RM&C - T9 marketing for societal wellbeing

social marketing key principles & practices

social marketing: systematic application of marketing concepts & techniques to influence behaviour for social good not profit; principles: focus on behaviour change not just awareness, uses commercial marketing tools (segmentation, research, exchange theory), concerned with welfare & wellbeing (not market exchange), based on understanding target audience, involves multiple stakeholders; practices: audience segmentation, formative research, development & testing of interventions, directed comms & incentives, monitoring & evaluation; not: cause-related mark, CSR, social media mark

behavioural change principles & tools

SM = grounded in behaviour change theory: info alone rarely leads to sustained change; stages of behaviour change (downstream focus): 1 precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance; tools (work at diff stages): fear/shock = early attention, positive emotional appeals = maintenance, excessive fear = resistance/avoidance; community-based social marketing (McKenzie-Mohr & Schultz): focus - habits/norms/routines/barriers/incentives, beyond raising awareness, emphasis: local relevance & participation, tools: commitment & goal setting/social norms & diffusion/prompts & reminders/incentives & feedback/making behaviours convenient, critique: behavioural tools oversimplify complex social issues, risk blaming individuals not systems, unintentionally reinforce inequalities

downstream, midstream, upstream approaches

downstream: targets individual behaviour, messaging/persuasion/education, most common & limited; midstream: targets communities/institutions/social networks, schools/sports clubs/families/workplaces, supports behaviour change through social norms & environments; upstream: targets policy makers/regulators/systems, structural changes enable/constrain behaviour, most effective but politically complex; examples: downstream: anti-smoking (every cig rots you from inside out), COVID mask & self-isolation messages, anti-littering; midstream: women’s aid domestic violence campaign (shift responsibility: victim/abuser to society, encouraged public awareness/intervention), community-based initiatives: plastic-bag-free Modbury; upstream: folic acid fortification of flour UK (influences pop health without requiring individual decision-making, demonstrates power of policy-level interventions)

reasons social marketing programmes might fail

lack of formative research (not understanding target audiences), weak theoretical foundation (absence: behavioural frameworks), too narrow focus (over-emphasis on individual behaviour, neglect of social/env/structural factors), stakeholder mismanagement (power imbalances, lack of shared goals), unintended consequences (boomerang effects, fear fatigue & desensitisation, reinforcing stigma/inequality)

ethical (responsibility) challenges of social marketing

SM aims to influence behaviour/attitudes/values/norms so raises ethical questions; Brenkert 2002 key ethical challenges: 1 ends of social marketing (who decides what counts as wellbeing, do target audiences recognise themselves as having a problem), 2 individual v social responsibility (should interventions target individuals or social structures, risk: offering temporary behaviour fixes not permanent solutions), 3 power & participation (SM involves asymmetric power, target groups lack voice/dialogue/participation); cultural sensitivity & representation (HIV/AIDS campaigns Africa: top-down & disrespectful, ignored diversity & local knowledge, Ubuntu philosophy emphasises dignity, dialogue & community)

marketing for societal wellbeing

social marketing key principles & practices; behavioural change principles & tools; downstream, midstream, upstream approaches; examples; reasons social marketing programmes might fail; ethical (responsibility) challenges of social marketing