Social Marketing

1. Social Marketing Lecture I COMT 492/592

2. 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.

3. 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

4. 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.

5. Causes Targets complex, psychological processes Tries to change deeply held beliefs Requires sophisticated research Needs emotional “hook” Ads Target simpler, feel-good behaviors (e.g. purchasing) Fit into existing social norms Research can be more informal Simple slogans Social Marketing vs. Advertising

6. 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

7. 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 2000-2003 • Globally: increased from 2.1 million in 2003 to 17.6 million in 2004

8. Prevalence (cont’d) • 45.5 million HIV+ worldwide • Deaths • 16,000 people died from AIDS in US in 2003

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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 – Access & availability of recommended services/behavior Price – Perceived costs & benefits of undertaking new behavior Promotion – Mix of media Personal selling Incentives Campaign Planning requires more than simply insisting that people take on a new behavior

12. Social Marketing Directly benefits target individuals or society Commercial Marketing Profit Sales Objective

13. Target audience • Social • Audience is primary • Centered on target customer • Extensive audience research required • Start with customer’s perspective • Demographics • Beliefs about behavior • Social norms about behavior • Beliefs in efficacy

14. Alternative approaches • Health education • Persuasion • Behavioral modification • Social influence

15. 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

16. Educational approach • Cons: • Focuses on changing beliefs, NOT behavior • Ignores effects of social pressure • Facts can have a boomerang effect

17. Persuasion • Assumption = Action takes place only if people are sufficiently motivated. • Goal = Discover careful arguments and motivational “hot” buttons. • Theory = ?

18. Persuasion • Cons: • It is top-down. Focus is on getting customer to accept persuader’s point of view. • Not customer-centered.

19. 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

20. 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

21. Social marketing • Consumer is bottom line • Cost-effective • Strategies begin with customer • Four P’s = Product, price, place & promotion • Market research is extensive • Audience segmentation • Competition recognized

22. 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

23. Marketing research is key • Formative research • Audience segmentation • Understanding needs & wants • Perceived costs & benefits • Pre-testing • Test customer’s reactions to materials before disseminating • Monitoring research • Track audience responses • Use feedback to tinker, revise message strategies

24. 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.

25. 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 I’m gone, I tell you, don’t smoke. Whatever you do, just don’t smoke.” • “If I could take back that smoking, we wouldn’t be talking about any cancer.”

26. 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

27. 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.

28. 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 isn’t 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 won’t really hurt) UC-Santa Barbara, UNC-Chapel Hill, UTexas-Austin, UWisconsin-Madison. National Television Violence Study. Studio City, CA: Mediascope, 1997.

29. TV videos in Nigeria related to increased family planning • 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.

30. TV celebrities can influence what people read & buy: When Oprah Winfrey recommends a book, it sells! • Thousands of books in print before & after selection by Oprah • The Deep End of the Ocean, Jaquelyn Mitchard • Song of Soloman, Toni Morrison • The Book of Ruth, Jane Hamilton Thigpen DE. Winfrey’s winners. Time, Dec. 2, 1996

31. 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.

32. Media’s 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.