VIII. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

1. Expand and continue social norms research. Social norms research and the study of the impacts of misperceptions of norms are very young fields. Additional studies which utilize an experimental design with randomly-assigned treatment and control groups will help to further our understanding of the potential for this promising strategy. Future interventions could increase the scientific rigor of their surveys by moving from multiple samples to a panel design. An intervention in which the same individuals are surveyed longitudinally through time would allow for more powerful statistical measures and outcome analyses.
   
   
2. Reduce diffusion effects. Better experimental design is necessary to reduce diffusion of the campaign message into the control area through media bleed or travel of target population. Establishing a demographically matched control site in a different State could be a good strategy to keep control areas free of the campaign message. It is critical to measure whether people are traveling between the treatment and control areas. Next studies should ensure that the control areas are pristine and kept free of even low levels of the intervention.
   
   
3. Develop multiple messages. Although the MOST of Us Prevent Drinking and Driving intervention achieved statistically significant results by primarily using a single campaign message, the single-message approach has limitations and does not reflect current state-of-the-art practice in the social norms field. A single message is highly vulnerable to criticism, and can even erode campaign credibility if it is heard as a mantra or slogan rather than as an accurate reflection of true norms based upon data. Multiple messages allow a social norms campaign to activate different segments of the target audience and the community that surrounds it, so the entire social environment communicates and supports the desired change. In addition, by using multiple messages a campaign might better address the complexity and sophistication of the impaired driving issue.
   
   
4. Evaluate media and messages. Media is considered to be an important component of any successful public health campaign. However, this research indicates that not all media messages may be equal. The use of fear-based strategies that may serve to raise awareness and concern for the issue of impaired driving may, for example, work against the promotion of accurate understanding of social norms. Future research should examine how the social norms approach to traffic safety issues can stress the seriousness of impaired driving while simultaneously reducing the risks associated with misperceptions. Future traffic safety media research should include a discussion of the impacts of various types of media messages on perceptions of norms. This research should include comparison of positive approaches with traditional, fear-based methods.
   
   
5. Link social norms protection with long-term outcomes. The ultimate test of any intervention targeting impaired driving is whether it produces a measurable decrease in the number of alcohol-related incidents, crashes, and fatalities. Future research should seek other ways to link social norms interventions with these and other essential long-term outcomes.
   
   
6. Broaden applications of social norms. Social norms research can be applied to domains other than media-based interventions. For example, although the Most of Us Prevent Drinking and Driving campaign did not include any specific messages or advertisements about the BAC issue, the project director, Dr. Jeff Linkenbach, summarized these findings in a guest editorial that appeared in several papers around the State (see Appendix) and presented them at a legislative sub-committee hearing in the State capital. The essence of social norms is shifting the environment and the public dialogue and future research must focus on innovative strategies for accomplishing this aim.
   
   
7. Coordinate social norms as synergistic approach. Synergy is when two or more agents or forces interact such that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects. Social norms practitioners need to find ways to apply the social norms approach synergistically with other prevention strategies. It is a well-known and agreed-upon fact that the issue of impaired driving is complex and demands comprehensive strategies for success. What is not well understood is how to maximize the benefits of combining different approaches. It is common for traffic safety practitioners to employ as many strategies as possible and hope that one or some combination will prove effective. This type of implementation presupposes that different messages are additive (i.e., that two or three are better than one), failing to recognize that different strategies can compete and diminish each other's effectiveness if they are not compatible. A successful social norms strategy will support law enforcement, policy change and other prevention measures-as long as they are administered together as part of a coordinated plan that takes advantage of their shared strengths and compatibilities.