Social Marketing

The Basics 7
Social Marketing
Figure 1: Social Marketing Framework
education
services,
products
and policy
regulation
Information/
Message
External
Structures
Policy
Determinants,
Benefits and
Barriers
social marketing
Behavior
Non
Behavioral
Social Benefit
Trying to figure out which perceptions influence a behavior (we call these determinants) is at
the heart of social marketing. If you are unaware of which determinants influence a behavior,
you can’t know what type of marketing solution is necessary. These critical determinants are
influenced by outside forces, such as information - what people know and believe - and external
structures - such as the availability of efficient lighting or the quality of a compact fluorescent
lamp (CFL). It is the social marketer’s job to affect those outside forces (by providing information,
for example) to change the determinants that influence behavior. The key is knowing what those
determinants are and what outside forces might change those determinants, and hence that
behavior.
Often, the most important determinant is not the one that we expect. Consider a recent campaign
in Florida to reduce youth tobacco use. For years, teens had been told that tobacco was
bad for their health. Their reaction? Smoking increased. Why? Health wasn’t the determinant.
In fact, teen smokers already knew the health risks (and some even believed them to be worse
than they really are). A closer look revealed that the determinants motivating the teen smoking
were the benefits of smoking, such as looking cool and rebelling against authority. To these
teens, those benefits outweighed the risks. So, the state developed a campaign focused on the
determinants motivating the behavior, instead of just repeating the health risks. The result: a 19
percent decline in middle school smoking rates.
What is important to remember about the social marketing framework shown above is this: before
one is able make a decision about the interventions needed – the information or external
structures shown above – one must know which determinants are important to the behavior.
Social Marketing Behavior A Practical Resource for Social Change Professionals