Best practices in social marketing among Aboriginal people

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify, summarize and assess literature focused on developing social marketing programs for Aboriginal people.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted a literature search and review of research papers concerning social marketing and Aboriginal populations over the period 2003-2013.

Findings

The research reveals very little published research (N = 16). The literature points to a wide range of findings including the importance of segmenting/targeting and avoiding pan-Aboriginal campaigns; cultural importance of family and community; the importance of multi-channels; universal value of mainstream and Aboriginal media outlets, use of print media, value of elders and story-telling for message dissemination; increasingly important role of Internet-based technology; need for campaign development to reflect Aboriginal culture; and importance of formative research to inform campaign development.

Social implications

Considerable research is warranted to better develop more effective social marketing campaigns targeted to Aboriginal audiences to improve health outcomes for such groups across the globe.

Originality/value

This paper provides a baseline foundation upon which future social marketing research can be built. It also acts as a call to action for future research and theory in this important field.

Citation

Madill, J., Wallace, L., Goneau-Lessard, K., Stuart MacDonald, R. and Dion, C. (2014), "Best practices in social marketing among Aboriginal people", Journal of Social Marketing, Vol. 4 No. 2, pp. 155-175. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSOCM-08-2013-0056