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Shifting Social Norms, Sparking Action.
Evidence-Based Behavior Change
Our Philosophy
At Sage Messaging, we use social norms to inform creative campaigns that foster real connection and change. Rather than simply delivering information, we tap into the values and behaviors that already exist within communities—amplifying what people see as positive and possible.
Social Norms 101
A social norm is the shared expectation of how people in a community typically think, feel, or act. These unwritten rules shape daily behavior, guiding what is seen as acceptable or common practice. Because individuals often look to the people around them for cues, social norms have powerful influence—encouraging behaviors that either help or hinder collective wellbeing.
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The Positive Community Norming (PCN) approach builds on this influence by amplifying the healthy, supportive behaviors that already exist within a group. Instead of focusing only on risks or problems, PCN emphasizes strengths and highlights the positive majority. This creates a more accurate and hopeful view of the community, showing that most people are already engaging in behaviors that support safety, health, and connection.
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For mission-driven organizations, PCN offers a way to ignite meaningful change by shifting perceptions, reinforcing shared values, and aligning action with purpose. By leveraging the power of existing positive behaviors, organizations can build trust, inspire participation, and mobilize communities toward a common vision—helping them not only achieve their mission but also strengthen the culture that sustains it.
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The Process
Our work follows a step-by-step process rooted in social norms change principles and evidence-based strategies for shifting behavior.
1
Listen and Learn
We begin by grounding our approach in community voice. Using a survey grounded in an evidence-based framework, we explore existing community and individual beliefs around the behavior we are looking to change.
2
Identifying Strengths to Amplify
Rather than focusing on problems, we analyze the data to identify positive norms already present in the community—behaviors and values we could build on.
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3
Craft Meaningful Messages
Based on these insights, we develop clear, affirming messages designed to align with local values and culture.
​At the heart of this message development is co-creation with the community through focus groups and iterative feedback pathways.
4
Get Creative
This involves developing a marketing strategy to share these messages across platforms, reaching diverse audiences. This could include video creation, digital ad development, poster design, social media campaigns, and/or local outreach—all aimed at promoting social norms to achieve our goals.
5
Reinforce and Sustain
Throughout the campaign, we work to reinforce key messages and create space for ongoing dialogue. Our goal is not just a short-term shift, but lasting cultural change, or social norms change. This is a way to make a sustainable systems-level difference on issues close to our hearts.
A Story:
Reducing Child Abuse in Montezuma County
A Social Norms Change Approach to Behavior Change
In partnership with United Way of Southwest Colorado and the Child Maltreatment Prevention Action Team, Sage Messaging helped lead a local campaign in Montezuma County focused on strengthening support for families.
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The campaign encouraged open conversations about parenting, asking for help, and building a community where everyone plays a role in helping families thrive. Through research-based strategies and messages rooted in local values, we worked to shift how people see support—not as a sign of weakness, but as something we all deserve and can offer to one another.
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Below, you'll see a video we created as a part of the overall campaign to encourage this mindset. The video was played at local movie theaters, promoted on social media, and integrated into the larger marketing campaign.
Approach
Our campaign was shaped by input from over 500 local residents who shared their views on how our community supports families. Using a survey grounded in the Positive Community Norming framework, we explored how people think others act and what they believe others expect when it comes to offering help or stepping in to prevent child maltreatment.
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These insights guided a media campaign designed to reach people across Montezuma County. At its heart was a simple but powerful message: Montezuma County Supports Each Other—reminding us that helping families is something we all can do, and something our community values.
