Social norms campaigns on alcohol misuse among college students

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^{2, 3}. However, effects on alcohol-related problems and frequency of drinking vary with the way the intervention is delivered². 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^{2, 4, 5}. Group feedback is less likely to change the frequency of drinking behavior compared to web-based or individual face-to-face feedback approaches². A university campus-wide social marketing campaign may decrease binge drinking, the frequency of drinking, and negative academic outcomes³. 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 acceptable⁶.

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)⁷, but others suggest the opposite⁸. Message framing that focuses on both descriptive and injunctive norms can maximize effects in reducing underage drinking⁹. 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 recommendations⁵. 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 change¹⁰.

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 campaigns¹¹. 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 campaigns¹². Hobart and William Smith College is another example of a college that has undertaken an extensive social norms campaign¹³.