Preventing Childhood Obesity - Evidence Policy and Practice.pdf

Social marketing to prevent childhood obesity
Product
Product, in commercial marketing, relates to physical
objects (e.g. cars, toothbrushes) and services (e.g.
banking, hairdressing). In social marketing, the products
are primarily ideas such as, in the context of
obesity, “ eat 2 fruits and 5 vegetables a day to be
healthy ” . This product involves a tangible product
component (the fruit and vegetables) but the core
social product is the underlying benefit of being
healthy. The recommended behavior is to eat fruits
and vegetables. Performing the behavior, eating fruits
and vegetables, offers the individual a way to achieve
the benefit.
One of the difficulties in designing an effective social
marketing strategy to prevent childhood obesity is
determining what the specific core product or underlying
benefit should be. What are we really “ selling ” ?
What are people most likely “ to buy ” ? One way to
decide this is to answer the following questions:
• What are the communication objectives (what do
we want the target audience to know or believe)?
• What are the behavioral objectives (what do we
want the target audience to do)?
On the basis of our formative research and decisions
about “ the right message ” , we may have decided
that children are most likely to respond to messages
about having fun or being better able to play sport or
being part of a social group rather than messages relating
to health. So the core product, a communication
objective expressed as an underlying benefit that
would appeal to children, might focus on: games at
lunchtime for fun, or after school activities for staying
fit and strong for sports, or walking groups for catching
up with friends (Box 28.4 and Figure 28.2 ). The
behavioral objective would be the increased physical
activity involved in the lunchtime games, after - school
sport skills activities or groups walking around the
sports ground at lunchtime with friends.
Box 28.4 Promoting the benefits
EPODE promotes healthy behavior to children as a fun
activity rather than for health benefits. For example,
one theme is “ Playing is already moving! ” recommending
fun (non - competitive) play activities. The
theme is based on research that shows that playing
outside with friends can significantly increase the
amount of physical activity a child gets in a day.
Product considerations include concepts of branding.
The American Marketing Association has defined
a brand as: “ a name, term, symbol, or design, or a
combination of them, intended to identify the goods
or services of one seller, or group of sellers and to differentiate
them from those of competitors ” (p. 97). 18
Key characteristics of a brand are that it should be
memorable, recognizable, easy to pronounce, distinctive,
and able to convey the product ’ s benefits and
appeal. 19 The US physical activity VERB campaign
is an example of such a brand, the name chosen to
connote action. 14 The brand ’ s logo is particularly
important to visually draw attention to the brand and
portray an appropriate image, as exposure to the logo
is often the most frequent type of contact people will
have with the brand (Figure 28.3 and Box 28.5 ).
Place
Place (or “ distribution ” ) in marketing involves two
main considerations: how to make the product conveniently
available, and managing any intermediaries.
Helplines and websites are used extensively in social
marketing to provide a convenient “ place ” where the
product/idea can be made more available to the consumer.
Where social marketers are recommending
tangible products or services, the same principles of
access apply. If we want children to eat more fruit and
vegetables, we need to make sure good quality, appetizing
produce is available where children make food
choices, such as the school cafeteria. Vending machines
on school grounds, swimming pools and sports fields
need to be stocked with healthy options. In social
marketing, intermediaries can be health professionals,
teachers, coaches, occupational health and safety
officers in the workplace, and so on (Box 28.6 and
Figures 28.4 and 28.5 ).
Price
Price is the cost of the product, both monetary and
non - monetary. Price includes the concept of
“ exchange ” where the buyer gives up something in
return for the product. In commercial marketing
this is primarily thought of as the monetary cost of
paying for goods or services, although there may also
be some non - monetary costs such as time and effort.
A good place strategy can reduce time and effort
costs by making the product easily accessible. In social
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