Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T05:02:09.106Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Dynamic relationships between social norms and pro-environmental behavior: evidence from household recycling

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 February 2018

JOEL HUBER ,
W. KIP VISCUSI  and
JASON BELL
JOEL HUBER*
Affiliation:
Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
W. KIP VISCUSI
Affiliation:
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
JASON BELL
Affiliation:
Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
*
*Correspondence to: Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Social norms are strongly associated with pro-environmental behaviors, but the evolution and dynamic effects of norms are less well understood. This article builds on the distinction of norms being descriptive, characterizing what people actually do, or injunctive, characterizing what people should do. It identifies four categories of norms with the further distinction of whether the norms arise from the personal beliefs and actions or from the behaviors and judgments of others. The analysis uses five years of longitudinal US data that track household recycling and controls for household characteristics as well as differences in state recycling laws. The results extend previous research by showing that personal norms exhibit cascading dynamics in which norms encourage later changes in recycling, while recycling encourages later changes in personal norms. This mutual reinforcement implies that societal actions encouraging change in either personal norms or recycling will support growth in the other. Recognizing this interdependence can assist in the effective utilization of social norms as a behavioral policy instrument.

Type
Articles
Information
Behavioural Public Policy , Volume 4 , Issue 1 , March 2020 , pp. 1 - 25
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allcott, H. (2011), ‘Social norms and energy conservation’, Journal of Public Economics, 95(9): 1082–1095.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bell, J., Huber, J. and Viscusi, W. K. (2017), ‘Fostering recycling participation in Wisconsin households through single-stream programs’, Land Economics, 93(3): 481–502.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bem, D. J. (1967), ‘Self-Perception: An alternative interpretation of cognitive dissonance phenomena’, Psychological Review, 74: 183–200.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blamey, R. (1998), ‘The activation of environmental norms’, Environment & Behavior, 30(1): 676–708.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brekke, K. A., Kipperberg, G. and Nyborg, K. (2010), ‘Social interaction in responsibility ascription: The case of household recycling’, Land Economics, 86(4): 766–784.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cialdini, R. B. and Goldstein, N. J. (2004), ‘Social influence: Compliance and conformity’, Annual Review of Psychology, 55: 591–621.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cialdini, R., Reno, R. and Kallgren, C. (1990), ‘A focus theory of normative conduct: Recycling the concept of norms to reduce littering in public places’, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58(6): 1015–1026.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellickson, R. C. (1991), Order without law: How neighbors settle disputes, Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Elster, J. (1989), ‘Social norms and economic theory’, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 45(2): 230–231.Google Scholar
Farrow, K., Grolleau, G., and Ibanez, L. (2017), ‘Social norms and pro-environmental behavior: A review of the evidence’, Ecological Economics, 140: 1–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Festinger, Leon. (1957), Theory of Cognitive Dissonance, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
GfK. (2013), KnowledgePanel design summary. http://www.knowledgenetworks.com/knpanel/docs/knowledgepanel(R)-design-summary-description.pdfGoogle Scholar
Halvorsen, B. (2008), ‘Effects of norms and opportunity cost of time on household recycling’, Land Economics, 84(3): 501–516.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hopper, J., and Nielsen, J. (1991), ‘Recycling as altruistic behaviour: Normative and behavioural strategies to expand participation in a community recycling program’, Environment and Behaviour, 23(2): 195–220.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McAdams, R., and Rasmusen, E. (2007), ‘Norms and the law’, in Polinsky, A. and Shavell, S. (eds), Handbook of law and economics, volume 2, Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1573–1618.Google Scholar
Nyborg, K., and Rege, M. (2003), ‘On social norms: The evolution of considerate smoking behavior’, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 52: 323–340.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nolan, J. M. (2011), ‘The cognitive ripple of social norms communications’, Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 14(5): 689–702.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nolan, J. M. (2017), ‘Environmental policies can buttress conservation norms’, Society & Natural Resources, 30(2): 228–244.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Posner, E. (2000), Law and social norms, Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Posner, E. (1997), ‘Social norms and the law: An economic approach’, American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings, 87: 365–369.Google Scholar
Schultz, P., Nolan, J., Cialdini, R., Goldstein, N. and Griskevicius, V. (2007), ‘The constructive, destructive, and reconstructive power of social norms’, Psychological Science, 18(5): 429–434.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schwartz, S. (1977), ‘Normative influences on altruism’, Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 10: 221–279.Google Scholar
Sunstein, C. (2014), ‘Nudges.gov: Behavioural economics and regulation’, in Zamir, E. and Teichman, D. (eds), Oxford handbook of behavioural economics and the law, New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Sunstein, C. (1996), ‘Social norms and social roles,’ Columbia Law Review, 96(4): 903–968.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thøgersen, J. (2008), ‘Social norms and cooperation in real-life social dilemmas’, Journal of Economic Psychology, 29(4): 458–472.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
UK Department of Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (2013), Statistics on waste managed by local authorities in England in 2012/13. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/255610/Statistics_Notice1.pdfGoogle Scholar
US Environmental Protection Agency (2014), Advancing sustainable materials management: facts and figures. https://www.epa.gov/smm/advancing-sustainable-materials-management-facts-and-figuresGoogle Scholar
Van Vugt, M., and Samuelson, C. (1999), ‘The impact of personal metering in the management of a natural resource crisis: A social dilemma analysis’, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25: 735–750.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Viscusi, W. K., Huber, J., and Bell, J. (2011), ‘Promoting recycling: Private values, social norms, and economic incentives’, American Economic Review, 101(3): 65–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Viscusi, W. K., Huber, J., Bell, J., and Cecot, C. (2013), ‘Discontinuous behavioural responses to recycling laws and plastic water bottle deposits’, American Law and Economics Review, 15(1): 110–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Viscusi, W. K., Huber, J., and Bell, J. (2014), ‘Private recycling values, social norms, and legal rules’, Revue d'Economie Politique, 124(2): 159–178.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Huber et al. supplementary material

Appendix

Download Huber et al. supplementary material(File)
File 25.6 KB