scholarly journals A systematic review assessing the extent of social marketing principle use in interventions targeting children (2000-2014)

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Kubacki ◽  
Sharyn Rundle-Thiele ◽  
Ville Lahtinen ◽  
Joy Parkinson

Purpose – This study aims to review the extent that social marketing principles are applied in interventions targeting children published in peer-reviewed journals between 2000 and 2014. Design/methodology/approach – A systematic literature review was conducted to identify peer-reviewed social marketing studies targeting children under the age of 12 years as their main audience. Twenty-three interventions were identified and analysed using Andreasen’s (2002) social marketing benchmark criteria including behavioural objective, audience segmentation, formative research, exchange, marketing mix and competition. Findings – All of the interventions analysed in this review targeted behaviours associated with either physical activity or healthy eating among children under the age of 12 years. Sixteen of the studies reported positive behavioural outcomes. None of the studies used all six of the Andresean (2002) benchmark criteria. Social implications – With growing concerns about the prevalence of obesity among children, social marketing is emerging as an effective approach to increase physical activity and healthy eating, which in turn may assist to lower obesity. Extending the application of the social marketing benchmark criteria in social marketing interventions will assist to increase effectiveness. Originality/value – This paper presents the first attempt to review the extent that social marketing principles are used in interventions targeted at children aged 12 years and under.

2017 ◽  
Vol 117 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Kubacki ◽  
Rimante Ronto ◽  
Ville Lahtinen ◽  
Bo Pang ◽  
Sharyn Rundle-Thiele

Purpose A significant proportion of the world’s adult population is insufficiently active. One approach used to overcome barriers and facilitate participation in physical activity is social marketing. The purpose of this paper are twofold: first, this review seeks to provide a contemporary review of social marketing’s effectiveness in changing physical activity for the better; and second, it seeks to ascertain the extent that Andreasen’s (2002) six social marketing benchmark criteria have been applied in social marketing interventions targeting physical activity. Design/methodology/approach In total, 94 articles covering 26 social marketing interventions were identified following systematic literature review procedures. Findings None of the interventions gave evidence that they addressed all six social marketing benchmark criteria, and only four interventions addressed five criteria. The results indicate that three of the benchmark criteria, namely, behavioural objectives, formative research, and marketing mix are well utilised in social marketing interventions. Inclusion of market segmentation, exchange and competition offers potential to extend further on social marketing’s effectiveness in increasing physical activity. Originality/value The results of the current study indicate that increasing the number of benchmark criteria used in an intervention to at least four increases the chances of achieving positive behavioural outcomes.


2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shamini Manikam ◽  
Rebekah Russell-Bennett

Purpose – Despite the importance of theory as a driving framework, many social marketers either fail to explicitly use theory as the basis of designing social marketing interventions or default to familiar theories which may not accurately reflect the nature of the behavioural issue. The purpose of this paper is therefore to propose and demonstrate the social marketing theory (SMT)-based approach for designing social marketing interventions, campaigns or tools. Design/methodology/approach – This conceptual paper proposes a four-step process and illustrates this process by applying the SMT-based approach to the digital component of a social marketing intervention for preventing domestic violence. Findings – For effective social marketing interventions, the underpinning theory must reflect consumer insights and key behavioural drivers and be used explicitly in the design process. Practical implications – Social marketing practitioners do not always understand how to use theory in the design of interventions, campaigns or tools, and scholars do not always understand how to translate theories into practice. This paper outlines a process and illustrates how theory can be selected and applied. Originality/value – This paper proposes a process for theory selection and use in a social marketing context.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Satyam Mishra ◽  
Bikramjit Rishi

Purpose Marketing tools used in public policy may not be purely commercial but based on non-commercial marketing exchanges also. This paper aims to make a case for the practice of social marketing principles to aid the context of public policy. Design/methodology/approach The approach is to draw out the key implementable learnings (KILs) from the analysis of the five public policy initiatives in the USA, India and Sri Lanka. A case situation with the context of child labour policy in India is proposed to use these KILs. Findings This paper concludes that the implementation of any policy is a challenging exercise and dependent on a large number of factors. However, KILs derived from successful social marketing programs deal with umbrella campaigns, prevailing socio-cultural environment, bottom-up communication, upstream approach to engage with stakeholders and targeted media advocacy could prove useful when the objective is to induce behaviour change as a part of the policy execution. Originality/value This paper evaluates the learnings from social marketing campaigns and their relevance to public policy programs. It also considers a case to demonstrate the application of the concept.


2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-9

Purpose This paper aims to present a theoretical model with a special emphasis on developing social marketing strategies and tactics that account for industry involvement. The overall goal is to enhance social marketing effectiveness. Design/methodology/approach A planning model is presented which helps the social marketer account for industry involvement in the social or public health problem. Findings The paper finds that conducting an analysis of the causal influences of the social or public health problem helps to inform strategy development. Originality/value The paper presents a planning mode that can be useful in identifying industry contributions to social problems and in anticipating industry opposition to social change. The model is particularly appropriate for developing social marketing programs in which industry involvement is present.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 357-375
Author(s):  
Ville Lahtinen ◽  
Timo Dietrich ◽  
Sharyn Rundle-Thiele

Purpose The marketing mix has been extensively criticised by scholars and practitioners, which has led marketing scholars to redefine the original 4P concept, expand the 4Ps with additional Ps and develop new concepts to replace the marketing mix. However, there is very limited empirical testing assessing the effectiveness of the original marketing mix (4Ps). Design/methodology/approach This research applies a field experiment to assess whether the application of a full marketing mix (4P) is more effective than a promotion only campaign (1P) when aiming to increase fruit and vegetable (FV) intake of 6–13-year-old Finnish children. A total of 15 schools were randomly assigned to 4P, 1P and control settings. Data was collected from schoolchildren using the Day in the Life Questionnaire. Findings A repeated measures analysis involving 1,076 children demonstrated that a full application of the marketing mix (4P) is more effective than a promotion only (1P) campaign in increasing FV intake within children. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first empirical test of the effectiveness of the commercial marketing mix against a promotion only strategy in social marketing.


2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khondker Galib B. Mohiuddin ◽  
Ross Gordon ◽  
Christopher Magee ◽  
Jeong Kyu Lee

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual framework of cool for social marketing through a comprehensive literature review and integrating extant literature on cool. Design/methodology/approach A comprehensive search and review of extant literature across social marketing, business disciplines, arts, psychology, social sciences and humanities was undertaken to develop an understanding of cool and its relevance to social marketing. The review permitted developing a comprehensive set of characteristics that are associated with cool. Findings A conceptual framework of cool organised according to the following dimensions is presented and discussed: deviating from norm, self-expressive, indicative of maturity, subversive, pro-social, evasive, and attractive. Originality/value This paper advances theoretical knowledge in the social marketing domain by offering a conceptual framework of cool, and by suggesting a set of guidelines to develop cool social marketing programs.


2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 198-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann-Marie Kennedy ◽  
Andrew Parsons

Purpose – The aim of this article is to explore how social engineering and social marketing are connected, and how social marketing is a tool used to achieve adherence to social engineering. Design/methodology/approach – Through examination of contemporary and historical thinking around social marketing, we present a conceptual argument that social marketing is another tool of the social engineer, and that social engineering, through methods such as social marketing, is pervasive throughout all societies in positive ways. Findings – We develop a conceptual model of social engineering and social marketing, which goes beyond behaviour change to incorporate the essentials of society and the influencers of those essentials. In doing so, we show that social marketing influenced behaviour lies within the social engineering influenced laws, codes and norms of society, which in turn lie within the morals, values and beliefs of society. Originality/value – This article provides for the first time a conceptual grounding of social marketing within social engineering, enabling academics and practitioners to contextualise social marketing activities in a broader societal framework.


2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeff French ◽  
Rebekah Russell-Bennett

Purpose – This paper aims to set out a new hierarchical and differentiated model of social marketing principles, concepts and techniques that builds on, but supersedes, the existing lists of non-equivalent and undifferentiated benchmark criteria. Design/methodology/approach – This is a conceptual paper that proposes a hierarchical model of social marketing principles, concepts and techniques. Findings – This new delineation of the social marketing principle, its four core concepts and five techniques, represents a new way to conceptualize and recognize the different elements that constitute social marketing. This new model will help add to and further the development of the theoretical basis of social marketing, building on the definitional work led by the International Social Marketing Association (iSMA), Australian Association of Social Marketing (AASM) and European Social Marketing Association (ESMA). Research limitations/implications – This proposed model offers a foundation for future research to expand upon. Further research is recommended to empirically test the proposed model. Originality/value – This paper seeks to advance the theoretical base of social marketing by making a reasoned case for the need to differentiate between principles, concepts and techniques when seeking to describe social marketing.


2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 194-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heidi Hennink-Kaminski ◽  
Chioma Ihekweazu ◽  
Amber E. Vaughn ◽  
Dianne S. Ward

Although social marketing principles have been successfully employed in school-based obesity prevention interventions, their use in early care and education (ECE) settings has been limited. This paper reports on formative research to develop Healthy Me, Healthy We ( HMHW), an innovative social marketing campaign that encourages partnership between parents and providers to foster healthy eating and physical activity in preschoolers. To guide campaign development, we consulted existing literature and identified useful theories. In addition, three focus groups with providers ( n = 17) and four with parents ( n = 20) were conducted to understand strategies used to instill healthy habits in children, perceptions of how their personal behaviors influence children, and the usefulness of parent–provider partnerships. Parents and providers recognized healthy eating and physical activity as important to the development of the “whole child.” Both groups expressed feeling great responsibility for shaping children’ habits and being a role model for healthy behaviors, particularly for healthy eating. While parents and providers felt partnership was important, areas of conflict emerged with how partnerships should be executed. There is great potential for such partnerships, but careful communication is needed to avoid triggering feelings of guilt among parents and perceptions of superiority among providers. These findings informed campaign development, which was pretested in an ECE setting. The resulting HMHW campaign is delivered by the childcare center and includes materials for classroom and home use. The campaign helps strengthen parent–provider partnerships to encourage healthy eating and physical activity habits during early childhood, a critical period in the development of lifelong health habits.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 280-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeff French ◽  
Rebekah Russell-Bennett ◽  
Rory Mulcahy

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the potential contributions of the for-profit sector in integrating resources with social marketing organisations for value co-creation at the meso level (midstream) of the social marketing eco-system. The paper addresses calls for further theorisation and understanding of value co-creation beyond the micro level (downstream). Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws from social marketing, value co-creation and eco-systems literature to present a conceptual model for meso-level value co-creation between social marketing and for-profit organisations. FindingsThe paper proposes four dimensions of resources which can be integrated: cognitive, labour, economic and network. Additionally, it is proposed that from these integrated resources, three co-creation outcomes can be achieved – co-learning, co-design and co-production – which lead to improved value propositions. Practical implicationsThis paper offers a framework for strategic planning and evaluation regarding partnerships and collaborations with for-profit organisations, which potentially lead to greater value propositions being offered. Originality/valueThis paper furthers the theoretical discussions and understanding of value co-creation in social marketing at the meso level. The paper identifies a new actor – for-profits – as a potential collaborator for value co-creation with social marketing organisations and contributes new understanding about value co-creation at the meso level between social marketing and for-profit organisations. Further, the paper describes and reviews the potential contributions of for-profits to social marketing efforts.


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