Extending the return potential model with a descriptive normative belief measures

Norm research continually informs our understanding of the relationships between societies and natural resources. This research note presents an operationalization of descriptive beliefs within the return potential model (RPM) framework. We observed significant differences between a traditional RPM measure of approval and a descriptive measure of commonness in the context of boaters’ aquatic invasive species mitigation behaviors. These results provide empirical evidence of two normative belief dimensions manifesting with different structure and characteristics within the same natural resources setting. The implications of these results are twofold: (1) they demonstrate the utility and added value of an RPM that conceptualizes and operationalizes multiple normative belief dimensions and (2) provide researchers and managers with a methodology that is complementary to established methods but improves the comprehensiveness of applied norm research within natural resource settings.