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Robert Cialdini and his colleagues conducted a field experiment to investigate whether manipulating the message on a card left in hotel rooms would influence guests to reuse their towels. By comparing messages emphasizing environmental respect, hotel donations, or social norms (stating that most guests reuse towels), they found that the social norm message was the most effective. Because the study took place in a naturalistic setting, it achieved high external validity and mundane realism. However, it also serves as an example of prioritizing validities, as its statistical validity was more modest; this discrepancy does not invalidate the study, but rather highlights areas for improvement in future follow-up research.

Cialdini's Hotel Towel Field Experiment

In a field experiment conducted in hotel rooms, researchers placed different cards encouraging guests to reuse their towels. Messages varied in their appeal—some emphasized environmental protection, some highlighted hotel donations to environmental causes, and one informed guests that the majority of previous guests had reused their towels. Which type of message was found to be the most effective at increasing towel reuse?

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