Social norms at crosswalks: Impact on pedestrian-yielding behavior and nudge intervention effectiveness

We conduct two surveys to investigate the underlying mechanism of drivers’ pedestrian-yielding behavior (DPYB) from a social norms perspective (Study 1), and design a norm-based intervention to assess its potential to alter DPYB (Study 2). In Study 1, we compare the normative expectations of DPYB between Zhejiang Province, which has a high pedestrian-yielding rate (PYR), and Hubei Province, which has a low PYR. The social norms in these two provinces differ significantly. Respondents from Zhejiang perceive others yielding for pedestrians more frequently (descriptive norm, DN), and are more likely to consider non-yielding behavior inappropriate (injunctive norm, IN). Both DN and IN significantly influence DPYB, indicating the causal effect of social norms on DPYB. In Study 2, to enhance the generalization of Study 1′s results, we expand the target provinces from two to nine, confirming the results from Study 1. Additionally, we design a norm-based ’nudge’ intervention aimed at promoting DPYB. This intervention would be implemented within a ride-hailing platform, which is widely used in China and could potentially provide a cost-effective means of supervising DPYB compared to other interventions like surveillance camera, as ride-hailing cars can access any street while the number of intersections with cameras is limited. Through a survey experiment, we compare the acceptance and perceived effectiveness of the nudge intervention with three other interventions: scrolls, ground paint and surveillance cameras. The nudge intervention and the introduction of surveillance cameras were found to be particularly effective. Interestingly, although there were no significant differences in acceptance among the four tested interventions, respondents from high PYR provinces had significantly higher acceptance and perceived effectiveness of the nudge intervention than those from the low PYR provinces. Our findings suggest that social norms play a crucial role in intervention design and a reliable measure for assessing an intervention’s effectiveness. The results encourage the policymakers to implement norm-based nudge intervention but highlight the need to consider existing social norms in shaping the effectiveness and receptivity of nudge-based strategies. This research underscores the significance of leveraging social norm as a focal point for designing interventions to enhance driver behavior towards increased pedestrian safety.