Keeping up with my neighbors: The influence of social norm feedback interventions on recycling behavior in urban multifamily buildings

Abstract

Existing research indicates comparative social norm feedback can be influential in nudging recycling in more sustainable directions, but little work has explored this mechanism in urban multifamily buildings. This research builds upon existing work in this area by conducting 12 weeks of interventions in two multifamily buildings in New York City, in which one building (n=372) received weekly comparative feedback comparing their building's recycling to neighbors and another building (n=602) received weekly non-comparative feedback data about their building only. Two main findings emerged: (1) Data indicate increased recycling by bag weight (interpolated for a one-year period from the weights of waste samples) in the intervention period in both buildings, pointing to effectiveness in increasing recycling from social norm feedback, and (2) the comparative feedback mechanism appears to be a stronger driver of behavior change. Takeaways from this work can inform urban policy and property manager decision-making for solid waste management.