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This study compared the influence of descriptive and injunctive alcohol norms on the self-reported drinking rates of female and male university freshmen. A systematic random sample of 518 Colorado State University freshmen was sent a mail survey on personal alcohol use, perceptions of peer alcohol norms, and awareness of alcohol education campaigns on campus in the spring of 2006. The study found that participants overestimated peer alcohol use and peer permissiveness of alcohol use. Participants' self-reported drinking rates positively correlated more with misperceptions of peer descriptive alcohol norms than their misperceptions of peer injunctive alcohol norms; however, all correlations were weak. Female participants had stronger positive correlations between self-reported drinking rates and misperceptions of peer descriptive alcohol norms than did male participants. Neither male nor female participants were highly aware of 4 out of 5 alcohol education campaigns on campus. The findings suggest that social norms campaigns might not be successful in lowering drinking rates among participants due to their low campaign awareness and low correlations between drinking rates and social alcohol norms. More research is needed to reexamine possible gender differences in the effects of descriptive and injunctive alcohol norms on college drinking rates. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of responsible drinking campaigns on attitudes toward campaign, intent to follow the message, attitudes toward the sponsor, intent to support the sponsor, attitudes toward drinking, and intent to drink were studied by considering the effects of perceived motives and sponsor credibility. In the non-profit organization condition, socially beneficial motives lead to the strongest intent to follow the requested action whereas; self-interested motives generated the weakest one. When the alcohol company was perceived self-oriented, subjects showed a higher level of intent to follow the campaign message. Under a low-credibility situation, subjects showed a greater intent to follow the requested action when they perceived motives as self-interested whereas under a high-credibility situation, they show the opposite trend. Public attributions of the alcohol companies' self-serving motives are related to positive attitudes toward the companies as well as their campaign, and consequently, linked to attitudinal and behavioral reactions to alcohol consumption ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]