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Sparkman & Walton, 2017 Experiment 5: Learning that people are incresaingly using full loads when doing laundry reduced water usage among Stanford students over three weeks

Reference:

Sparkman, G., & Walton, G. M. (2017). Dynamic norms promote sustainable behavior, even if it is counternormative. Psychological science, 28(11), 1663-1674.
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Summary:

Laundry machines in a room labeled with a dynamic norm about water conservation (“Stanford residents are changing: Now most use full loads. Help Stanford conserve water!”) showed a 28.5% reduction in usage over 3 weeks, as compared to the prior 3 weeks. By contrast, machines in a room labeled with a static norm (“Most Stanford residents use full loads. Help Stanford conserve water!”) showed a reduction of just 9.73% and those in a no-treatment control room showed a reduction of 2.5%.

Psychological Process:

Psychological Process 2:

Need

What is the Person Trying to Understand?

What Desired Meaning is At Stake?

What Desired Meaning is At Stake?

What About it?

Approach to Desired Meaning

Approach to Desired Meaning

How?

Psychological Question Addressed

Psychological Question Addressed

Psychological Question Addressed

Psychological Process 3:

Social Area:

Intervention Technique:

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Posted By:

Greg Walton & Timothy Wilson