The power of NORMS Research in the United States has demonstrated that in the hotel environment, if you want to get patrons to recycle their towel, you need only tell them that everyone else does it. If people think it is the norm, there is a significantly greater likelihood they will comply. Research in Europe […]

The power of NORMS Research in the United States has demonstrated that in the hotel environment, if you want to get patrons to recycle their towel, you need only tell them that everyone else does it. If people think it is the norm, there is a significantly greater likelihood they will comply. Research in Europe has shown that people are more likely to donate organs if they believe other people are doing the same things. It is better to talk about rapidly increasing donation rates than overall low rates of donation. Again, there is a tendency of people to want to conform to what they see as the norm, albeit unconsciously. A recent study at the University of Maryland found that this tendency was no less pronounced online than it is in the real world. This research identified what is now known as the AFFILIATION EFFECT. Respondents who offered the second…