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Getting people to take steps to protect their health, conserve the environment, or improve society can be extremely challenging. In fact, simply providing information usually has little or no effect on what people do. Social marketing provides a framework and tools for producing human behavior change. It is a structured and organized way of deconstructing a problem and creating intervention strategies to address it, using concepts and techniques from traditional marketing and other disciplines. The discipline is defined in particular ways by different practitioners. Two classic definitions are those of social marketing pioneers Alan Andreasen and Philip Kotler:
“The application of commercial marketing technologies to the analysis, planning, execution, and evaluation of programs designed to influence the voluntary behavior of a target audience in order to improve their personal welfare and that of their society.” (Andreasen, 1995)
“The use of marketing principles and techniques to influence a target audience to voluntarily accept, reject, modify, or abandon a behavior for the benefit of individuals, groups, or society.” (Kotler, Roberto, & Lee, 2002).
Many organizations have made great strides in social marketing. For general information about social marketing, you may want to start with the following organizations.
The Social Marketing Institute
The Social Marketing Institute was created to advance the science and practice of social marketing worldwide. It is an innovative approach now being implemented by groups as diverse as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Cancer Society, the U.S. Agency for International Development, AARP, and private sector companies whose strategies incorporate both business and social objectives. The Institute also has a thriving listserv that social marketers around the world use to discuss issues of interest and to exchange useful information and resources. To join the Social Marketing Institute listserv, subscribe to listproc@listproc.georgetown.edu through email and type subscribe soc-mktg <your name> in the message body (i.e., subscribe soc-mktg Jane Smith).
Community-Based Social Marketing Website
The Community-Based Social Marketing website was developed for the people who design programs to foster sustainable behavior relating to the environment. The website was created by Doug MacKenzie-Mohr, a pioneer of Community-Based Social Marketing, which is a particular system of social marketing that is very appropriate for fairly small geographic areas. (Click for a short overview of CBSM.) The site consists of an online guide on the use of community-based social marketing to design and evaluate programs to foster sustainable behavior; searchable databases of articles, cases, graphics, and downloadable reports on fostering sustainable behavior, and discussion forums for sharing information and asking questions of others. CBSM also runs an active and information-packed listserv of community-based social marketers from all over the world. To subscribe, send an email to fsb-on@cbsmlist.com.
This Canadian website, founded on the principles of community-based social marketing, offers specific tools, case studies, and a planning guide for helping people take actions and adopt habits that promote health and/or are more environmentally friendly. Social marketing uses concepts and techniques from the fields of marketing and psychology in programs designed to change behavior in ways that improve the well-being of individuals and society..
Social Marketing in Massachusetts
The Massachusetts Social Marketing Association (MASMA) supports professionals in the Commonwealth who use social marketing in their work or wish to do so—providing skills and resources, networking opportunities, and opportunities for career expansion.
The Tufts-Emerson Graduate Program in Health Communication provides the skills and knowledge necessary for its graduates to assume a range of roles in diverse settings. Students learn to develop, deliver, and evaluate health promotion and disease prevention programs and campaigns; to disseminate health information; and to develop, formulate and implement health policy initiatives. They learn the theory and practice of communication, as well as the basic elements of medicine, epidemiology and public health practice. The program places a heavy emphasis on "hands-on" applied learning, with each student expected to complete an applied learning project in order to graduate.