Problem:There are over 23,000 students at the university but only enough facilities for a small fraction (Warwick University, 2015). Seat hogging is therefore a common occurrence in the library, as well as using computer desk spaces for written or laptop work and talking on silent floors. This is inconsiderate and an urgent problem. A change is necessary in order to maximise the availability and efficiency of the limited library space. The upcoming exam period justifies this as talking on silent floors disrupts the learning of students who require silence in order to work efficiently. Further justification resides in the fact that certain courses may require specialist software which are exclusively available on Warwick computers (e.g. SPSS).Solution:Our project aimed to promote ‘library etiquette.’ In an attempt to change the said behaviour, we dispersed posters promoting the proper ‘library etiquette’ – that is, the opposite behaviour to the common problem behaviours exhibited. These posters were placed around the library and within the Psychology common room. They included various persuasive techniques known to be effective in influencing behaviour. Rhetorical questions, social proof and guilt/fear are just three examples of techniques which have been used due to evidence showing their success in influencing behaviour changes (Cialdini, 2009; Burnkrant & Howard, 1984; Dillard & Anderson, 2004).We also created a Facebook page to share the posters online. This allowed us to reach a wider audience and reinforced the messages we were promoting. This follows the mere exposure effect, a technique which indicates individuals prefer, and are more receptive towards, familiar faces (Zajonc, 2001). Group Members: Nazarene Sutherland, Helen Munt & Damola Adebari. ReferencesBurnkrant, R. E., & Howard, D. J. (1984). Effects of the use of introductory rhetorical questions versus statements on information processing. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 47, 1218-1230.Cialdini, R. B. (2009). Social Proof: Truth Are Us. Influence: Science and Practice USA: Pearson Education Inc.Dillard, J. P., & Anderson, J. W. (2004). The role of fear in persuasion. Psychology & Marketing, 21,909-926. Warwick University. (2015). Retrieved from https://www2.warwick.ac.uk/about/profile/people/Zajonc, R. B. (2001). Mere exposure: A gateway to the subliminal. Current Directions in Psychological  Science, 10, 224-228.

For our project we created a Facebook page, ‘Mindfulness Matters’, to persuade followers to start practicing Mindfulness. Research has shown mindfulness to be effective in many areas, particularly in reducing stress (Brown & Ryan, 2003; Khoury et al., 2013). As university can be a highly stressful time for many people, we felt that educating people on how to practice mindfulness would equip them with the appropriate tools to prevent and deal with stressful periods.Various tips and posts relating to the topic of mindfulness were posted on this page. Through this page we managed to reach 79 Facebook users and shared useful information about mindfulness with them, which could help them incorporate it into their own lives. We also used this page to publicise an upcoming even at the University of Warwick library. This event included a meditation session and a talk about mindfulness which both relate to the stress-release exercises that we previously suggested on our page. We shared the event and promoted it on our page, encouraging students to go and participate in the sessions targeted at reducing anxiety and helping students cope with stress. We had permission from the library staff to do so. To promote awareness of mindfulness, we created posters which were then stuck up at the University of Warwick library. As is shown above, the poster features an image of celebrity actress, Emma Watson. Our reason for using her image was so that we could increase compliance for mindfulness use through the celebrity endorsement effect. Celebrity endorsement has been shown to increase compliance (Erdogan, 1999) as people often associate perceived characteristics (e.g. likability and attractiveness) of the celebrity with the product (or in this case, mindfulness) being advertised, thus making it more desirable for the audience. Along with the posters, we also stuck up a sign up sheet, which encouraged people to sign and publicly show their commitment to mindfulness by agreeing to take 2 minutes out of their day to just focus on themselves and their breathing. This was aimed at reducing their stress and anxiety and to help them feel more positive. The sign up sheet makes use of the ‘foot-in-the-door’ technique (Freedman & Fraser, 1966), which suggests that if someone agrees to a small request then they will be more likely to agree to a subsequent larger request. By asking them to comply to a small request of trying out a mindfulness technique for 2 minutes, we hoped that our audience would be more likely to try out mindfulness properly for an extended period of time on their, although we did not measure this. This also incorporates the principle of consistency (Petrova, Cialdini & Sills, 2007), as we hope that people will be more likely to try out mindfulness in the future having signed up and committed to this two minute trial, to remain consistent with their previous behaviour. References:Brown, K. W., & Ryan, R. M. (2003). The benefits of being present: mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of personality and social psychology, 84, 822.Erdogan, B. Z. (1999). Celebrity endorsement: A literature review. Journal of marketing management, 15, 291 – 314. Freedman, J. L., & Fraser, S. C. (1966). Compliance without pressure: the foot-in-the-door technique. Journal of personality and social psychology, 4, 195. Khoury, B., Lecomte, T., Fortin, G., Masse, M., Therien, P., Bouchard, V., … & Hofmann, S. G. (2013). Mindfulness-based therapy: A comprehensive meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 33, 763-771.Pretrova, P. K., Cialdini, R. B., & Sills, S. J. (2007). Consistency-based compliance across cultures. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 43, 104-111. By: Navina GandhiRebecca RooneyLiam WardFlorence Cambridge 

The aim of our project was to make a positive change in students’ attitude towards the participation in on-campus activities and promote the involvement in the SU societies outside their academic life. To tighten the connection between students and on-campus societies, we introduced the idea of having a forum for societies with up-to-date information on all events. We propagated our idea using a variety of mediums, including a questionnaire survey, a poster and emails to the societies officer at Warwick University.First, we carried out a survey in the library by randomly asking 52 students to fill in a short questionnaire with questions about their current involvement in societies and whether such a forum could raise their interest in society events (Figure 1).Figure 1. A survey on society participation and experienceAs shown in Figure 2, 21% of the students were not involved in any societies; 80% felt that they could be more aware of the up-to-date events on campus. What has been emphasized was that the majority of students (85%) would like a societies forum with up-to-date information of all society events. Year of study % Year 1 29 Year 2 21 Year 3 42 Year 4 6 Master 2 Involved in any society? % Yes 79 No 21 Could be more aware of what’s going on on-campus? % Yes 81 No 9 I don’t know 10  Having a forum for societies with up-to-date info on all events? % Positive 85 Neutral/Negative 15 Would it increase your involvement with societies? % Positive 71 Neutral/Negative  29  Positive attitude changes in non-society members’ behaviour % Change in attitude 73 Attitude remain unchanged 27 Figure 2. Results of the surveyAfter collecting the responses, we created a poster in order to persuade Warwick students, societies’ committee members, and the societies officer to support setting up of the events forum.Figure 3.  Persuasive poster – We want to be more connected!Subsequently, we wrote an email to George Creasy, the societies officer of Warwick, together with the poster in an attempt to persuade him to consider the forum as an effective platform on which latest information could be found. Finally, we received the reply from George (Figure 5 & 6).Figure 4. An email to the SU societies officerFigure 5. A reply from the SU societies officerEmma HuangNkhanise PhiriYannie Lau