Recently, my wife was in a nearby discount store to purchase some party favors. While in line to make her purchase, she observed the cashier asking a customer at the checkout stand if she would like to donate a dollar to a certain charitable cause. I’m sure most of you have experienced this yourself at least once or twice, right? But what happened next was truly fascinating.

Once the customer indicated a willingness to make a donation, the cashier proceeded to get on the store intercom and, with great enthusiasm, announced to the entire store that, “Another customer has donated!” to this particular charity. You can probably imagine what happened next. My wife observed every customer in line in front of her make a donation to the cause. She also made a donation herself when she made it to the checkout clerk. That same intercom announcement also notified every shopper in the store of their fellow shoppers’ contributions, which essentially primed the donation pump. The cashier told my wife that she was the 36th person to donate during this particular cashier’s shift! What happened?

The phenomenon at work here is referred to as social-norm marketing. Social norming is the concept that people’s behavior can be significantly shaped by the behavior of those around them. Social norms are nothing new. However, what is new is how businesses are quickly adopting these tactics to drive customer response and increase revenue. My own dentist has even engaged in this practice. After my most recent appointment, the dental assistant said to me, “Join our other patients who complete their own appointment cards.” It is genius. I don’t want to be unlike all the other patients who comply with his wishes, do I? Of course not!  

Another prevalent application has been on college campuses. Universities such as Northern Illinois University initiated a marketing campaign in 1999 aimed at students with the message that, contrary to students’ beliefs, most university students did not consume more than a few drinks at parties. Once students understood that their fellow students weren’t drinking as much as they thought, their behavior began to change. Student drinking dropped by 44 percent over a nine-year period. Another example is the IRS. In 2008, they were successful in reducing the number of people who cheated on their taxes by promoting the fact that most tax filers were honest about their taxes. Again, people have a strong, innate sense to act like others. Once people understood that most people were honest about their taxes, it ended up driving the desired behaviors (more honest tax filers!).

Are there opportunities in the park and recreation industry to apply these (no-cost) principles to generate revenue and improve the customer experience? Absolutely. Here are a few ideas and tips to help you implement these marketing strategies without costing your agency anything.

First, consider publishing your customer survey results. Numbers that suggest the overwhelming popularity of a program can create a social norm and get people to participate who may ordinarily not. For instance, here at Everett Parks we now include our latest survey results in our marketing collaterals. In a new guide, for example, we proudly state that, “95 percent of our customers describe their experience with us as good or excellent,” and “96 percent say they would recommend our services to a friend.” An important component of this, based upon research, is to have testimonials from customers who match the demographics (e.g., age) of the people you are targeting with your message. Again, people want to behave like others who are like themselves. Therefore, providing testimonials from seniors when targeting youth will not be effective. For some of us, this will mean taking a more active approach in gathering survey data and recruiting testimonials from customers.  

Second, consider using the social norm of urgency. For example, if you are operating a conference center or rental facility, you might consider stating, “Holiday party bookings are extremely popular. Be sure to book now while openings remain!” The image of a truly popular activity, which has a finite capacity, has been shown to prompt people to action. People don’t want to be left out of what others are doing or pursuing.  

Research indicates a great way to get people to engage in desired behaviors is to include the desired behaviors in your verbiage. For instance, in our region, dog illnesses around dog parks have become a concern. While we haven’t had any confirmed cases of the illness in our dog parks here in Everett, we have used social norming language to influence dog-owner behavior toward positive action. As a result, our new dog park signs include the following language: “Responsible dog owners like you make sure their dogs have up-to-date vaccinations.” We want to ingrain in people’s minds what a responsible dog owner’s behavior should look like and thereby influence the desired behavior.

A final tip, based upon research, to increase involvement or activity where public behavior does not match public opinion is to cite popular opinion (even if it does not reflect people’s actions). For instance, if you coordinate fitness or wellness programs, consider mentioning in your marketing collaterals how national surveys overwhelmingly indicate that people acknowledge the value of participating in healthy activities. In our marketing collaterals, we say, “Surveys indicate people believe in a healthy, fit lifestyle.” By citing this true statement, it can create a sense of social norm and get people to respond accordingly, even if most people nationally don’t actually engage in wellness-related behaviors. The research indicates that people will be drawn to what they believe others are doing or believe in, such as engaging in some type of wellness or physical activity. This has been a proven and effective way to get people involved. An important word of caution is needed, though: We should always provide survey information, testimonials and other targeting promotional pieces that are true and accurate.

Another essential consideration is how to measure performance for such practices. Since these behavioral decisions don’t happen at the conscious level, it will be ineffective to survey participants on how these strategies impact their behavior. Rather, test verbiage on your targeted audiences and then compare your results. This is something we’ve been working on here at the City of Everett.

While we have a long way to go here at Everett Parks and Recreation in employing these strategies, we’ve been experiencing some encouraging results. For instance, we used some of these tactics to significantly drive response rates to a recent participant satisfaction survey. Our most recent response rate utilizing these principles exceeded 50 percent (up from a previous response rate of 38 percent). Phrases such as, “Join others like you who have completed the customer satisfaction survey,” have proven fruitful. The increased response rate has really helped us obtain good feedback and data from our customers.

Most importantly, have fun with it. Experiment with different approaches and compare results. Finally, I highly recommend the excellent book Influence by Robert Cialdini. The research he provides into the effectiveness of these approaches is as overwhelming as it is compelling.

I’m not sure how much money was raised at the discount store the day my wife visited. I do believe, however, based on what now know of social norms, that they more than likely exceeded their revenue goal. Opportunities abound for us in parks and recreation, and for many others, too. Isn’t it time we take advantage of these strategies to enhance the customer experience and improve our bottom line? It sure is! I’m sure most of you would agree with this statement.


Jeff Price is the Business Manager with the City of Everett Parks and Recreation Department, Washington.