Scientific American has an article up discussing the difference between descriptive norms and prescriptive norms. The gist is that descriptive norms describe how things are and prescriptive norms describe how things ought to be. When it comes to affecting people's behavior, descriptive norms tend to work much better:
Descriptive Norms, or Why Your Beliefs Affect Me
Descriptive Norms, or Why Your Beliefs Affect…
Descriptive Norms, or Why Your Beliefs Affect Me
Scientific American has an article up discussing the difference between descriptive norms and prescriptive norms. The gist is that descriptive norms describe how things are and prescriptive norms describe how things ought to be. When it comes to affecting people's behavior, descriptive norms tend to work much better: