Persuasive communication, financial incentives, and social norms: Interactions and effects on behaviors

Social norms and financial incentives are both known to shape the decisions people make about prosocial actions. This paper reviews the financial incentives in normative systems (FINS) model, which integrates theories of social norms from communication, social psychology, and behavioral economics to predict relationships among incentives, norms, and behaviors. It addresses how incentives can affect norms and how they change the effects of norms on behaviors. The model shows how strategic communication (framing) of social norms and incentives can shape the way people respond to incentives, minimizing unwanted outcomes and even enhancing the effectiveness of behavioral incentive payments. These insights can guide hypothesis testing and application to real-world use of incentives for behavior change.