduced electricity consumption.  These projects ma…

The Short List: The Most Effective Actions U.S. Households Can Take to Curb Climate Change

Articles
Gardner, G.T. & Stern, P.C. (2008, September/October). The Short List: The Most Effective Actions U.S. Households Can Take to Curb Climate Change
Individual and household actions now directly cause approximately 38% of total national carbon dioxide emissions, and that percentage has increased in recent years.  These emissio…

Applying Social Psychology to Desegregation and Energy Conservation. Special Issue: Illustrating the Value of Basic Research

Articles
Aronson, E. (1990). Applying social psychology to desegregation and energy conservation. Special Issue: Illustrating the value of basic research. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 16, 1, 118-132.
Presents 2 examples of social psychology in action in dealing with an immediate crisis and a gradual problem. The immediate crisis occurred when a school system was desegregated, …

How Influential is the Auditor? Determinants of Sales Effectiveness in Energy Conservation Programs

Articles
Brown, M. A., Berry, L. G., White, D. L. & Trumble, D. (1988). How influential is the auditor? Determinants of sales effectiveness in energy conservation programs. Energy Systems and Policy, 12, 135-149.
This paper examines the determinants of auditor effectiveness in selling energy conservation to homeowners and reports the results of an analysis of the effectiveness of the energ…

Assessing Communication Effects on Energy Conservation

Articles
Craig, C. S. & McCann, J. M. (1978). Assessing communication effects on energy conservation. Journal of Consumer Research, 5, 82-88.
This article presents the results of a field experiment on alternative ways of prompting energy conservation behavior. The source of the communication was found to influence the …

Energy Conservation Behavior: The Difficult Path from Information to Action

Articles
Costanzo, M., Archer, D., Aronson, E., & Pettigrew, T. (1986). Energy conservation behavior: The difficult path from information to action. American Psychologist, 41, 5, 521-528.
Presents a social-psychological model of energy-use behavior that draws on behavioral and social research to explain influence processes and behavioral change related to energy co…

Using Social Cognition and Persuasion to Promote Energy Conservation: A Quasi-Experiment

Articles
Gonzales, M. H., Aronson, E., & Costanzo, M. A. (1988). Using social cognition and persuasion to promote energy conservation: A quasi-experiment. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 18, 12 (Pt 2), 1049-1066.
Examined whether the effectiveness of a residential conservation service home energy audit program could be improved by training auditors to use social-psychological principles du…

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