Using a descriptive social norm to Increase vegetable selection in workplace restaurant settings

In this 2017 study, a poster featuring a social norms-based message was placed in restaurants in the United Kingdom to assess what impact it has on purchases of vegetable-containing meals and whether an increase in sales can be sustained. The intervention phase, where the posters containing social norm messages relaying information about vegetable purchases at other restaurants were placed in each of the 3 restaurants, lasted 2 weeks, with 2 weeks either side of this phase called the pre-intervention phase and post-intervention phase. The analysis using Pearson’s chi-squared test revealed 57% of the participants were male, 75% were not overweight, and 98% were under 60 years of age. The social norm-based message was positively associated with the percentage of meals purchased with vegetables, with 60% of purchases containing vegetables at baseline, 64% during the 2-week intervention phase, and still 67% post-intervention. This investigation concludes that social norm messages may increase the purchase of vegetable meals in workplace settings. [NPID: psychosocial, social norms, United Kingdom, intervention, vegetables, vegetable intake, workplace nutrition, workplace]

Year: 2017

Reference: Thomas, J. M., Ursell, A., Robinson, E. L., Aveyard, P., Jebb, S. A., Herman, C. P., & Higgs, S. (2017). Using a descriptive social norm to increase vegetable selection in workplace restaurant settings. Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association, 36(11), 1026–1033. https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0000478