Laura McDermott

A systematic review of social marketing effectiveness

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review the effectiveness of social marketing interventions in influencing individual behaviour and bringing about environmental and policy‐level changes in relation to alcohol, tobacco, illicit drugs and physical activity. Social marketing is the use of marketing concepts in programmes designed to influence the voluntary behaviour of target audiences in order to improve health and society.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is a review of systematic reviews and primary studies using pre‐specified search and inclusion criteria. Social marketing interventions were defined as those which adopted specified social marketing principles in their development and implementation.Findings – The paper finds that a total of 54 interventions met the inclusion criteria. There was evidence that interventions adopting social marketing principles could be effective across a range of behaviours, with a range of target groups, in different settings, and can influence policy and p...

The meaning, effectiveness and future of social marketing.

The unique feature of social marketing is that it takeslearning from the commercial sector and applies it to theresolution of social and health problems. This idea datesback to 1951, when Wiebe asked the question ‘Can broth-erhood be sold like soap?’ For the first time, people beganto think seriously that methods used very successfully toinfluence behaviour in the commercial sector might transferto a non-profit arena. Wiebe evaluated four different socialchange campaigns, and concluded that the more similaritiesthey had with commercial marketing, the more successfulthey were.Over the next two to three decades, marketers and publichealth experts developed and refined this thinking, learningparticularly from international development efforts, wheresocial marketing was used to inform family planning anddisease control programmes (1). Social marketing thinkingand techniques spread to the developed world, and socialmarketing is now located at the centre of health improve-ment in several countries. In the USA, social marketing isincreasingly being advocated as a core public health strat-egy for influencing voluntary lifestyle behaviours such assmoking, drinking, drug use and diet (2).Last year in the UK, the potential of social marketingwas recognized in the White Paper on Public Health, whichtalks of the ‘power of social marketing’ and ‘marketingtools applied to social good’ being ‘used to build publicawareness and change behaviour’ (3). The National SocialMarketing Centre, led by the National Consumer Counciland the Department of Health, has been established to‘help realise the full potential of effective social marketingin contributing to national and local efforts to improvehealth and reduce health inequalities’ (4).Social marketing – like generic marketing – is not atheory in itself. Rather, it is a framework or structure thatdraws from many other bodies of knowledge such as psy-chology, sociology, anthropology and communicationstheory to help us understand how to influence people’sbehaviour (5). Several definitions of social marketing exist,but one of the most useful is Andreasen’s, which describessocial marketing as follows:Social marketing is the application of commercial mar-keting technologies to the analysis, planning, executionand evaluation of programs designed to influence thevoluntary behaviour of target audiences in order toimprove their personal welfare and that of society. (6)Four key features are illustrated in this definition. Thefirst is a focus on

International food advertising, pester power and its effects

The increasing importance of children as consumers has focused attention on ‘pester power’: children’s influence over adult purchasing through requests and demands for certain products. Many concerns are expressed about pester power, including that it increases parent-child conflict. In the contested area of food marketing, an additional and particularly potent criticism of pester power is that it can undermine parents’ attempts to feed their children a healthy diet. Results from a systematic review of international evidence find that food advertising does cause ‘pestering’ by children and results in parents buying less healthy products that are associated with obesity. This undermines industry arguments that pester power is just a legitimate way for children to express their growing autonomy as consumers. Policy implications for marketers and government are discussed.

Putting social marketing into practice

Social marketing is acquiring a familiar ring to people in the health sector. The UK governments recent public health white paper talks of the “power of social marketing” and “marketing tools applied to social good [being] used to build public awareness and change behaviour.”1 This has led to the formation of the National Social Marketing Centre for Excellence, a collaboration between the Department of Health and the National Consumer Council. The centre will develop the first social marketing strategy for health in England. Similarly, the Scottish Executive recently commissioned an investigation into how social marketing can be used to guide health improvement. Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States all have social marketing facilities embedded high within their health services. Evans has outlined social marketings basic precepts.2 We develop some of these ideas and suggest how social marketing can help doctors and other health professionals to do their jobs more effectively. Marketing has long been a force to be reckoned with in public health. In the hands of the tobacco, alcohol, and food industries it has had a well documented effect on our behaviour.3–6 In the case of tobacco companies this has culminated in extensive controls being placed on their marketing activities. Social marketing argues that we can borrow marketing ideas to promote healthy behaviour. If marketing can encourage us to buy a Ferrari, it can persuade us to drive it safely. Marketing is based on a simple and unobtrusive idea: putting the consumer and the stakeholder at the heart of the business process. Whereas Henry Ford focused on selling what he could produce—any colour you want as long as its black—modern marketers invert this rubric and produce what they can sell. This deceptively simple change has revolutionised …

The paradoxical food buying behaviour of parents: Insights from the UK and Australia

Purpose – This article aims to explore the apparent paradox between the nutritional knowledge of parents of pre‐school children and their actual food purchase and preparation behaviour.Design/methodology/approach – Two separate qualitative data collection exercises were conducted, an exploratory focus group study in the UK and a projective technique study in Australia.Findings – The UK study found that, despite believing that vegetables were good for childrens health, mothers also perceived that it was extremely difficult to encourage children to eat them. The results of Australian study suggest that the purchase of unhealthy “treats” or “bribes” is explained through the concept of “expediency” whereas what this study labels as “good parenting” emerged as the main motivational force leading to the purchase of healthy food.Research limitations/implications – The authors caution on any inappropriate generalisations being based on the findings of this study. Further qualitative and quantitative empirical re...

Bridging the gap between evidence and practice: A multi-perspective examination of real-world drug education

Aims: The study examined normative school drug-education practice in Scotland and the extent to which it reflected the evidence base for effective drug education. Methods: Current guidance in Scotland was compared with systematic review evidence on drug-education effectiveness; a survey was mailed to primary, secondary and special schools (928 questionnaires returned); and 100 drug-education lessons were systematically observed across 40 schools. Findings: Nearly all schools provided drug education but modes of delivery and learning approaches did not always reflect the evidence base. There was a strong reliance on information provision and more limited use of social influences, resistance and normative approaches. Teaching was reasonably interactive, particularly with teachers who had been trained. Although drug education was provided across all school years, there was limited linkage and some duplication of content for different age groups. The rationale for resource use was not always clear, and some resources were inappropriate for pupils. Conclusions: Recommendations for closing the gap between evidence and practice include: guidance that emphasizes more strongly the weight of evidence behind recommendations; training in effective approaches; greater continuity and integration of drug education across the whole curriculum; a review of resources; and better guidance on using external visitors.

Towards evidence-based marketing: the case of childhood obesity

Contentious commodities such as tobacco, alcohol and fatty foods are bringing marketing under scrutiny from consumers and policymakers. Yet there is little agreement on whether marketing is harmful to society. Systematic review (SR), a methodology derived from clinical medicine, offers marketers a tool for providing resolution and allowing policymakers to proceed with greater confidence. This article describes how SR methods were applied for the first time to a marketing problem — the effects of food promotion to children. The review withstood scrutiny and its findings were formally ratified by government bodies and policymakers, demonstrating that SR methods can transfer from clinical research to marketing.