SOCIAL NORMS PRESENTATION:

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• SOCIAL NORMS PRESENTATION
• THEORY
• APPROACH
• IMPACT
• BUDGET
• www.unh.edu/reality-check/
• Student Senate, March 30. 2003

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WHAT IS SOCIAL NORMS THEORY? Much of peoples
behavior is influenced by their perception of how
other members of their social group behave. All
to often, perceptions are incorrect. Social
norms is an environmental approach that seeks to
impact social and cultural environments as the
way to then influence individuals. Normative
messages are designed for delivery using
various media and promotion strategies in order
to effectively reach a target population and
promote accurate norms of health safety.
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• KEYS TO SUCCESSFUL SOCIAL NORMS CAMPAIGN
• Need data-research driven
• Pick only a few messages
• Use concepts, not a lot of numbers
• Focus on health and risk reduction
• Have students involved
• Support healthy behaviors by attending to it
• Ensure dosage is high
• Integrate it into comprehensive education
  approach
• Be positive
• Create competent carriers
• Evaluate and make changes as needed
• Remember it takes time

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• WHY A SOCIAL NORMS APPROACH?
• Traditional approaches not working
• The focus on negative gives to much power to
  unhealthy norm,
• doesnt tell the whole or true story
• It has been proven to work through the process of
  evaluation
• We need to address alcohol issues on campus due
  to its impact
• our commitment as an institution to creating
  an environment
• that supports academic learning, safety, and
  personal growth
• Academic problems
• Vandalism/property damage
• Problems with law
• Injuries (self/others)
• Drinking and driving
• Health problems including alcohol abuse
  dependence
• Second hand effects

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• SOCIAL NORM PLAN
• Data collection
• Review of data and creation of messages
• Incoming students and their parents
  (presentations, brochures, stickers)
• First days (floor meetings, WildActs, posters,
  etc.)
• RHD/RA-competent carriers
• Information to faculty/staff
• Integration into all alcohol education
• Integration into counseling sessions/education
• Social marketing (banners, posters, stickers, web
  pages, magnets,
• chip clips, newsletters, 21 b-day cards,
  bulletin boards,TV, etc.)
• Co-sponsorship of programming
• On-going evaluation

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(No Transcript)
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EFFECTIVNESS OF APPROACH AT OTHER
CAMPUSES Institution Decrease in Binge
Drinking (self-reporting) Northern
Illinois University 44 reduction over 10
yrs Hobart William Smith Colleges 40
reduction over 4 years University of
Arizona 29 reduction over 3 years Western
Washington University 20 reduction over 3
years UNH 21 reduction over 3 years
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PRELIMIMARY RESULTS BASED ON 2 YEARS OF
CAMPAIGN The social norms campaign did not
effectively begin until January 01 Positive
changes 2000 2001 2002 change
00-02 Non-binge (includes abstainers) 38.8 40.1
45.9 18 increase Infrequent binge 24.6 26.7
24.5 0 decrease Frequent binge 36.6 32.0 28
.9 21 decrease Mean number of drinks
consumed/wk 9.0 9.4 8.8 2 decrease
of students who dont consume alcohol in a
typical wk. 19.1 20.0 22.7 19
increase Increase in non-binge drinkers Decrease
in frequent binge drinkers Decrease in average
number of drinks consumed per week Increase in
the number of students not using alcohol in
typical week Decrease in amount consumed Decrease
in frequency
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• SOCIAL NORMING ASSESSMENT PLAN
• GOAL to decrease high-risk alcohol use and curb
  negative
• consequences.
• Decrease in unhealthy patterns of use (number of
  drinks/week,
• number of nights party/week, binge
  drinking behavior, etc.)
• increase in healthy patterns of use
• Decrease in other types of behaviors that are
  unhealthy (blackouts,
• drinking and driving, regrettable behaviors,
  etc.) and increase
• in protective behaviors
• Students are receiving and integrating
  information on the
• normative behaviors-perceptions are more
  accurate
• Assessing the alternative hypotheses (Is there
  something else
• influencing the change?)
• Results continue program rework campaign based
  on results

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• RESULTS OF SOCIAL NORMS APPROACH
• Change in high-risk behaviors and use patterns
• Supports healthy behaviors
• Promotes healthy norm
• Unhealthy behaviors begin to stand out and this
  can encourage
• confrontation
• Encourages individuals to be responsible for
  their own health

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SOCIAL NORM ACTIVITES THAT REQUIRE NO COST

• Messages on web pages
• Messages in residence hall newsletters
• Messages within other alcohol education programs
  and
• academic classes
• Trainings
• Advertising on CatVision TV and weather channel
• Messages discussed as part of alcohol counseling
• After initial set up cost-no additional cost to
  maintaining
• reality check web page (reality-check/unh.edu)
  
• Conversations that occur as a result of reading
  messages
• After initial cost, the displaying of banners
  with messages