Effectiveness and context dependency of social norm interventions: five field experiments on nudging pro-environmental and pro-social behavior.

Social norm interventions hold the potential to change people's behavior. Five field experiments ( = 1,163) examined the effects of a simple and easily realizable social norm nudge based on the social media format "Be like Bill." The nudge consisted of a stick figure named Toni that communicated descriptive and injunctive norms regarding pro-environmental or pro-social behaviors.

The differential effects of a governmental debunking campaign concerning COVID-19 vaccination misinformation.

Background: Throughout the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic debunking misinformation has been one of the most employed strategies used to address vaccine hesitancy. We investigated whether - and for whom - debunking is effective or even counterproductive in decreasing misinformation belief and vaccination hesitancy.

Method: We conducted a randomized controlled trial ( = 588) utilizing a real-world debunking campaign from the German Ministry of Health.

Should I Stay or Should I Go? Risk Perception and Use of Local Public Transport During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

In light of the climate crisis, the transport sector needs to be urgently transformed and the number of users of local public transport needs to be increased. However, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic severely affected public transport with passenger numbers declining up to 80% in Germany. In addition to a general decrease in mobility during lockdowns, we can observe a shift in decision-making in regards to modes of transportation, with public transport losing out.