Recontextualizing the social norms construct as applied to health promotion

•An increasing number of health promotion/behavior change programs focus on changing social norms.•However, in current usage, norms are typically not linked to the underlying social and cultural context (decontextualized).•The use of social norms to change health behavior could be improved if norms were understood as culturally embedded .•Social norms may represent underlying cultural meanings and values, power configurations, or shared cultural models.•Social norms may serve as cultural tools for the exercise of individual agency.•There may be multiple and competing normative options in a given situation.•Social norms can be public or private, and norms change over time for many reasons.•There are ways to use social norms in health promotion programs that can help reconnect norms to cultural context.•These are described in the article along with a revised definition of social norms.