Montana’s MOST of Us ® Don’t Drink and Drive Campaign : a social norms strategy to reduce impaired driving among 21-34-year-olds.

This report presents the results of a demonstration project to test the efficacy of a high-intensity social norms media intervention to reduce the prevalence of driving after drinking among 21 to 34-year-olds living in western Montana. A baseline survey was conducted to collect self-reported data on the target population’s behavior with respect to impaired driving, as well as on their perceptions of the behavior of their peers. Normative messages and media were developed from these data. Each survey gathered information on respondents’ exposure to the campaign message, and on their perceptions and reported behaviors regarding driving after drinking. The campaign successfully reduced the target population’s misperceptions of the frequency of impaired driving among their peers. The change in perceptions was associated with a change in reported behavior. In the target area there was a 13.7-percent relative decrease in the percentage that reported driving after drinking and a 15-percent relative increase in the percentage that reported always using non-drinking designated drivers. A high-intensity paid media social norms intervention can be successful on astatewide scale, across a wide variety of measures including perceptions, reported behaviors, attitudes, and support for policy. However, additional research is warranted to corroberate the self-reported behaviors with changes in the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of arrested drivers or numbers of alcohol-related fatalities. (Author/publisher)