A Randomized-Controlled Trial of Social Norm Interventions to Increase Physical Activity

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Science
• Public Health
• Exercise Science

Background:

• Physical activity is crucial for health, but most adults do not meet recommended guidelines.
• Low physical activity levels present a significant public health challenge.
• Novel, scalable interventions are needed to promote physical activity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of brief social norm feedback on increasing physical activity.
• To compare the impact of descriptive norms versus combined descriptive and injunctive norms.
• To assess the feasibility of social norm feedback as a scalable intervention.

Main Methods:

• A pilot study involving 111 young adults randomly assigned to three groups: descriptive norm feedback, combined feedback, or control.
• Participants recorded daily step counts using pedometers over eight weekdays.
• Feedback conditions involved information on group average steps and/or visual cues (happy/sad faces) relative to the average.

Main Results:

• The combined descriptive and injunctive norm group showed significantly higher step counts by days 7-8 compared to the control group.
• A trend towards increased step counts was observed in the descriptive norm group versus the control.
• No significant differences were found based on participants' baseline activity levels relative to the group average.

Conclusions:

• Combined descriptive and injunctive social norm feedback effectively increased physical activity in young adults over a short duration.
• This simple feedback strategy shows potential for broad reach and dissemination.
• Findings support further investigation in larger, longer-duration trials to confirm efficacy and explore integration with other interventions.