A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL MARKETING

Michael RothschildSchool of Business

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Wisconsin Center for Health Communication and

MarketingMarch 29, 2007

TWO QUOTES TO DRIVE OUR THINKING

“Role of government is to create opportunity; role of citizen is to seize opportunity”

“Organize policy and strategy until self interest does what justice requires”

PUBLIC HEALTH BEHAVIOR MANAGEMENT

Three major classes of strategic tools:Education / Communications /

MessagesEnvironmental Change / Social

Marketing / Situational Prevention / Problem Oriented Policing / Outreach

Enforcement / Force of law

COMMERCIAL AND PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUES ARE

FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT

Commercial marketing appeals to immediate self interest

Public health campaigns often ask for:Behavior that is opposite of self interestAnd may be opposite of current behaviorAnd may never clearly benefit the person

COMMERCIAL AND PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUES ARE

FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT

Commercial marketing works becausePayback is explicitBoth parts of transaction occur together

Public health campaigns often offer:Vague paybackIn distant future

COMMERCIAL AND PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUES ARE

FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT

Commercial marketing acknowledges:Consumer has free choiceConsumer has powerCompetition in the marketplace

Public health campaigns often neglect:The power residing in the consumerThe competition inherent in free choice

SEGMENTING ON WILLINGNESS TO BEHAVE

Easy to See or Convey Self Interest

Need to See and Receive Benefits

Can’t See and Can’t Convey Self Interest or Benefits

Education

EnvirnmntMarketing

Enforcement

No/weak competition

Unmanageable competition

Passive/active

Competition

Prone to Behave as Desired

Resistant to Behave as Desired

Unable to Behave as

Desired

SEGMENTING ON STAGES OF CHANGE AND

WILLINGNESS TO BEHAVEProne Unable Resistant

Awareness Education Education Education

Attitude Education Mktg,Educ

Enforce,Educ

Trial Behavior

Education Marketing Enforcement

Repeat Behavior

Education Mktg,Educ

Enforcement

SEGMENTING ON MOTIVATION, OPPORTUNITY, ABILITY

Behavior = f (M, O, A)Motivation:

Self interestGroup norms

OpportunityEnvironment allows behaviorAdd benefitsRemove barriersProvide incentives

AbilitySkills and proficiency

MOTIVATION

OPPORTUNITY

ABILITY

yes

no

yes

yes yesno

no

no

MOTIVATION

OPPORTUNITY

ABILITY

yes

no

yes

yes yesno

no

no

prone to behave

unable to behave

resistant to

behave

resistant to

behave

unable to behave

unable to behave

resistant to

behave

resistant to

behave

education

marketing

marketing enforce

enforce

education marketing

education marketing

education marketing enforce

education marketing enforce

COMMERCIAL AND PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUES ARE FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENTCommercial marketing recognizes

People’s desire for fun, easy, popular…Easy: fitting in with daily hasslesNeed to increase benefits; decrease barriers

Public health campaigns often focus on:Stop doing what is fun, easy, popularAdd a new hassle into hectic life

WHAT IS MARKETING?

…Creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers…

…Managing customer relationships……Benefiting the organization and its

shareholders.(American Marketing Association

2004)

--also--

Achieving our goals by meeting the needs of others and providing benefit to those others.

CONDITIONS FAVORING THE USE OF EDUCATION, ENFORCEMENT AND MARKETING BASED ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE

STRATEGIC CLASS FAVORING CONDITIONS

Education there is little or no competition to the desired behavior (most people easily agree that childhood immunization is good),the target is prone to behave as desired and is able to do so (most people will not drive while alcohol impaired),motivation, opportunity and ability are all in place, so that benefits have been created and barriers have been minimized (childhood immunizations) ,insufficient levels of awareness, knowledge or attitude exist (increasing intake of folate to reduce incidence of birth defects),externalities (costs imposed on others by the actions of an individual) resulting from the undesired behavior are relatively low (littering).

Enforcement the target is resistant to behaving as desired (motorcycle riders must wear helmets),competition is so intense that there is no set of benefits or messages that will change behavior (immunization is resisted for religious reasons),externalities resulting from the undesired behavior are high (quarantines),societal needs dominate over individual rights (drug abuse; speed limits),a lack of homogeneity in the community leads to weak community bonds and few common goals.

Marketing BasedEnvironmental Change

the target has free choice to act in own self-interest,the target does not have the opportunity to behave as desired (alcohol impaired driving may be the only way to get home from the tavern),the target does not have the ability to behave (the target doesn’t know how to prepare produce),the target is motivated to behave properly but is unable to do so (no safe playgrounds, or none that are easily accessible),the practitioner is unlikely to have much power to force a behavior (managing binge drinking on college campuses), competition is strong and a more favorable cost/benefit relationship needs to be developed (calorie-dense food tastes great),the competition provides current benefits with future costs (smoking provides an immediate euphoric feeling but leads to many diseases).

TWO TYPES OF SOCIAL MARKETING CASES

Most of the costs and benefits of all choices occur in short run

Immediate and delayed costs and benefits accumulate over long run

MOST OF THE COSTS AND BENEFITS OF ALL CHOICES

OCCUR IN SHORT RUN

Ex: seat belt usage, binge drinking, driving after drinking

Sequence of fairly independent eventsLow probability of long run cost or

benefitAny result occurs immediately

DEVELOPMENTAL RESEARCH

7 focus groups with expert observers 11 focus groups with target

Describing 21-34 single menWhat are they looking for?Why do they drink?Why do they drive after drinking?Why don’t they drive after drinking?Decision making processes of target

In sum: Benefits, barriers, change behavior

DEVELOPMENTAL RESEARCH

The target (Customer)Primarily 21-34 single guys, ruralBlue collar and farm workerHigh AW and positive ATT re issues

Competition has huge market share“I can drive myself home” Often no alternative way to get homeNegative: lots of worry late in evening

Our product capabilities (Company)A ride service unique to each community

WHY DO THEY DRIVE AFTER DRINKING?

To get homeDon’t want to leave car behindHassle to get back to car in morning

Alternatives are not availableSocial pressure; everybody does it

To be coolUnaware of impairment; become fearlessLow risk of getting caught; weak

enforcement

A FEW OTHER KEY FINDINGS

Different phases of eveningTo bar, between bars, back home

Get target to bar without carVehicles need to be appealing, coolWilling to pay for service

BRIEF SKETCH OF PROGRAM

Rides to, between and home from barsDesirable vehicles and allow drinkingReasonable, but self sustaining fees

Each community:Begins with our research and strategyDevelops unique program for community

SOME RESULTS TO DATE65,000 rides taken

in parts of 5 rural counties covering about 2% of Wisconsin population

17% decrease in crashes in first yearNo increase in individual consumptionAll towns self-sufficient after 1 yearCosts less to avoid crash than to clean up

afterWill add 2-4 counties per yearWWW.ROADCREWONLINE.ORG

5 minute videoAccident Analysis and Prevention

THE EXAMPLE FITS THE CONCEPTS (PART 1)

Self interest: need to drink, but not to drive drunk

Little power: laws are weak or not enforced

Competition: impaired driving is acceptable

AW, ATT but no BEH: want to behave, but unable to do so

THE EXAMPLE FITS THE CONCEPTS (PART 2)

MOTIVATION, but no OPPORTUNITY or ABILITY: want to behave, but unable to do so

Increase benefits: fun and easy; party without worry

Decrease barriers: unavailable and uncool

Fit into life: rides to, between, and home

Creating and delivering value: new product

IMMEDIATE AND DELAYED

COSTS AND BENEFITS ACCUMULATE OVER LR

Ex: diet, exercise, smoking, drug and alcohol abuse

Cumulative effect grows over series of small choices

High probability of large long run implications

“Bad” behavior: SR benefits, LR costs“Good” behavior: SR costs, LR benefits

OUR TYPICAL TARGETS

Generally skewed toward: low education, low income

Often underservedCommunity of health disparitiesDifficult environment

PREFERENCE REVERSALS:the tyranny of small

decisions When SR is distant: LR > SR benefitWhen SR is closer: SR > LR benefit

ex: 8am: Plan to exercise after work 4pm: Plan to watch TV after work

Therefore: Immediate reward of competitive choice wins

POSSIBLE STRATEGIES

We need to shift:Present and future Costs and benefits Of the various alternatives

We need to:Increase immediate benefitsReduce short run barriersFit into daily life processes

INCREASE IMMEDIATE BENEFITS OF “GOOD”

BEHAVIORRewards for success

Lower insurance premiums with exerciseAwards for participation

Social events around exercisingWalking clubs at work, after workPrograms during lunch

Incentives for stairs, remote parkingIncentives for buying healthy foodLook better, feel better, more energy

REDUCE BARRIERS IN WAY OF “GOOD” BEHAVIOR

Don’t know how to behave: Cooking classes, trainers, dieticians at work site

Don’t have access: Healthy choices in vending machines and cafeteria

Don’t have time: Precut vegies, salad in a bag

Don’t have money: Discount programs with YMCA; subsidize healthy food choices

Don’t have safe place: Lit paths at work and in neighborhood

PRIOR STATE OF WORLD Public health problem

TOOLS USED TO OBSERVE STATE Epi research

EARLY PUBLIC HEALTH MODEL:

PRODUCT CONCEPT

DOMINANT PUBLIC HEALTH MODEL: SALES

CONCEPT

SOCIAL MARKETING MODEL OF PUBLIC HEALTH:

MARKETING CONCEPT

SET GOALS

DEVELOP ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE STRATEGIES Based on epi research:

DEVELOP ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE STRATEGIESBased on epi research

DEVELOP ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE AND MESSAGE STRATEGIES Based on epi and consumer research

EVALUATE RESULTS

IMPLEMENT ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE PROGRAM

IMPLEMENT ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE PROGRAM AND MESSAGES

TOOLS USED TO OBSERVE CITIZEN Consumer research

DEVELOP MESSAGE STRATEGIES Based on epi and consumer research

TOOLS USED TO OBSERVE STATE AND CITIZEN Epi and consumer research

8 IDEAS TO IMPROVE PUBLIC HEALTH

THROUGH MARKETINGAccommodate self interestAccommodate competitive marketplaceAccommodate our lack of power Create benefitsReduce barriersMake benefits accessibleFit into daily processes and hassles of lifeFind partners with self interest

… AND, REMEMBER…People are rational

They make their own best decisionsWithin their own view of world

We need to understand these viewsAnd the processes leading to decisions

We need to accommodate these viewsWe do this by listeningWe do this with local coalitionsWe do his with partners