Marketing a social norm: An investigation of a campaign's impact on culture change regarding alcohol use

The study was designed to determine if the use of a social norms marketing campaign could impact frequency and amount of student drinking episodes, impact responsible use patterns, or change student perception of drinking norms. The National College Health Assessment Survey (NCHA) was used to collect self reporting student drinking data. Focus groups were conducted to identify social norms marketing messages that were believable and perceived as accurate to the campus community. These messages were made available through a variety of venues both on and off campus to see if accurate information about drinking, using a social norms marketing campaign, would impact student drinking behaviors and perceptions. Findings suggested that perception change occurred during the study that may have been attributable to the intervention. While changes were seen in some areas of responsible use over time, these were seen on both the experimental and control campus. Further follow-up is needed to determine if social norms marketing will be beneficial if additional time is allocated to this intervention.