Social Marketing and Changing Behaviour

Based on a call from British Prime Minister Tony Blair for

information papers on the evolution of the role

of the state in promoting social progress, this paper focuses on social marketing as a communication strategy for social development. Because social marketing aims at behaviour

change, author Mayo promotes it as a better

investment of public health funding than

awareness-raising campaigns. According to the

author, social marketing draws on the best

commercial marketing and public sector practices

including shared responsibility between

individuals and the state.

Mayo discusses how fiscal measures can affect

behaviours and points to various

examples with mixed results. For instance, he

cites a positive correlation between raising

tobacco taxes and reduced consumption coupled

with the negative correlation of increased

smuggling of tobacco across borders. He

concludes that fiscal incentives can have power

for change if combined with a mix of

interventions, since they do not always result in

change or gain public acceptance standing

alone.

Along with a chart on key behavioural challenges

to public health, this document includes the

following ten important characteristics to

designing effective interventions to promote

health:

• Active engagement of individuals and

  communities;

• Focusing on behaviour;
• Using a developed 'segmentation'

  approach;

• Longer-term multiple interventions;
• Using combined approaches;
• Integrating national and local

  endeavours;

• Genuine multi-sector cooperation;
• Theory driven interventions;
• Learning culture; and
• Joining forces for the greatest possible
  synergies.