The Influence of Dynamic Norms on Intentions to Travel More Sustainably

Current transport systems are not sufficiently sustainable. In the quest to reduce emissionscaused by the transport sector, individual mode choice plays a major role. Influencing individuals’decision-making without external force has been a growing research concern in the recent years. Whilethe application in other areas is abundant and often successful, the research suggests that the utilizationof social norms in the context of mode choice is limited. In this study, we aim to 1) find out if intentionsto behave more sustainably (mode choice) can be effectively influenced by dynamic social normsmessaging, and 2) whether this relationship holds whilst including the common barriers to behaviorchange in the context of individual mobility in the model. To test this, we designed an online experiment(N = 187), where we randomly assigned the participants to one of three groups, and presented themeither with a dynamic social norm messaging, a static descriptive norm messaging, or no messaging(control condition). Comparing the means of the two experimental conditions to the control group, theresults show that the participants who viewed the dynamic norm messaging reported an increasedintention to travel sustainably while the opposite was the case for the static norm condition. However,none of the mean differences reached statistical significance. Bearing that in mind, our results indicatethat dynamic norm messaging might be preferable to descriptive norm messaging. We discuss andidentify several reasons for these findings, outline future directions, and consider practical implications.However, more studies are needed to discern whether dynamic norm messaging poses a viable mean toinfluence people’s intentions — and behaviors — to choose sustainable modes of transport.