Latane and Wolf (1981) concluded that social impact theory offers a complex explanation for conformity andis able to explain minority and majority influence.They stated an individuals behaviour in any situation can be predicted in terms of 3 factors:

• Strength - In terms of the number of people, or th consistancy of the message.
• Status/Knowledge - an expert in any given subect is more likely to influence an individual
• Immediacy - the closer you are physically or psychologically to an individual group/person, the greater effect they will have on you to conform.

Insko et al. (1983)

Aim: to research whether normative and informational influence can work together/at the same time.

Method: Participants worked in groups of 6 (4 confederates and 2 real participants). They were shown a coloured slide and asked to decide which of the 2 slides had a more simular colour to the original slide. A control condition tested Partiipants alone to establish the most frequant answer. The 4 confederates were positioned so that they answered before the genuine participants. The confederates always gave the most infrequant answer established by the control group.
There were 2 independant variables:

1) Public VS private answers (the participants were asked to either answer aloud or in private to establish normative influence)

2) Determined VS Undetermined (The researcher either claimed that there was a way of knowing which slide was closer in colour, or the researcher stated that it was a matter of opinion - this established informational confrmity)

Results: Conformty was higher in the public test conditions, compared to the private test conditions.
Conformity was higher in the determined trials than the undetermined.

Conclusion: People conform more generally when they are giving their answers in publi because or normative influence and informational influence can add to normative influence, so the 2 can work together to increase the amount of conformity.