Reading focus
Syllabus: How Do Social Influence and Power Work?
Apply the distinction between prevalence and approval to a concrete message.
Why you’re reading it. Examine a particular influence pathway within the broader norm map.
A question to consider. What might a notice saying ‘Almost everyone stays late’ communicate, even if its stated purpose is to discourage overwork?
Why this reading
A message can condemn a behavior while also telling its audience that many people do it. Cialdini distinguishes these two kinds of social information and uses environmental examples to explain why their combination matters.
Before you read
A descriptive norm concerns what people typically do; an injunctive norm concerns what they approve or disapprove. Salience is how strongly a feature attracts attention. A norm message can change perceived prevalence without changing approval.
Read for
- Use the clean-versus-littered setting comparison to distinguish attention to a norm from simply copying a model.
- Separate observed littering or theft from intentions to recycle.
- Examine the author's qualifications about mechanisms, alternative message features, and whether messages remain salient when action becomes possible.
Consider afterwards
- A notice says that many residents leave rubbish outside the bins. What two norm messages does it send, and what comparison would test a revised notice?
Editorial context
This short review combines experimental examples with interpretation of a public advertisement; it does not directly test every claim about the advertisement. The recycling path diagram concerns intentions and does not independently establish each causal arrow. Findings in particular environmental settings do not supply a universal rule for public communication. Accurate information and locally relevant outcomes remain necessary when testing a new message.