Social standards about how we should behave in given situations. Often compared to Descriptive Norms: a description of how people actually behave in given situations.
Insight: It is possible to change behaviour simply by communicating injunctive norms.
Reference: Robert Cialdini, petrified wood study - demonstrated that communicating injunctive norms is more often effective in creating positive social change ("Please don’t remove the petrified wood from the park, in order to preserve the natural state of the Petrified Forest") that using descriptive norms ("Many past visitors have removed the petrified wood from the park, changing the natural state of the Petrified Forest.").
Definition: How we should behave.
Insight: Injunctive norms, rather than descriptive ones, can be used to promote behaviour change
Key Insights & Principles
Social Change
We respond to social cues about how we should behave.
We have a tendency to follow the status quo (how most people behave), even if the behaviour is socially undesirable, until we are told otherwise.
Communicating injunctive norms can be enough to change behaviour.
