Timo Dietrich

Moderating teen drinking: combining social marketing and education

Purpose – This paper outlines a pilot study that was undertaken in Australia in 2011 that combined social marketing with education. An intervention targeting 14‐16 year olds to influence attitudes and behavioural intentions towards moderate drinking was developed and tested. Game On:Know alcohol (GO:KA) is a six‐module intervention that is delivered to a year level cohort in an auditorium. GO:KA combines a series of online and offline experiential activities to engage (with) students.Design/methodology – Following social marketing benchmark criteria, formative research and competitive analysis were undertaken to create, implement and evaluate an intervention. The intervention was delivered in one all boys’ and one all girls’ school in April and June 2011, respectively. A total of 223 Year 10 students participated in GO:KA with the majority completing both pre‐ and post‐surveys. Paired samples t‐tests and descriptive analysis were used to assess attitudinal and behavioural intention change.Findings – Attit...

One size (never) fits all: segment differences observed following a school-based alcohol social marketing program

BACKGROUND According to commercial marketing theory, a market orientation leads to improved performance. Drawing on the social marketing principles of segmentation and audience research, the current study seeks to identify segments to examine responses to a school-based alcohol social marketing program. METHODS A sample of 371 year 10 students (aged: 14-16 years; 51.4% boys) participated in a prospective (pre-post) multisite alcohol social marketing program. Game On: Know Alcohol (GO:KA) program included 6, student-centered, and interactive lessons to teach adolescents about alcohol and strategies to abstain or moderate drinking. A repeated measures design was used. Baseline demographics, drinking attitudes, drinking intentions, and alcohol knowledge were cluster analyzed to identify segments. Change on key program outcome measures and satisfaction with program components were assessed by segment. RESULTS Three segments were identified; (1) Skeptics, (2) Risky Males, (3) Good Females. Segments 2 and 3 showed greatest change in drinking attitudes and intentions. Good Females reported highest satisfaction with all program components and Skeptics lowest program satisfaction with all program components. CONCLUSION Three segments, each differing on psychographic and demographic variables, exhibited different change patterns following participation in GO:KA. Post hoc analysis identified that satisfaction with program components differed by segment offering opportunities for further research.

Differential segmentation responses to an alcohol social marketing program

OBJECTIVE This study seeks to establish whether meaningful subgroups exist within a 14-16 year old adolescent population and if these segments respond differently to the Game On: Know Alcohol (GOKA) intervention, a school-based alcohol social marketing program. METHODOLOGY This study is part of a larger cluster randomized controlled evaluation of the GOKA program implemented in 14 schools in 2013/2014. TwoStep cluster analysis was conducted to segment 2,114 high school adolescents (14-16 years old) on the basis of 22 demographic, behavioral, and psychographic variables. Program effects on knowledge, attitudes, behavioral intentions, social norms, alcohol expectancies, and drinking refusal self-efficacy of identified segments were subsequently examined. RESULTS Three segments were identified: (1) Abstainers, (2) Bingers, and (3) Moderate Drinkers. Program effects varied significantly across segments. The strongest positive change effects post-participation were observed for Bingers, while mixed effects were evident for Moderate Drinkers and Abstainers. CONCLUSIONS These findings provide preliminary empirical evidence supporting the application of social marketing segmentation in alcohol education programs. Development of targeted programs that meet the unique needs of each of the three identified segments will extend the social marketing footprint in alcohol education.

Co-designing services with vulnerable consumers

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how vulnerable consumers can be involved in transformative service design and how this approach may enhance the design of such services. The study also analyzes how co-design with vulnerable consumers differs from existing user involvement processes with the purpose of developing a co-design framework. Design/methodology/approach A case study approach was employed, with six high schools in Australia identified as sites to conduct co-design sessions for a school-based alcohol education program. Adolescents were invited to review and (re)design an existing alcohol education program. Findings The study indicates that co-design with vulnerable consumers cannot be approached in the same way as conventional user involvement processes. Based on the insights generated from six co-design sessions as well as the examination of user involvement and co-design literature, the authors propose a six-step co-design framework. The six steps comprise resourcing, planning, recruiting, sensitizing, facilitation and evaluation. Research limitations/implications The co-design framework illustrates important differences to conventional user involvement processes. However, the generalizability of the research findings is limited to a specific study setting and a narrowly defined sample. Future research in a different setting is needed to further validate the presented findings. Practical implications For service design practice, this study provides guidelines on how co-design activities with vulnerable consumers can be effectively resourced, planned, recruited, sensitized, facilitated and evaluated. The framework outlines how co-design may be applied so that vulnerable consumers can become empowered participants during the design process. Originality/value This research contributes to the knowledge in transformative service research – a priority in service research – and service design by extending the boundaries of our understanding of processes and tools for the involvement of vulnerable consumers in transformative service design.

A Systematic Literature Review of Alcohol Education Programmes in Middle and High School Settings (2000-2014).

Purpose – Social marketing benchmark criteria were used to understand the extent to which single-substance alcohol education programmes targeting adolescents in middle and high school settings sought to change behaviour, utilised theory, included audience research and applied the market segmentation process. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – A systematic literature review retrieved a total of 1,495 identified articles; 565 duplicates were removed. The remaining 930 articles were then screened. Articles detailing formative research or programmes targeting multiple substances, parents, families and/or communities, as well as elementary schools and universities were excluded. A total of 31 articles, encompassing 16 qualifying programmes, were selected for detailed evaluation. Findings – The majority of alcohol education programmes were developed on the basis of theory and achieved short- and medium-term behavioural effects. Importantly, most programmes were universal and d...

Co-designing social marketing programs

Purpose – Most alcohol education programs are designed by experts, with the target audience largely excluded from this process. Theoretically, application of co-creation which comprises co-design and co-production offers an opportunity to better orient programs to meet audience needs and wants and thereby enhance program outcomes. To date, research has centered on value co-creation, with content co-design receiving limited research attention. This study aims to understand how a target audience would design an intervention and continues by contrasting an audience-designed program with the earlier implemented expert-designed program. Design/methodology/approach – Six co-design sessions were conducted with 58 Year 10 adolescents, aged between 14-16 years old, who had participated in Game On: Know Alcohol, a program developed by experts to address binge drinking. The data were content analyzed. Findings – Analysis revealed that a co-designed program would differ substantially from the expert-driven Game On: K...

Co-designing with young consumers – reflections, challenges and benefits

Purpose - This paper aims to explore co-design as a method for actively involving young consumers in the design of an alcohol education program that utilizes an interactive Virtual Reality (VR) com ...

Segmentation in Social Marketing: Why We Should Do It More Often that We Currently Do

The assumption underpinning use of the market segmentation process is the belief that consumers have different wants which cannot be satisfied by a single one-size-fits-all marketing program. In this book we show that market segmentation is a crucial element of social marketing. This chapter serves as an introduction to the book and provides an overview of its main parts. In the first part—Segmentation in Social Marketing—we have four chapters reviewing the current state of knowledge on the use of segmentation in social marketing and we place market segmentation’s role within a wider social marketing context. In the second part—Segmentation process, methods, and application—in three chapters we introduce a five-step segmentation process for social marketing programs, describe different approaches to segmentation, and provide key resources for social marketers seeking to employ the methods described. And in the final part—Segmentation in practice—we have four chapters presenting different case studies detailing how segments have been derived in social marketing in a broad range of contexts including healthy lunches, alcohol and adolescents, and recycling.

“Everyone was wasted”! Insights from adolescents’ alcohol experience narratives

Purpose This paper aims to examine the socialization of alcohol through a reflective writing task within a social marketing program delivered to adolescents. The aim was to elicit adolescents’ experiences and perceptions of alcohol and investigate cognitions, emotions, attitudes’ and behaviors regarding alcohol. Design/methodology/approach This study used a qualitative approach in which 1,214 adolescents aged 14 to 16 years were invited to write a story about an experience that involved alcohol. Data were qualitatively coded, and themes were discerned by an inductive analytic process. Findings Adolescents’ perceptions of alcohol were arranged along a continuum from mere description with little analysis to reasoned reflection and cognition. Qualitatively different socializing agents, learning situations, processes and effects of learning were apparent in the narratives. Family roles influenced adolescents’ perceptions and experiences of alcohol. Research limitations/implications This study supports the use of narratives and reflective introspection tasks as methods that uncover insights into the socialization of alcohol among adolescents. Findings provide guidance to social marketers and alcohol educators for future program design. By understanding the continuum of developing socializations toward alcohol, social marketers can effectively engage adolescents and design targeted programs involving key social learning variables that shape adolescents’ perceptions and experiences with alcohol. Originality/value Narratives provide a research methodology that can bring consumer voice to inform scenarios that can be delivered in future program design.

Segmenting Australian High School Students Utilising a Two-Step Cluster Analysis: Differential Effects Following the Game on Know Alcohol Program

The majority of alcohol education programs in school settings follow a one-size-fits-all approach meaning that they are using the identical program (universal programs) for all participants (Botvin and Griffin 2007; Foxcroft and Tsertsvadze 2012). However, a one-size-fits-all approach may limit program effectiveness as large numbers of the audience may be left dissatisfied, uninterested, or unchallenged (Snyder et al. 2004). This study is part of a larger cluster randomised control design research project that is implementing and evaluating an alcohol social marketing education program named Game On: Know Alcohol (GOKA) that is currently in field.