The impact of descriptive social norms on coproduction: How communication frames matter

Citizen co*production is increasingly promoted in public governance. Based on behavioural science, we examine effectiveness of descriptive social norms on coproduction. Two survey experiments reveal that generally both positive and negative norms can promote citizens’ coproduction willingness, with a stronger effect of positive norms. However, under individual communication frames, citizens exposed to positive norms are more willing to coproduce; conversely, under societal communication frames, citizens exposed to negative norms are more willing to coproduce. This study expands theoretical insights into social norms affecting coproduction and its boundary conditions of communication frames and offers practical guidance for governments to encourage coproduction.