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1 – 8 of 8Yassmeen El Maohub, Natalie Rangelov and L. Suzanne Suggs
Islamophobia is a growing social problem that leads to the discrimination of Muslims. Using Group Conflict Theory and the Integrated Threat Theory as the theoretical frameworks…
Abstract
Purpose
Islamophobia is a growing social problem that leads to the discrimination of Muslims. Using Group Conflict Theory and the Integrated Threat Theory as the theoretical frameworks, this study aims to measure the presence of Islamophobia in the hiring practices of the most southern state of Switzerland.
Design/methodology/approach
An experimental formative research study was conducted with employees. Based on CVs for two positions, back-office and front-office, candidates were selected for interviews and reasons were provided. Two variables were manipulated to represent the “Muslim appearance” on the CVs: the picture and the name. A content analysis of reasons was conducted in addition to descriptive statistics of survey responses.
Findings
A negative perception of Muslim candidates emerged from the answers with a clear difference between the two scenarios: candidates perceived to be Muslim were not rejected from the back-office position, but they were from the front-office position.
Social implications
Results demonstrate that hiring practices in Ticino Switzerland are, in some cases, based on a prejudicial attitude. As long as Muslims were “not seen as Muslims to the customers,” they were judged as acceptable for the job. This has implications for social marketing research and practice aimed to change this discrimination behavior. A next step could be to understand if it is fear of Muslims or fear of what the public might think of Muslims that cause the selection difference between the two jobs. Systems-wide and macro level social marketing research is well suited to investigate such problems and test solutions, in a local context, following the methodology used in this study.
Originality/value
A disturbing escalation of the phenomenon of Islamophobia has emerged across the globe. This paper examines a fundamental issue in equity and prosperity, which is equal opportunity for employment. Using experimental design, the authors find that discrimination exists in hiring practices, which is a problem that social marketing is well equipped to address.
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Dominic Wettstein, L. Suzanne Suggs and Christiane Lellig
Despite social marketing being widely adopted in English-speaking countries, there is limited evidence of it being adopted in German language countries. Alcohol misuse is a social…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite social marketing being widely adopted in English-speaking countries, there is limited evidence of it being adopted in German language countries. Alcohol misuse is a social problem that has been the topic of health campaigns globally. The purpose of this paper is to understand the level of knowledge and adoption of social marketing among alcohol misuse prevention campaign planners, to understand current practices in campaigns, and to examine the use adoption of social marketing in such campaigns in Austria, Germany and Switzerland.
Design/methodology/approach
Campaigns were identified through bibliographic databases, online search engines, and expert inquiry. A survey was administered to campaign planners to retrieve primary data about campaigns. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Practices were compared to social marketing using Andreasen's six social marketing benchmark criteria.
Findings
In total, 31 campaigns were included in the review. Some 55 per cent of planners reported knowing about social marketing and 52 per cent reported using it in the reviewed campaign. Relative to the benchmark criteria, social marketing was rarely adopted, with one campaign attaining all six criteria and eight meeting at least four of them.
Originality/value
The paper is the first to provide an overview of the use of social marketing in alcohol misuse prevention campaigns in German language countries. It generates information on knowledge and adoption of social marketing and contributes to understanding the diffusion of social marketing in a sample of European countries.
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Dominic Wettstein and L. Suzanne Suggs
– This paper aims to describe the comparison of two tools in assessing social marketing campaigns.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to describe the comparison of two tools in assessing social marketing campaigns.
Design/methodology/approach
Using data collected from the campaign planners of 31 alcohol misuse prevention campaigns, two tools were compared; the Social Marketing Indicator (SMI) and Andreasen’s Benchmark Criteria.
Findings
In the case of the benchmarks, 26 per cent of the campaigns fulfilled four or more criteria and no criterion was fulfilled by more than 70 per cent. The main differences between current practices and social marketing are the often-missing segmentation and an explicit exchange. The SMI found a lower degree of resemblance between current practices and social marketing. In this case, the major differences lie in the use of behavioral theory and the absence of an exchange.
Research limitations/implications
The SMI allows a more precise description of an intervention. This represents an advantage, as a campaign’s resemblance to social marketing can be reported by directly pointing out the process steps that make the difference. This is important for understanding the research evidence base in social marketing.
Practical implications
Although the benchmark criteria are based on a conceptual approach, the SMI is built around a core procedure. The SMI can thus help program planners from the onset of a project to make sure they do social marketing as it is defined.
Originality/value
This is the first empirical test comparing a new tool against the well-established, frequently critiqued, Benchmark Criteria, in gauging “social marketing” practice in health campaigns.
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Marco Bardus, Holly Blake, Scott Lloyd and L. Suzanne Suggs
– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the reasons for participating and not participating in an e-health workplace physical activity (PA) intervention.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the reasons for participating and not participating in an e-health workplace physical activity (PA) intervention.
Design/methodology/approach
Semi-structured interviews and two focus groups were conducted with a purposive sample of employees who enrolled and participated in the intervention and with those who did not complete enrolment, hence did not participate in it. Data were examined using thematic analysis according to the clusters of “reasons for participation” and for “non-participation”.
Findings
Reported reasons for participation included a need to be more active, to increase motivation to engage in PA, and to better manage weight. Employees were attracted by the perceived ease of use of the programme and by the promise of receiving reminders. Many felt encouraged to enrol by managers or peers. Reported reasons for non-participation included lack of time, loss of interest towards the programme, or a lack of reminders to complete enrolment.
Practical implications
Future e-health workplace behavioural interventions should consider focusing on employees’ needs and motivators to behaviour change, provide regular reminders for participants to complete enrolment and ensure that procedures are completed successfully. Barriers to participation could be identified through formative research with the target population and feasibility studies.
Originality/value
This study combines a qualitative analysis of the reasons why some employees decided to enrol in a workplace PA intervention and why some others did not. This study highlights factors to consider when designing, implementing and promoting similar interventions and that could inform strategies to enhance participation in workplace PA interventions.
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Just Bendix Justesen, Pernille Eskerod, Jeanette Reffstrup Christensen and Gisela Sjøgaard
The purpose of this paper is to address a missing link between top management and employees when it comes to understanding how to successfully implement and embed workplace health…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to address a missing link between top management and employees when it comes to understanding how to successfully implement and embed workplace health promotion (WHP) as a strategy within organizations: the role of the middle managers.
Design/methodology/approach
A conceptual framework based on review of theory is applied within an empirical multi-case study that is part of a health intervention research project on increased physical activity among office workers. The study involves six Danish organizations.
Findings
Middle managers play a key role in successful implementation of WHP, but feel uncertain about their role, especially when it comes to engaging with their employees. Uncertainty about their role appears to make middle managers reluctant to take action on WHP and leave further action to top management instead.
Research limitations/implications
Limitations included the middle managers’ low attendance at the half-day seminar on strategic health (50 percent attendance), the fact that they were all office workers and they were all from Denmark.
Practical implications
Middle managers ask for more knowledge and skills if they are to work with WHP in daily business.
Social implications
Implementing and embedding WHP as a health strategy raises ethical issues of interfering with employees’ health, is seen as the employee’s personal responsibility.
Originality/value
This study adds to knowledge of the difficulties of implementing and embedding WHP activities in the workplace and suggests an explicit and detailed research design.
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Gabrielle Civil, a Black feminist performance artist and professor, discusses developing and teaching her “Pleasure Syllabus,” a three-lecture module for a mandatory first-year…
Abstract
Gabrielle Civil, a Black feminist performance artist and professor, discusses developing and teaching her “Pleasure Syllabus,” a three-lecture module for a mandatory first-year undergraduate writing course. Grounded in Black feminism, especially adrienne maree brown's call for “pleasure activism” and Audre Lorde's embrace of the erotic, this syllabus aimed to consider and activate embodied knowledge. Contemplating pleasure (“what does and does not feel good”) also became a way to confront rape culture. With this module, Civil hoped to intervene in the rampant sexual violence happening on college campuses. She acknowledges the challenges of negotiating trauma and gender-based violence in the classroom. (Teaching about desire, sexuality, violation, and consent on Zoom during the COVID-19 pandemic was especially tough.) She shares specific strategies that supported her pedagogy and offers some suggestions for curricular planning while emphasizing that no one-size-fits-all approach exists to trauma-informed teaching. Her curriculum included visual art, music, graphics, and movement exercises along with critical/creative writing. Civil includes her actual “Pleasure Syllabus” and her module's signature assignment.
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Taylor Jade Willmott and Sharyn Rundle-Thiele
Theory remains underused in social marketing despite many potential benefits that may arise if theory is concretely and consistently applied. In response to ongoing calls for…
Abstract
Purpose
Theory remains underused in social marketing despite many potential benefits that may arise if theory is concretely and consistently applied. In response to ongoing calls for standardised frameworks and methods, this study aims to present a four-step theory application process with the aim of supporting improved theory use across the entire social marketing process.
Design/methodology/approach
The role and importance of theory application in behaviour change is outlined alongside an integrative review and critical analysis of theory application in social marketing. To address key challenges impeding rigorous theory use, the theory selection, iterative schematisation, theory testing and explicit reporting of theory use (TITE) four-step theory application process is proposed. Evidence-based guidance, current best practice examples, and a worked example are provided to illustrate how the TITE process may be initially followed.
Findings
Low levels and poor quality of theory use suggest social marketing researchers and practitioners need further support in rigorously applying theories across the life of an intervention. The TITE process leverages the known benefits of theory use and capitalises on the reciprocal relationship that may be enacted between theory selection, iterative schematisation, theory testing and explicit reporting of theory use.
Research limitations/implications
The TITE process delivers a standardised framework that aims to stimulate rigorous theory application and explicit reporting of theory use in social marketing. Clear theory application and reporting will permit a more fine-grained understanding of intervention effectiveness to be established by shifting away from a simple dichotomous view of effectiveness (success or failure) to unpacking the “active ingredients” contributing to observed outcomes.
Practical implications
The evidence-based guidance and best practice examples provided for each step of the TITE process will increase the accessibility and usability of theory among practitioners. With time the TITE process will support practitioners by delivering a robust theory base that can be reliably followed to further extend on social marketing’s effectiveness.
Originality/value
This paper draws on interdisciplinary methods and resources to propose a standardised framework – the TITE process – designed to support rigorous theory application and explicit reporting of theory use in social marketing. Refinement, uptake and widespread implementation of the TITE process will improve theory use and support the creation of a shared language, thereby advancing social marketing’s cumulative knowledge base over time.
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This chapter is an introduction to what the author defines as central to the Art in relation to Citizenship and Education. As these are regarded as multifaceted concepts that…
Abstract
This chapter is an introduction to what the author defines as central to the Art in relation to Citizenship and Education. As these are regarded as multifaceted concepts that continually evolve and expand, diverse theoretical notions are addressed and illustrated through artistic examples. The author represents ideas, concepts and values, underpinning citizenship in Art and Art Education by posing two questions: (1) Which kinds of Art can support citizenship and in what ways? and (2) Which concepts can foster citizenship in Art and Art Education? Art and Citizenship are discussed in relation to culture and aesthetics, pointing out that Art is meaningful in a cultural context and at the same time it has the potential to engage us in transformative practices. The author contends that Art for Citizenship Education is grounded on two pillars: ‘Who I am’ and ‘Who we are’. These are analyzed and exemplified through artistic practices that are concerned with the power of image, the formation of identities and communities and diverse cultural contexts (spaces and places).
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