Basic Elements of Social Marketing:
Behavior Change
The critical question at the heart of social
marketing is: Can we change behavior as a result of deliberate, organized programs
of social change? A basic understanding of behavior change is useful in
developing a successful outreach program.
Multiple Factors Can Affect Behavior Changes
Within a Population
- Intervention programs.
- Secular events - news reports and research
findings released to public.
- Fatigue - the product/program or campaign is
perceived as “old”.
- Competing behaviors.
- New audiences emerge.
These factors may motivate the target audience to
make a desired behavior change, or contribute to the continuance of an undesired behavior.
Five Basic Tactics to Influence Behavior
What works best to influence behavior on a large
scale? Five basic tactics can be instrumental: facts, force, feelings,
freebies, and facilitation. These tactics can be utilized in various combinations as
the focus or bases of SCHIP social marketing efforts.
- Facts. Be sure the message
contains the key information or facts about the program that are intended to influence
behavior. The importance of the message itself should not be underestimated, although
there is ongoing debate regarding whether knowledge alone can change behavior.
- Force.
Combine regulations with communication to change behavior (e.g., all children must have
insurance coverage to register for school).
- Feelings. Feelings about a
program or service influence potential participants’ behavior regarding the program.
Assess and address how the target population feels about the behavior/program.
Focus groups and Doer/Non-doer research are two methods useful for collecting
feeling/perception data. Doer/Non-doer research compares perceptions of people who have
done the desired behavior (e.g., enrolled in SCHIP) to people who have not done the
behavior.
- Freebies.
Freebies provide incentive to do the desired behavior. Incentives can not only help
influence personal potential participant behavior, they can also help make systems work by
providing overt rewards to key players in the system. Note, however, that even good
incentives can not overcome structural barriers of a program.
- Facilitation.
Facilitation makes it easier to do the desired behavior. Facilitate entry into the
program by simplifying, streamlining, and integrating the eligibility process as much as
possible to reduce barriers to enrollment.
It is important to note that behaviors are
influenced more or less effectively by specific tactics. Clearly identifying the
specific behavior you are trying to influence and understanding which
tactics most effectively influence that behavior will make a difference in the
marketing strategies you choose.
Related
Questions
Give me an example
Show me other SCHIP
Workshop presenter-suggested strategies
Who presented this
material?
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Outreach/Enrollment 
