Norm-Relevant Messages under Uncertainty

Abstract

Social-information messages are widely used to influence norm perceptions and norm-relevant behavior, but their effects may depend on what they report and how they are disclosed. This paper develops a belief-based framework connecting personal values, perceived social norms, and empirical expectations through inference about a latent appropriateness standard. The framework identifies two mechanisms: reported statistics encode previous participants' private information differently, and public disclosure changes what recipients believe others know and infer. These mechanisms imply stronger effects for perceived-norm than personal-value messages, and for public than private disclosure.