How Advertising Beauty Influences Children’s Self-Perception and Behavior

The authors investigate (1) whether the physical attractiveness stereotype applies to children, (2) whether children’s self-perception is influenced by the attractiveness of an advertising model, (3) whether children’s buying intentions are influenced by the attractiveness of an advertising model, and (4) whether age, gender, and materialism affect (1), (2), and (3). Results of an experimental research (N=185) confirm the presence of the “what is beautiful is good” stereotype in children. Attractive (versus less attractive) models were also perceived to be less likely to follow the rules. Contrary to expectations from research in adult samples, the presence of an attractive (versus less attractive) model has a positive influence on perceived physical appearance for both boys and girls and also a positive influence on general self-worth for girls. The authors also found that attractive (versus less attractive) models increase attitudes and buying intentions for boys, but not for girls. No effects of age and materialism were found.

Strong Value Proposition through Social Media Tools

This chapter looks into social media tools being leveraged by marketing groups of various organisations. More specifically, this chapter attempts to identify the usefulness, sustainability, and reliability of social media tools in the context of the brand image of American Express. In the last two years, American Express has launched numerous touch points on various social media platforms, which include Facebook, LinkedIn, and FourSquare. The chapter concludes that social media tools do impact the brand building exercise of an organisation to offer strong value proposition, and therefore, American Express should also invest such effort to stay a leader in the payment industry. However, in order to target younger customers there is a need for revamping and rejuvenation the value proposition so as to remain young, meaningful, and contemporary.

Millennium Development Goals

This chapter introduces the business audience to Millennium Development Goals (MDG) proposed by the United Nations in 2000 that were accepted as policy markers by nations on all continents. Current status of achievements in the MDG is summarized to draw attention to the current needs in each of the eight MDGs. Further, the theory of creative capitalism is used to draw connections between MDG and business strategies. It is suggested that businesses are in a unique position to help achieve the MDG while strengthening their market base and behaving in a socially responsible and responsive manner. The research concludes by providing a possible roadmap for achieving the MDG by the target year 2015 based on a mutually beneficial alliance between the corporate sector and the state. The study will be of interest to scholars, educators, public policy makers, and business professionals.

Cause-Related Marketing

Cause-related marketing is established by a corporation that wishes to continue its philanthropic efforts by choosing one organization, or cause, with which to associate. Simply, it is a partnership between a corporate organization and a non-profit where there is a mutually beneficial relationship. In the context of cause relatedness, a triad may consist of the consumer, the firm, and the cause. This chapter identifies and discusses the consumer evaluations along with the issues and challenges of cause-related marketing. The chapter concludes that for all businesses there is need to be more socially responsible rather than just being customer responsible.

Employing Consumer Perception Insights to Address Dissonance and Increase Product Acceptance

The essence of the chapter is use of communication mix used for addressing the dissonance of the women among reproductive age regarding long-term contraceptives. The use of Intrauterine Device (IUD) has remained static at around two percent for the last decade and a half, despite IUDs being an effective reversible contraceptive. There are many myths and misconceptions prevalent in the communities, which have resulted in this low use of IUD. The different communication channels, interpersonal counseling, mass media, medical detailing and helpline, have the same objective of raising awareness and dispelling negative words regarding IUD. An outbound call through helpline is based on the principle of AIDAS (Awareness Interest Desire Action Satisfaction). A helpline call through counselor help in assuring women of the method adopted and creates brand ambassadors for IUD, who in turn motivate other women in the community.

Using Social Marketing to Encourage the Purchase of Fuel-Efficient Vehicles

With a looming future shortage of fossil fuels, how can consumers be convinced to purchase more fuel-efficient vehicles? To begin to address this basic question, it is necessary to examine consumer attitudes toward the environment, consumer decision-making models, consumer willingness to trade luxury or personal comfort in order to buy smaller and more Fuel-Efficient Vehicles (FEVs), and price sensitivity with regard to purchasing hybrid vehicles or other Alternate Fuel Vehicles (AFVs). By understanding the consumer dynamics behind the purchase of FEVs and AFVs, an effective strategy for social marketing can be developed.

Dynamics of Competitive Sustainable Advantage

The emergence of sustainability as a common denominator of today’s way of doing business is undisputable. Yet, most companies see corporate social responsibility as an annoyance, involving regulations and extra cost, therefore missing the intrinsic complexity and interdependencies between shareholder value and sustainable value. This chapter explores ways in which corporations can pursue economic, social, and environmental objectives simultaneously while creating shared values. True sustainability, as in the case of Patagonia Inc., is a great source of competitive advantage for the company, since it can increase employee satisfaction, decrease its carbon footprint, and maintain good business practices while reaping the benefits continued revenue and profit growth.

Applying Social Marketing to Healthcare

There is now an emerging view of health care as a sector of the economy. The subject is increasingly gaining the interest of policy makers and health care industry researchers as a way of modifying the incidence and impact of unhealthy behavior and disease. Health-related social marketing is the systematic application of commercial marketing principles to achieve behavioral goals relevant to improving health and reducing health inequalities. Whilst commercial marketing seeks to influence behavior for profit, social marketing encourages behaviors that provide well being for individuals or for society as a whole. Several studies set out the importance of using a social marketing approach to encourage positive health behavior. There are therefore a number of challenges and opportunities for social marketing to be used to change health care consumer behavior. Social marketing has been used to persuade a specific audience, mainly through mass media, to adopt an idea, a practice, a product, or all three. To develop social marketing programs, marketers must know about the problem to be addressed, understand the audience to be targeted, and interpret the environment in which the program will be applied. The premise is that all program planning decisions must emanate from a consideration of the consumers’ wants, demands, and needs. The aim of this chapter is to examine ways in which social marketing can help to promote health care attitudes. Exploring key concepts, the study focuses on the application of social marketing theory and principles to healthcare. Using a social marketing approach, it was examines the program UpForIt, which aims to influence students aged 16-24 years old to increase their levels of physical activity and adopt healthy eating behaviors. By examining strategies implemented, it identifies that young adults are willing to voluntarily change their lifestyle behaviors, given the appropriate target audience.

A Social Network Strategy for the Social Marketing of Online Courses and Learning Resources in Higher Education

In virtually all institutions of higher learning, there is the development of online courses to meet local demands foremost but also to potentially glean from an international cadre of learners. Various universities may offer curricular topics relevant to a much larger context. This chapter makes the case that network science may be applied to marketing online courses in higher education to reach target learners. This focuses on some real-world instructional design cases and the marketing strategies used. These cases are then analyzed using a social network strategy approach, which is first described here. Finally, there are ideas on how to apply a social network strategy to various online learning “products.”

Increasing the Relevance of Masti Condoms for Consumers

Population Services International (PSI) uses social marketing as a tool to deliver health impact among vulnerable and low-income populations. This approach encompasses the use of commercial marketing techniques to motivate the target audience to voluntarily adopt healthy behaviors and offers and promotes linkages between existing products and services to sustain their behavior. PSI measures accomplishments in terms of Couple Years of Protection (CYPs), a measurement unit widely used by bilateral agencies and governments. One CYP provided can be thought of as one year of protection against an unintended pregnancy. PSI socially markets contraceptives, including condoms, in order to positively impact the reproductive health of low income populations. Masti is a leading condom brand, which has been socially marketed by PSI since 1989. In recent years, the market share has stagnated at approximately 10%. This chapter discusses the evidence-based approach used by PSI to understand the reasons for stagnation in a growing market and the steps that PSI took to make Masti contemporary and relevant to today’s lower income consumers.