Moving Toward a Theory of Normative Influences: How Perceived Benefits and Similarity Moderate the Impact of Descriptive Norms on Behaviors RAJIV N. RIMAL Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA MARIA K. LAPINSKI Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA RACHEL J. COOK Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA KEVIN REAL University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, USA In recent years researchers have focused attention on understanding the role of nor- mative factors in influencing behaviors. Although there is some evidence to support the idea that restructuring normative beliefs can result in behavior change, the norms literature is largely silent about how or why this influence occurs. The theory of nor- mative social behavior describes the moderators of the descriptive norm-behavior relationship. Through a 2 (descriptive norms: high or low)  2 (perceived benefits: high or low)  2 (similarity: high or low) between-subjects experiment (N ¼ 174), we tested whether these cognitive mechanisms moderated the norms- behavior link. Results indicated that descriptive norms do not exert a direct influence on behavior. Rather, perceived benefits moderated the relationship between descrip- tive norms and behavioral intention and perceived similarity moderated the relation between descriptive norms and self-efficacy. Interventions aimed at changing behaviors by reshaping people’s normative beliefs show a great deal of promise (Borsari & Carey, 2003; Haines & Spear, 1996), and these programs have gained popularity in recent years, especially in the domain of alcohol consumption on U.S. campuses (Wechsler & Kuo, 2000). These efforts are guided by the underlying belief that if individuals’ perceptions about norms can be changed, then behavior change will occur. There is some evidence to support this belief (Bator & Cialdini, 2000), but findings from research that tests the causal link between norms and behaviors are inconsistent (Bagozzi, Wong, Abe, & Bergami, This research was conducted during the first author’s tenure at the University of Texas at Austin. Address correspondence to Rajiv N. Rimal, Department of Health Policy & Manage- ment, Johns Hopkins University, 624 N. Broadway, Hampton House 739, Baltimore, MD 21209. E-mail: rrimal@jhsph.edu Journal of Health Communication, 10:433–450, 2005 Copyright # Taylor & Francis Inc. ISSN: 1081-0730 print/1087-0415 online DOI: 10.1080/10810730591009880 433