Thesis (Ph. D. in Leadership and Policy Studies)--Vanderbilt University, May 2006. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves: [41]-43)

Thesis (B.Psy.Sc.(Hons.)) - University of Queensland, 2006. / Includes bibliography.

<b>Duelling</b> The norm of duelling endured for hundreds of years in Europe. In the United Kingdom it disappeared abruptly in the mid-nineteenth century, whereas in France it declined slowly. I present a simple model of social norms that explains these phenomena. The model predicts that the evolution of norms is characterised by tipping, whereby norms can shift suddenly due to shocks, and by a ratchet effect, whereby changes in parameters can cause norms to decline gradually. I show that the model can be supported by an equilibrium of a repeated game, with no special assumptions about preferences. <b>Community enforcement using modal actions</b> I prove two folk theorems for repeated games with random matching. A large group of players is rematched at random each period, so that players who deviate must be sanctioned by third parties. Previous analyses have either relied on strong assumptions about information transmission, or have been limited to equilibria that are not robust to noise or in which players are indifferent. I use a simple construction based on modal actions to obtain results for strict and robust equilibria. <b>Learning repeated-game strategies</b> The literature on boundedly rational learning has tended to focus on stagegame actions. I present a stochastic learning rule for repeated-game strategies. Players form beliefs about their opponent’s strategy based on past actions and best-respond. Occasionally, they make mistakes and experiment, and I show that the equilibrium selected depends on exactly how players make mistakes. Simple specifications of the learning rule yield intuitive selection results: the maxmin, or Rawlsian, outcome; the Nash bargaining solution; the maximum of the sum of payoffs; and a generalisation of risk dominance.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Hospitality Management / Kristin Malek / Kevin R. Roberts / This experimental study explores how different marketing tactics, such as advertising types, message appeals, and social norms, influence attitude toward the advertisement, attitude toward the convention, and pro-environmental intention. This research has three objectives: to determine how message types in green advertising affect attitudes and intentions, to examine how message appeals in green advertising affect attitudes and intentions, and to investigate the role of social norms in green advertising in the formation of those attitudes and intentions. To examine the effects of message type, message appeals, and social norms on convention attendees’ behavioral intentions toward such a convention, a 2 (message type) x 2 (message appeals) x 2 (social norms) experimental design was adopted. This was chosen given its recognized ability to clarify associative relationships by enhancing internal validity and the robustness of findings. Several hypotheses were tested with a sample of convention attendees from the United States using Amazon Mechanical Turk. Specific findings from this study include that fact that green marketing messages combining verbal claims and visual claims were significantly more effective than messages using verbal claims only. Additionally, messages with emotional appeals were significantly more effective than ones with rational appeals and messages with injunctive norm claims were significantly more effective than ones with descriptive norm claims. As the first study of its kind to empirically investigate the use of green advertising in the context of conventions, this research involved several novel applications of various theories and a conceptual model. This study utilizes research from several disciplines whose examples can inform green marketing strategies in the convention industry. At the end, the researcher discusses the possible implications of its own findings for the convention industry in addition to its segment in the broader hospitality industry in the United States.

As the human population grows, so too does the need to understand human behavior. One particularly important aspect of human behavior is how it changes within conglomerations of people, i.e. crowds. In this thesis, a method for modeling crowd behavior is proposed. This method draws inspiration from the concept of behavioral intention and the related forces of attitudes, influences, and social norms. These topics are first defined and detailed, followed by a survey of related research. Next, the model is presented and adapted to three common crowd dynamics, each stressing a different component of behavioral intention. Observations are made about these models, and extensions to the models and directions for future research are considered.

The current study employed the self-validation hypothesis (Petty, Brinol, & Tormala, 2002) to test how thought confidence affects individuals’ responses to social norms regarding gay rights. After measuring their gay rights attitudes and thought confidence, participants took part in a discussion where they faced groups that either opposed their position on gay rights unanimously or non-unanimously (i.e., 4 opposing confederates vs. 3 opposing confederates and one supporting confederate). Those who were anti-gay rights conformed more than those pro, particularly when facing unanimous opposition. Thought confidence reduced the effects of normative pressure on conformity, but only in those who were anti-gay rights. Attitude change was reduced for anti-gay rights people with high thought confidence, but only when a supporting confederate was present. These results suggest that thought confidence affects resistance to social norms in people who are anti-gay rights whereas pro-gay rights people resist regardless of their level of thought confidence.

The present study examined how environmental attitudes and behaviors can be affected using social norms. The study employed a 2 (participant position: pro-environmental or anti-environmental) × 2 (context condition: face-toace or computer mediated communication) × 2 (normative pressure: unanimous or non-unanimous) quasi-experimental design. Participant position was a nonrandomized group classification factor based on responses to a screening survey. Attitude extremity was controlled for in analyses. Participants initially anti-environmental reform and in the non-unanimous normative pressure condition had significantly less attitude change than that of those who were anti-environmental reform and in the unanimous normative pressure condition. Pro-environmental reform people were not affected by the variations in group pressure. Higher rates of conformity found in the computer mediated context did not translate into attitude change. No differences were found in political behavior. Findings suggest that advertising employing unanimous normative pressure in a face-toace interaction would persuade anti-environmentalists to become more pro-environmental.

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