Search results

This paper aims to examine how social marketing intervention programmes to measure, evaluate and document social marketing impact.

A systematic review of 49 nutritional behaviour intervention programmes (2006–2020) was conducted. To examine the social marketing impact of the programmes, a logic model of social impact was used. The model comprises inputs (the resources used for an intervention programme), outputs (the direct products resulting from the use of resources), outcomes (short- to medium-term programme effects) and impacts (long-term programme effects on the individual, community or societal levels).

Most intervention programmes set the goal of encouraging their target audience to increase fruit and vegetable intake, choose healthy food items, drink less sugary beverages or consume low-fat diaries, while few others sought policy or systems change. Multiple criteria were used for impact evaluation (e.g. exposure and reach, changes in knowledge, awareness, attitudes, behaviours and body mass index). (Quasi) experiments were the most popular method used for impact measurement, followed by the pre-post model of impact. Positive changes were found in 33 programmes, often reported in terms of short-term outputs or outcomes. Long-term impact particularly on the broader societal level was not indicated.

This research offers a systematic review of how social marketing impact is measured, evaluated and documented. It also provides some guidance for social marketers on how to shift from a reductionist, behavioural outcome-focussed approach towards an “expansionist” impact approach that explicitly considers social marketing impacts on the quality of life of individuals, communities and societies.

For social marketers to become effective change agents, evaluation is important. This paper aims to expand existing evaluation work to empirically respond to Gordon and Gurrieri’s request for a reflexive turn in social marketing using reflexive process evaluations: measuring more than “what” worked well, but also evaluating “how” and “why” success or indeed failure happened.

An online survey, adapting Dillman’s tailored design method empirically assesses 13 reflexive process hypotheses. With a response rate of 74 per cent, regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the proposed hypotheses and to identify the significant predictors of each of the reflexive process relationships under investigation.

The study empirically examines and shows support for three reflexive process evaluation constructs – relationships, knowledge and networking. Network involvement and reciprocity; two process dimension constructs do not exert any impact or predict any relationship in the conceptual framework.

This paper expands evaluation theory and practice by offering a conceptual framework for reflexive process evaluation that supports the logic to be reflexive. It shows support for three reflective process evaluation constructs – relationships, knowledge and networks. Another unique element featured in this study is the empirical assessment of Gordon and Gurrieri’s “other stakeholders”, extending evaluations beyond a traditional client focus to an interconnected assessment of researchers, clients and other stakeholders.

This paper presents a methodological analysis of the co-creation and evaluation of “Biobot Academy” social marketing program to promote socio-emotional skills and prosocial behaviour in children, using a Living Lab method. This paper aims to identify how using a Living Lab method can enhance the co-creation and evaluation of a gamified social marketing program with users and stakeholders. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to apply and further develop a Living Lab framework to guide social marketing program design.

Using a case study method, the Living Lab process was applied during the development of the gamified social marketing program for promoting socio-emotional skills and prosocial behaviour in children. In total, 28 online and in-person sessions over a two-year period led to program co-creation. Guided by a mixed method approach, testing was conducted in a non-randomised waitlist control trial, while qualitative data from in-game data capture, classroom observations and recordings were collected.

The application of the Living Lab method warranted improvements, specifically to the front-end and back-end steps of the existing process. While the non-randomised trial indicated effectiveness of the social marketing program across all outcome measures (self-awareness, empathy and prosocial behaviour intentions) compared to control, qualitative findings showed program improvements were needed on three specific aspects, namely, interactivity, user experience and comprehension.

This study provides methodological guidance for the application of the Living Lab method in other social marketing settings to help co-create innovative social marketing solutions with diverse stakeholder groups.

The purpose of this study is to understand and compare how business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) companies evaluate the return on investment (ROI) on their social media marketing (SMM) programmes and how the investment is handled in these type of marketing programmes.

A mixed-methods approach involving multiple cases and a survey was used. Data were collected from personal interviews with eight professionals responsible for SMM management, from four B2B and four B2C companies, complemented with responses to a web-based survey by the other 28 companies’ marketing managers.

The results show that there are some differences between B2B and B2C companies regarding SMM evaluation and investment but in general marketing managers for both types of firms use simple metrics to evaluate their SMM programmes. The main measures used relate to awareness, engagement and reach and most of the metrics identified are interaction-related.

Given the complex and sensitive nature of the subject, more research is needed focussed on providing additional evidence from a larger sample of B2B and B2C organizations to allow the extension of the finding to the population as the non-probabilistic nature and size of the current sample impose that the findings should be interpreted carefully. Future research should focus on understanding what the firm’s characteristics predict the importance and level of effort placed in SMM and the barriers to ROI measurement in SMM programmes, especially in B2B firms.

The current findings confirm that the topic of SMM ROI evaluation is not a priority for B2C or B2B companies. There is a need for an update of their online marketing strategy, namely, on budget definition and allocation. Furthermore, companies should increase the autonomy of SM managers, as they are dependent from marketing managers and hire specialized professionals devoted to SMM in both B2C and B2B companies.

The findings of this study contribute to improve the understanding of the evaluation of SMM and to extend the literature on the subject. It also provides a relevant advance into the assessment and understanding on the measures used to evaluate the effectiveness of SMM programmes by offering a comparison on how B2B and B2C use metrics and allocate resources to the SMM management.

The purpose of this paper is to report on research designed to assess the impact of sponsorship financing of social marketing initiatives on the evaluation of those social marketing programs.

The research utilizes an in-depth, multi-method case study of the Canadian Mental Health Association Calgary Region (CMHA-CR) who carried out a social marketing campaign concerning mental health behaviors that was largely financed by sponsors.

The sponsorship of the CMHA-CR social marketing program was complex with a total of 15 stakeholders involved as sponsors, partners and grantors. The research reveals that while there is considerable sharing of objectives among the stakeholders in this sponsorship, not all objectives are shared between sponsors and sponsees, and not all objectives are shared between the public and private sector sponsors of the program.

The research showed that because sponsors and sponsees share in many of the objectives of the social marketing campaign, the evaluation of the social marketing campaign, particularly its ability to achieve the social marketing-specific objectives, is of interest to all the stakeholder parties, and effective social marketing evaluation must also incorporate evaluation of the non-shared objectives of all sponsorship stakeholders.

Increasing social needs, accompanied by reduced government funding and increased competition amongst not-for-profit (NFP) organizations for that funding, are driving NFPs to seek innovative approaches to financing their social programs. The research reports initial findings critical in this environment, as well as raises issues and questions related to future research.

The purpose of this paper is to examine health-related social advertisements to identify its use and evaluate its appropriateness to situational needs, such as epidemic dynamics and the context where it is implemented. The paper also discusses the barriers that policymakers face in creating these linkages.

In all, 375 national HIV/AIDS prevention television advertisements from France, Germany, Portugal and Italy were viewed and analyzed over time of production, exploring the sources, the target audiences and the messages delivered. This paper compares management choices with HIV epidemics in each country and their contextual profiles.

The findings of this paper indicate that social advertising concerned with HIV/AIDS prevention is commonly framed within public policies and does not usually target the most vulnerable and affected populations. Furthermore, social ads are reactive to epidemic dynamics. The existence of trade-offs between putting forward theoretical marketing recommendations and taking account of contextual fracturing issues or increasing stigma and discrimination are also considered.

This paper is useful for public sector management because of the importance of evaluating the investments done to improve future strategies. The discussion about restrictions and concerns for policy-makers is important to improve management decisions.

This paper suggests the adoption of proactive public policies and proposes strategies to overcome the restrictions or concerns faced by policy-makers.

Community coalitions are an important part of the public milieu and subject to similar external pressures as other publicly funded organizations – including changes in required strategic orientation. Many US government agencies that fund efforts such as community-based social marketing initiatives have shifted their funding agenda from program development to policy development. The Florida Prevention Research Center at the University of South Florida (Tampa, Florida, USA) created community-based prevention marketing (CBPM) for policy development framework to teach community coalitions how to apply social marketing to policy development. This paper aims to explicate the framework’s theory of change.

The research question was: “How does implementing the CBPM for Policy Development framework improve coalition performance over time?” The authors implemented a case study design, with the “case” being a normative community coalition. The study adhered to a well-developed series of steps for system dynamics modeling.

Results from computer model simulations show that gains in community coalition performance depend on a coalition’s initial culture and initial efficiency, and that only the most efficient coalitions’ performance might improve from implementing the CBPM framework.

Practical implications for CBPM’s developers and users are discussed, namely, the importance of managing the early expectations of academic-community partnerships seeking to shift their orientation from downstream (e.g. program development) to upstream social marketing strategies (e.g. policy change).

The United Nations (UN) 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) places partnerships as a vital mechanism, which strengthens the implementation of change strategies. The SDG targets are ambitious; acknowledging the interconnected multifaceted issues that are currently facing society. Similarly, social marketing thought is transitioning to embrace systemic change strategies, realising no one organisation can have an impact on the emerging grand challenges. Partnerships are the 5th P in the social marketing mix, however, partnerships is also a nebulous term which has been criticised for lacking theoretical development. This study aims to answer the call from both the UN and social marketing community for further research to guide the development and implementation of impactful transformative partnerships.

A robust mixed method approach to develop and test a social marketing partnership model is presented. Trust and relationship commitment are at the forefront of successful partnership exchanges. Morgan and Hunt’s (1994) trust and relationship commitment model is extended into the social marketing domain.

The findings validate Hasting’s (2003) call for social marketers to listen to their commercial marketing counterparts, positioning trust and commitment as essential to change strategies. As the degree of complexities in the multifaceted world continues to accelerate, partnerships for change (UN SDG #17) will pay off, driving more effective and smarter collaborations amongst a diverse range of stakeholders at different levels in different networks. Partnerships will elevate social marketing to deliver systemic transformation for complex problems with far reaching collective and sustainable consequences.

With trust/mistrust critical to successful exchanges and exchange central to social marketing, quantitative measurement of the antecedents to and outcomes of partnerships can inform the evaluation, impact and management of social marketing interventions.

Three contributions are made, which support the selection, implementation and evaluation of social marketing partnerships. Key social marketing partnership characteristics are operationalised supporting the partnership selection process. Measurement scales are developed to assist in evaluating partnership relationships over time. The model is empirically tested to investigate the relationships between key mediating variables of social marketing partnerships.

This paper presents a validated 5th P Partnership model for social marketers, accelerating social marketing’s capacities to deliver systemic transformation for complex problems with far reaching collective and sustainable consequences and UN SDG #17.

The purpose of this research is to aim to use observation, linked to quantitative risk‐based scoring, to evaluate the effectiveness of a small‐scale consumer food safety initiative based on the social marketing approach. Evaluation of intervention effectiveness is considered to be an important component of any health education initiative. The ultimate goal for social marketing initiatives is sustained behavioural change. Thus, when determining the effectiveness of community‐based social marketing interventions, direct measurement of behaviour is advocated.

A small‐scale food safety strategy using targeted interventions was piloted in a geographical test community in South Wales, UK. Targeted consumers from the community prepared a set meal in a model domestic kitchen before, immediately after, and 4‐6 weeks after implementation of the strategy. Observations of meal preparations were made using CCTV and food‐handling behaviours were recorded and assessed using a risk‐based scoring system. A quantitative evaluation of overall and specific food safety behaviours was made, and an effect size analysis provided a measure of potential intervention effectiveness.

This pilot study suggested that “one‐off” food safety interventions developed and implemented using a social marketing approach may result in a short‐term improvement of consumer food safety behaviours. Interventions targeting specific food safety behaviours may produce a “halo effect” upon other food safety behaviours that are known, yet not consistently implemented during domestic food preparation. Intervention effect was greater immediately after implementation of the strategy than 4‐6 weeks later. Use of the risk‐based scoring system and observation techniques were effective for assessing food hygiene behaviours and evaluating the effectiveness of interventions.

The use of an observational risk‐based approach to assess consumer food safety behaviours can provide a valuable tool for evaluation of the estimated immediate and long‐term effectiveness of food safety interventions on a small scale prior to launch of a larger initiative.

This paper aims to provide a systematic review of evaluations of public health and social marketing campaigns reporting the use of sports sponsorship. Sports sponsorship is a key health promotion strategy, yet academic literature on the use of sponsorship in social marketing and public health is surprisingly limited.

Seventeen studies were identified following systematic literature review procedures.

Coupling of social marketing and public health sponsorship with changes in policies in sporting clubs and associations offers an effective means to achieve desired outcomes, e.g. behaviour change.

The analysis presented in this review included information that was reported in the identified studies, which might be an incomplete representation of work undertaken but not reported. All of the studies identified in this review were conducted in English-speaking countries. Considerable opportunity for future research is apparent, and areas for future research are outlined.

Limited evidence was available, and additional research examining the effectiveness of sponsorship in attaining behavioural change is urgently needed. Future studies should assess the role, scope of involvement in, aims and benefits of non-government sponsors of public health and social marketing campaigns; use methods that do not rely on self-reporting, such as observations; and explore the influence of health sponsorship on attitudes, social norms and behaviours.

This is the first study to provide a systematic review of the use of sports sponsorship in public health and social marketing.