Modification Mechanisms of Descriptive Norm Perceptions Toward Vaping: The Role of Behavior Prevalence and Group Size in an Online Setting

ABSTRACT

We often rely on descriptive norm perceptions as a mental shortcut for decision making. However, less is known about how such perceptions are shaped and modified by our experiences in day-to-day life. The interactive nature of the current media environment offers opportunities for individuals to access others’ health behavior choices through online user-generated content. Within a setting of online comment boards, the current study examined the descriptive norm perception modification process toward vaping with a large-scale experiment that systematically varied levels of exposure to online commenters’ vaping behavior choice indications. Findings revealed a significant positive effect of behavior prevalence on descriptive norm perceptions, which in turn were positively associated with vaping intention. This set of results was observed only when a sufficient total amount of comment exposures was ensured. The study provided empirical evidence for the underlying mechanism of the “quasi-statistical sense,” which helps people draw conclusions about behavior prevalence and may influence their behavioral decision making. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Acknowledgements

The authors extend their sincere appreciation to Celeste Condit for providing insightful feedback on a previous version of this manuscript. We also wish to acknowledge Yidi Wang for her diligent assistance with proofreading and ensuring the accuracy of our citations.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2024.2344883.

Notes

1. Number and percentage of non-vaper-norm comments are linear transformations of that of the vaper-norm ones in each condition (e.g., a 20% vaper-norm condition equates to an 80% non-vaper-norm condition).

2. N = 273participants from a communication department research subject pool at a large public university participated in the comments testing study. The results confirmed that, on a 7-point Likert scale (1“very negative”, 7“very positive”), the 10 comments intended to be perceived as positive (M = 4.83, SD = 0.45) were rated significantly more positive than the 10 comments intended to be perceived as negative (M = 2.33, SD = 0.45), t(272) = 59.20, p < .001.

Additional information

Funding

Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and FDA Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) under Award Number P50CA179546 to the University of Pennsylvania. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH or the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).