Christine Domegan

Social marketing: implications for contemporary marketing practices classification scheme

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to reflect upon social marketing and its implications for the contemporary marketing practices (CMP) classification scheme.Design/methodology/approach – The paper adopts a theoretical approach. Examples from the public engagement with science are used in the reflection.Findings – A phenomenon not commonly associated with social marketing is the growing number of science communication, outreach and public activities to engage the public with science. These scientific initiatives, established to drive knowledge‐based societies around the world, are charged with changing the publics behaviour towards science. This analysis shows the application of the CMP classification explicitly to the broader context of social marketing.Originality/value – This paper examines how complex multiple exchanges, and social and environment influences, associated with social marketing provide a broader context to examine marketing practice. Further investigation is needed as to whether a s...

Value Co-Creation in Social Marketing: Functional or Fanciful?

Purpose – Value co-creation thinking is reshaping the understanding of markets and marketing and presents a significant opportunity to develop the theory and practice of social marketing. However, whilst value co-creation offers thought-provoking new directions for the field, applying this theory and its core concepts in social marketing is not without significant challenges. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – This is a conceptual paper that seeks to integrate lessons from social marketing practice with the value co-creation discourse from commercial marketing. Drawing upon two projects that have applied principles of collaboration and co-design, the paper provides a critical perspective on the adoption of value co-creation in social marketing. Findings – The collaborative and emancipatory ambitions of co-creation seem highly compatible with social marketing. However, the paper notes some significant conceptual, ethical and practical obstacles in the path of a workable t...

The adoption of information technology in customer service

Many leading firms across Europe are harnessing information technology to cultivate customer service as a valuable asset to achieve strategic superiority. The key findings of this IT/customer service adoption study emphasize three main points. First information technology acts as an enabling tool in achieving customer service advantages in three ways: clerical effectiveness/automation; operational efficiency; and/or information generation and strategic effectiveness or transformation. Second, customer service is being nurtured as a valuable asset in differentiating products in one or more of four forms: distribution, transaction, relationship and/or strategic. Third, there is a direct positive correlation between the exploitation of IT in customer service and the degree of information orientation. The conclusion presents a model of this adoption process of IT in customer service. These findings reflect “leading” business practice in the use of IT in customer service.

Systems-thinking social marketing: conceptual extensions and empirical investigations

ABSTRACT Systems thinking dominated the 2015 World Social Marketing conference with the premise that a more holistic approach takes into account all the issues at play for effective change. Augmenting the broadening social marketing literature, we contend that systems-thinking social marketing enhances the field’s conventional behavioural change with concepts of scale, causation, and iterative co-creating change processes for complex health and environmental problems. The results of our empirical Sea for Society study, a sustainable European marine ecosystem examination of what the barriers to change are and how they are interrelated, find systems-thinking social marketing offers the potential to strategically and critically reinforce, not replace, behavioural change campaigns. With systems-thinking social marketing, a coherent theory of change becomes a possibility. Orchestrating social change may become a reality.

Intervention to improve the quality of antimicrobial prescribing for urinary tract infection: a cluster randomized trial.

Background: Overuse of antimicrobial therapy in the community adds to the global spread of antimicrobial resistance, which is jeopardizing the treatment of common infections. Methods: We designed a cluster randomized complex intervention to improve antimicrobial prescribing for urinary tract infection in Irish general practice. During a 3-month baseline period, all practices received a workshop to promote consultation coding for urinary tract infections. Practices in intervention arms A and B received a second workshop with information on antimicrobial prescribing guidelines and a practice audit report (baseline data). Practices in intervention arm B received additional evidence on delayed prescribing of antimicrobials for suspected urinary tract infection. A reminder integrated into the patient management software suggested first-line treatment and, for practices in arm B, delayed prescribing. Over the 6-month intervention, practices in arms A and B received monthly audit reports of antimicrobial prescribing. Results: The proportion of antimicrobial prescribing according to guidelines for urinary tract infection increased in arms A and B relative to control (adjusted overall odds ratio [OR] 2.3, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.7 to 3.2; arm A adjusted OR 2.7, 95% CI 1.8 to 4.1; arm B adjusted OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.3 to 3.0). An unintended increase in antimicrobial prescribing was observed in the intervention arms relative to control (arm A adjusted OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.2 to 4.0; arm B adjusted OR 1.4, 95% CI 0.9 to 2.1). Improvements in guideline-based prescribing were sustained at 5 months after the intervention. Interpretation: A complex intervention, including audit reports and reminders, improved the quality of prescribing for urinary tract infection in Irish general practice. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, no. NCT01913860

From restricted to complex exchange and beyond: social marketing’s change agenda

ABSTRACT The forward thinking body of social marketing knowledge, rooted in commercial marketing tools, suffers from two potentially interlinked crisis of identity. First, there is the question of behavioural change to address difficult social problems. This embraces the development of co-ordinated multi-domain approaches for large scale social transformation. Second, there is the concept of exchange, the defining characteristic of social marketing yet problematic and the least researched of its benchmark criteria. Recognising the centrality of exchange, we address the broadening social marketing discourse, suggesting a focus beyond restricted to complex exchanges. This paper presents the insights from the application of Interactive Management, a system-based methodology, embracing a systemic change and a complex exchange agenda. Our case study finds the contexts for restricted and complex exchanges through barriers as well as structural and influence maps. Understanding complex exchanges closes the gap between the theoretical and practical debates surrounding contemporary social marketing and the role and function of exchange theory.

Using qualitative insights to change practice: exploring the culture of antibiotic prescribing and consumption for urinary tract infections

Objectives The aim of this paper is to explore the culture of antibiotic prescribing and consumption in the community for urinary tract infections (UTI) from the perspective of the general practitioners (GPs) and community member. Design Indepth interviews were conducted with GPs, and focus groups were held with community members. Setting General practice and community setting. Participants 15 GPs practising in rural and urban locations in Ireland participated in the indepth interviews. 6 focus groups (n=42) with participants who had direct or indirect experiences with UTI were also undertaken. Results The decision to prescribe or consume an antibiotic for a UTI is a set of complex processes including need recognition, information search and evaluation processes governed by the relationship and interactions between the GP and the patient. Different GP and patient decision-making profiles emerged emphasising the diversity and variety of general practice in real-life settings. The GP findings showed a requirement for more microbiological information on antibiotic resistance patterns to inform prescribing decisions. Focus group participants wanted a conversation with the GP about their illness and the treatment options available. Conclusions Collectively, this research identified the consultation as a priority intervention environment for stimulating change in relation to antibiotics. This paper demonstrates how qualitative research can identify the interacting processes which are instrumental to the decision to prescribe or consume an antibiotic for a suspected UTI. Qualitative research empowers researchers to investigate the what, how and why of interventions in real-life setting. Qualitative research can play a critical and instrumental role in designing behavioural change strategies with high impact on practice. The results of this research were used to design a complex intervention informed by social marketing. Trial registration number NCT01913860; Pre-results.

Value, values, symbols and outcomes

This essay provides an overview of the contemporary academic discourse and challenges regarding the role of values and valuations in service. Situating service within the larger socio-economic networks brings to the fore the plurality of values and the recognition that value creation is (both) a social and market activity. This raises important questions regarding the role of symbols, the nature of outcomes and the processes of valuing as they come together in markets, in organizations and in other social domains. The essay then prioritizes a number of interdisciplinary research opportunities that relate market exchange to social exchange, emphasize the collaborative nature of value creation among particular agents, and examine the impacts of such value co-creation across specific market, social and environmental domains.

Supporting the improvement and management of prescribing for urinary tract infections (SIMPle): protocol for a cluster randomized trial

BackgroundThe overuse of antimicrobials is recognized as the main selective pressure driving the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance in human bacterial pathogens. Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most common infections presented in primary care and empirical antimicrobial treatment is currently recommended. Previous research has identified that a substantial proportion of Irish general practitioners (GPs) prescribe antimicrobials for UTIs that are not in accordance with the Guidelines for Antimicrobial Prescribing in Primary Care in Ireland. The aim of this trial is to design, implement and evaluate the effectiveness of a complex intervention on GP antimicrobial prescribing and adult (18 years of age and over) patients’ antimicrobial consumption when presenting with a suspected UTI.Methods/designThe Supporting the Improvement and Management of Prescribing for urinary tract infections (SIMPle) study is a three-armed intervention with practice-level randomization. Adult patients presenting with suspected UTIs in primary care will be included in the study.The intervention integrates components for both GPs and patients. For GPs the intervention includes interactive workshops, audit and feedback reports and automated electronic prompts summarizing recommended first-line antimicrobial treatment and, for one intervention arm, a recommendation to consider delayed antimicrobial treatment. For patients, multimedia applications and information leaflets are included. Thirty practices will be recruited to the study; laboratory data indicate that 2,038 patients will be prescribed an antimicrobial in the study. The primary outcome is a change in prescribing of first-line antimicrobials for UTIs in accordance with the Guidelines for Antimicrobial Prescribing in Primary Care in Ireland. The study will take place over 15 months with a six-month intervention period. Data will be collected through a remote electronic anonymized data-extraction system, a text-messaging system and GP and patient interviews and surveys. The intervention will be strengthened by the implementation of a social marketing framework and an economic evaluation.Trial registrationThis intervention is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, IDNCT01913860.

The history of marketing thought: a teaching reflection

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to reflect upon teaching the history of marketing thought.Design/methodology/approach – The paper describes the role of the history of marketing thought within a marketing theory seminar at masters level. It presents how the history of thought aspect changed as the theory course evolved.Findings – It is possible to feature a historical component within a masters programme. Adaptations and limitations exist when teaching a historical perspective at a masters versus doctoral level.Originality/value – The history of marketing thought provides a means of connecting marketing academic study to marketings lineage and genealogy with the intention of promoting historically versed graduates. It can differentiate between the evolution of marketing thought and the development of marketing practice. From a pedagogical perspective, it facilitates informed discussion, critical reflection and analytical thinking in newcomers to the subject.