Cavman, wonder woman, or too drunk to tell: An evaluation of the effectiveness of a Halloween social norms marketing campaign

Social norms marketing is an intervention designed to reduce unhealthy behaviors by correcting misperceptions. At celebratory drinking events, a greater percentage of students consume alcohol at a higher than normal level. A campaign focused on minimizing hazardous drinking behaviors, negative consequences and increasing protective behaviors of students on a specific celebratory drinking event, Halloween. Three hundred and fifty undergraduates at a university responded to a survey designed to evaluate the marketing campaign as well as to characterize student drinking behavior and associated negative consequences. The survey also collected perception data to inform the development of social norms marketing messages. On average students who drank on Halloween reported consuming 6.3 drinks, approximately 1.4 drinks more than they reported drinking on a typical weekend night. On Halloween, males, Greeks, and underclassmen drank more than females, non-Greeks, and upperclassmen, respectively. While students did not overestimate the percentage of students who drank, they did overestimate the percentage of students who got drunk. Only 35.7% of students self-reported getting drunk and students estimated that 44.8% got drunk. If other gaps are identified regarding healthy behaviors, they could be promoted through a social norms marketing campaign. While the campaign's analysis was limited due to small sample sizes and unrepresentative sub-populations, it is still possible to obtain relevant results in future campaigns by continuing the study for multiple years, increasing campaign exposure and increasing survey responses.