Social Marketing

Lecture I
COMT 492/592

Overview

Social marketing

Application of proven concepts and

techniques from commercial sector to
promote changes in diverse socially important
behaviors such as drug use, smoking, sexual
behavior and family planning.

Goals

Social marketing seeks to impact personal

behavior by persuading target audiences
to:

Avoid risky practices (e.g., smoking)

Discontinue antisocial actions (e.g., littering)
Seek counseling
Take preventive measures (e.g., safety belts)
Join, give or organize for a specific cause

Terms

Social marketing

Use of private marketing principles for social

causes; however, it is so broadly defined that
no one common definition exists.

Cause-related marketing

Public relations by non-profits, or corporate

sponsorship of social causes.

Social Marketing vs. Advertising

Causes

Targets complex,
psychological
processes
Tries to change deeply
held beliefs
Requires sophisticated
research
Needs emotional
hook

Ads

Target simpler, feelgood behaviors (e.g.

purchasing)
Fit into existing social
norms
Research can be more
informal
Simple slogans

Deep psychological processes

underlie most social behaviors

Addiction

Alcohol, drug use, risky behaviors

Resistance to change

Audience denial
Fear defense mechanisms
Disinterest in changing behavior
Lack of perceived threat/benefit
Peers may encourage risk behavior
Fear of losing peer approval
Lack of self-efficacy

Prevalence

127 per 100,000 HIV+ in U.S. in 2003

406,000 AIDS cases in U.S.
Ethnicity

50% of cases among Blacks

Increasing among Whites, Hispanics, & Asian/Pacific-Islanders

Sex

73% of cases among men

Increasing among women:

U.S.: 15% more cases among women vs. 1%, among men 20002003
Globally: increased from 2.1 million in 2003 to 17.6 million in 2004

Prevalence (contd)

45.5 million HIV+ worldwide

Deaths

16,000 people died from AIDS in US in 2003

Transmission

MSM & heterosexual contact account for 79% of

HIV transmission in U.S.
Men

62% MSM
16% IDU
13% heterosexual
8% MSM + IDU

Women

73% heterosexual
25% IDU

Barriers

Potential of social marketing

unappreciated
People are hard to change
Media is privately owned; airtime is
expensive
Social marketing is often done poorly; it is
NOT the same as advertising
Lack of conceptual underpinnings

Campaign Planning
requires more than simply insisting that
people take on a new behavior

It requires careful
consideration of:

Product

Nature of behavior to
be promoted
Need to ensure quality
before you can promote
a behavior or service

Place

Price

Access & availability of

recommended
services/behavior
Perceived costs &
benefits of undertaking
new behavior

Promotion

Mix of media
Personal selling
Incentives

Objective

Social Marketing

Directly benefits target

individuals or society

Commercial
Marketing

Profit
Sales

Target audience

Social

Audience is primary
Centered on target customer
Extensive audience research required
Start with customers perspective
Demographics
Beliefs about behavior
Social norms about behavior
Beliefs in efficacy

Alternative approaches

Health education
Persuasion
Behavioral modification
Social influence

Health education

Assumption = Individual will do the right thing if

they understand the benefits and how to carry it
out.
Goal = Bring facts to audience in compelling
manner.
Theory = Health Belief Model (Hochbaum, 1958)

Perceived susceptibility
Perceived severity of threat
Perceived benefits of action
Perceived barriers to action

Educational approach

Cons:

Focuses on changing beliefs, NOT behavior

Ignores effects of social pressure
Facts can have a boomerang effect

Persuasion

Assumption = Action takes place only if

people are sufficiently motivated.
Goal = Discover careful arguments and
motivational hot buttons.
Theory = ?

Persuasion

Cons:

It is top-down. Focus is on getting customer to

accept persuaders point of view.
Not customer-centered.

Behavioral modification

Assumption = People learn by observing

others and seeing them get rewarded or
punished for behaviors.
Cons:

Costly
Hard to implement on a mass audience scale

Social influence approach

Assumption = Influencing community norms and

social norms is the best way to bring about
change (Wallack, 1990).
Cons:

Social norms must be well understood

Limited to situations where pressures to conform are
strong
Only applies to visible behaviors
May not be as relevant to more educated individuals

Social marketing

Consumer is bottom line

Cost-effective
Strategies begin with customer
Four Ps = Product, price, place & promotion
Market research is extensive
Audience segmentation
Competition recognized

Customer is bottom line

Increased knowledge and awareness are

not enough
Behavior change is necessary for success
Understanding audience needs & wants is
seen as essential ingredient
Social marketing offering (product) must
accommodate be presented in a way audience needs

Marketing research is key

Formative research

Pre-testing

Audience segmentation
Understanding needs & wants
Perceived costs & benefits
Test customers reactions to materials before
disseminating

Monitoring research

Track audience responses

Use feedback to tinker, revise message strategies

Success stories

National High Blood Pressure Education

Program, 1972 -1982

Goal = get people to have blood pressure checked

Strategy = Porter/Novelli in DC
Results =

By 1982, people who knew relationship between blood

pressure & stroke increased from 29% to 59%; and those
who knew b.p. & heart disease from 24% to 71%.
By 1985, half of hypertensives had taken some action to
control b.p. (e.g., cutting salt, exercise, or losing weight).
By 1988-91, 73% of hypertensives were taking action.

Success stories

American Cancer Society

Yul Brynner Tells folks that he has died from the

cause the sponsor is trying to prevent
I really wanted to make a commercial when I
discovered that I was sick and my time was limited.
I wanted to make a commercial that says simply, now
that Im gone, I tell you, dont smoke. Whatever you
do, just dont smoke.
If I could take back that smoking, we wouldnt be
talking about any cancer.

Success stories

Smokey Bear (Ad Council/National Forest

Service)

Animation, jingles, scenic beauty

Smoky is simple, straightforward and caring
Smoky, although targeted at kids, appealed to
all ages

What effect?

Studies are few

Sex on TV increases perception that
peers are having sex
Teens unlikely to learn safe sex from TV
Aggressive sex on TV increases
acceptance of rape & sexual abuse
Advocates for Youth, 1996. ASHA, 1996.

Media effects

TV violence studies show that violent

programming teaches adolescents:

behavior modeling (cool people are violent)

social norms (guns are powerful)
desensitization (killing people isnt so bad)

Same effects may occur with sex on TV:

behavior modeling (stars have risky sex)

social norms (premarital sex is OK)
desensitization (violent sex wont really hurt)

UC-Santa Barbara, UNC-Chapel Hill, UTexas-Austin, UWisconsin-Madison.

National Television Violence Study. Studio City, CA: Mediascope, 1997.

TV videos in Nigeria related to

increased
family
planning
30

25
20
15
%using

10

TV/radio

5
none

Contraceptive use by
Nigerian women in
1993 who had seen
music videos and TV
dramas to promote
family planning in
1989-92

Westoff C, Rodriguez G, Bankole A. Family Planning and Mass Media Effects.

Unublished paper. Princeton University, 1996.

TV celebrities can influence what

people read & buy: When Oprah
Winfrey recommends a book, it sells!

The Deep End of the

Ocean, Jaquelyn Mitchard
Song of Soloman, Toni
Morrison
The Book of Ruth, Jane
Hamilton

Thigpen DE. Winfreys winners. Time, Dec.

2, 1996

before
after

Hamilton

900
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0

Morrison

Thousands of books in
print before & after
selection by Oprah

Mitchard

PSAs promote condoms in

Portland, Oregon 1992-94

Teens who used condoms in last month

increased from 32% to 40%
Teens who used condoms with casual
partners rose from 72% to 90%
Teens who planned to discuss condoms
with next partners rose from 53% to 80%

Blair J. PSI/Project ACTION: Improving Teen Risk Reduction. Unpublished

paper. Population Services International, 1995.

Medias potential

Media can be powerful

Media are not being used to their full
potential

In Western Europe, 3/4 of population learns

about STDs from TV, books or magazines
In U.S., 1/4 learn about STDs from media
ASHA, 1996.