Social Marketing

The Basics 17
Working Toward a Strategy
Determining the Kind of Change Problem You Face
Michael Rothschild argues that there are three classes of behavior change problems: education,
regulation, and marketing. 2 He proposes that marketing’s unique contribution to social change is
the creation, delivery and promotion of products and services. Thus, he argues, classical social
marketing is simply not about education and regulation. Indeed, in our experience, the most
common reason for the failure of social marketing programs is that they default to the education
problem, exclude the regulatory problem as not a marketing solution and ignore the power of
the complete marketing mix to help people make behavior change.
However, we have also found that many important aspects of the social marketing approach
which we discuss in this book – consumer-orientation, competition, exchange, and even the
Promotion P - are valuable, not just to a social marketing program but also to programs focusing
on education and regulation strategies.
For this reason, in order to be effective, we find we are most successful when we ask one critical
question: “What kind of change problem am I facing?” A question which appears at precisely
the moment in the marketing process when you have defined the key behaviors that will make
a difference in your program.
The characteristics of these three problems are listed below. To help identify which category
of problem you program addresses, you should use all the data you have collected about the
problem and the potential audiences. To help you in this process, use the Defining the Problem
Correctly worksheet in the Social Marketing Tools chapter.
Education Problems
Characteristics: People need the basic facts to change. The behavior is relatively simple. Action
requires no outside resources. It is not in conflict with any major societal norm nor does it carry
any significant stigma. It has benefits that are apparent to the audience, but the audience lacks
basic understanding.
Examples: placing a baby on his back to prevent SIDS; withholding aspirin from infants to prevent
Reyes Syndrome
2 Michael Rothschild, “Separating Products and Behaviors,” Social Marketing Quarterly. 14(4). 2008.
Social Marketing Behavior A Practical Resource for Social Change Professionals