Goldstein et al.’s (2008) study on environmental messaging found that participants were more likely to engage in pro-environmental behaviors when a sign in their hotel bathroom sign evoked ___________________ by stating that “75% of guests staying in this room number reused their towels."

Question

Goldstein et al.’s (2008) study on environmental messaging found that participants were more likely to engage in pro-environmental behaviors when a sign in their hotel bathroom sign evoked ___________________  by stating that “75% of guests staying in this room number reused their towels."

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

Let’s unpack the question and the given material carefully. The prompt describes a study by Goldstein et al. (2008) on environmental messaging in hotel bathrooms. The key feature of the sign is that it states a descriptive statistic about other guests’ behavior: “75% of guests staying in this room number reused their towels.” The question then asks for the term that this sign evokes.

Option analysis:
- If the available option were something like “Provincial norms”: Describing the behavior of a group of people in a specific geographic or political subdivision (e.g., a province) would be invoking a geographic or regional standard. However, the towel-reuse sign is about what guests in general do in this hotel or setting, not about a wider provincial culture or regional norm. So labeling this as “provincial norms” would not accurately capture the mechanism at work.

- The core idea actually demonstrated by the sign is a descriptive norm: informing people about what others do in a similar situation. Descriptive norms leverage the perception that a behavior is common, which tends to influence individuals to conform and imitate that behavior to fit in or avoid standing out. This is the well-documented mechanism behind many pro-environmental messages of this kind.

- If there were other options (for example, “descriptive norms” or “social proof”), they would correctly describe the intended effect. Those options would align with the theory that people are motivated to align with the behavior of others when the behavior is performed by a majority. In contrast, a label like “injunctive norms” (which states what ought to be done) would convey a different kind of message, one about what people think should be done rather than what is commonly done.

- Given that only one option is provided in the data (Provincial norms) and the study’s design aligns with descriptive-norm messaging, there is a conceptual mismatch between the common, accurate interpretation (descriptive norms) and the provided option (provincial norms). The reasoning behind the study’s effect—reinforcement by describing what most guests do—fits descriptive norms, not a provincial- or regional-norm framing.

In summary, the sign’s statement functions as a descriptive-norm cue: it communicates that a high percentage of peers engage in towel reuse, thereby encouraging others to do the same. The label “provincial norms” is not the standard term for this mechanism and would be misleading if interpreted as describing geographic regional norms. If other options existed, they would ideally include terms like “descriptive norms” or “social proof” to capture the intended effect more accurately.

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Goldstein et al.’s (2008) study on environmental messaging found that participants were more likely to engage in pro-environmental behaviors when a sign in their hotel bathroom sign evoked ___________________ by stating that “75% of guests staying in this room number reused their towels."

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