A failed norms social marketing campaign

In this article we test the efficacy of an intensive norms social marketing campaign to reduce heavy drinking among college students living in a residence hall.

We employed a pretest-posttest nonequivalent comparison group design. The study was conducted in two (experimental and comparison) comparable residence halls located in a large urban public university. We attempted a census at each hall, and pre- and postintervention data were collected in public areas of each residence hall. Relative sample sizes were approximately 60% in the experimental hall (both waves) and 38% in the comparison hall.

The campaign successfully corrected students' misperceptions of drinking norms but had no effects, or counterintuitive effects, on drinking behaviors.

Despite the popularity of this approach, universities would be prudent to proceed with care before adopting this approach wholesale.