OBJECTIVE: In this article we test the efficacy of an intensive norms social marketing campaign to reduce heavy drinking among college students living in a residence hall. METHOD: We employed a pretest-posttest nonequivalent comparison group design. The study was conducted in two (experimental and comparison) comparable residence halls located in a large urban public university. We attempted a census at each hall, and pre- and postintervention data were collected in public areas of each residence hall. Relative sample sizes were approximately 60% in the experimental hall (both waves) and 38% in the comparison hall. RESULTS: The campaign successfully corrected students' misperceptions of drinking norms but had no effects, or counterintuitive effects, on drinking behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the popularity of this approach, universities would be prudent to proceed with care before adopting this approach wholesale.
OBJECTIVE: In this article we test the efficacy of an intensive norms social marketing campaign to reduce heavy drinking among college students living in a residence hall. METHOD: We employed a pretest-posttest nonequivalent comparison group design. The study was conducted in two (experimental and comparison) comparable residence halls located in a large urban public university. We attempted a census at each hall, and pre- and postintervention data were collected in public areas of each residence hall. Relative sample sizes were approximately 60% in the experimental hall (both waves) and 38% in the comparison hall. RESULTS: The campaign successfully corrected students' misperceptions of drinking norms but had no effects, or counterintuitive effects, on drinking behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the popularity of this approach, universities would be prudent to proceed with care before adopting this approach wholesale.
Authors: Ann P Kinzig; Paul R Ehrlich; Lee J Alston; Kenneth Arrow; Scott Barrett; Timothy G Buchman; Gretchen C Daily; Bruce Levin; Simon Levin; Michael Oppenheimer; Elinor Ostrom; Donald Saari Journal: Bioscience Date: 2013-03-01 Impact factor: 8.589