Public health agencies and community health coalitions are encouraged to base program development on existing social change models. The most common are six- or seven-step models for promoting healthy behaviors by targeting specific aspects of individual, social, cultural and institutional change.
___________________________________
The Internet and especially YouTube have raised the visibility if not the effectiveness of some innovative social marketing campaigns. A few popular ones are listed & others will be added.
Seatbelt Use (1.5 minutes, .7 million views) – http://www.youtube.com/user/SussexSaferRoads
Exercise (1.5 minutes, 10 million views) – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lXh2n0aPyw
___________________________________
Each community change model features “provide information” or “educate the public” as a foundation strategy for creating lasting community change. Communication is a specific task under such information/education strategies and it includes any type of public communication including presentations, meetings, brochures, posters, banners, billboards and PSAs. Social marketing would be included as just another form of communication among many.
That is shortcoming for most of the models because social marketing is a “persuasive” form of communication as compared to the more passive activities of providing information, raising awareness and educating providers. Granting agencies and organizations both recognize and reward the distinct contributions made by social marketing. But as a separate strategy requiring unique research, development and implementation activities, social marketing does not fit neatly into the common community health and prevention models.
At its core social marketing is a form of communication, but its persuasive intention makes it an individual change agent aligned with other key strategies such as “providing support” and “strengthening individual skills.” The emotional impact created by of some of the superstars of social marketing – Rosie the Riveter, Smokey Bear, the crying Indian – demonstrates that social marketing has the ability to influence broader cultural and institutional spheres of community change as well.
Strategies for Improving Local Conditions while Engendering Environmental Change
In modeling the strategies for community change related to healthier behavior, social marketing appears to best fit with those activities intended to influence individual change such as mentoring, referrals and support groups. As with those activities, a goal of social marketing is to ensure that the target market remains aware of the desired change – as well as their being persuaded to change – through reinforcement of key messages and concepts that support healthy behaviors and lifestyles.
The graphic above offers some updates to the common models for achieving lasting community-level change. Included now is the social marketing component, as well as identifying the central role of Coalitions and Networks, along with further clarification of the main strategies to affect cultural and institutional change. It is believed that successful activities at those upper levels of the model are crucial to creating long-lasting environmental change at the community level.
______________________________________
Resources:
Cohen, Larry, The Spectrum of Prevention: Developing a Comprehensive Approach To Injury Prevention. http://www.preventioninstitute.org/index.php?option=com_jlibrary&view=article&id=105&Itemid=127
Fisher, DA, Environmental prevention strategies: An introduction and overview. Link posted at: http://wch.uhs.wisc.edu/01-Prevention/01-Prev-Environment-resources.html
Georgia Dept of Health, Strategies to achieve community-level change. http://health.state.ga.us/docs/prevention/summit/Strategies_achieve_comm.doc
National Community Anti-Drug Coalition Institute and Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA). The Coalition Impact: Environmental Prevention Strategies. http://www.cadca.org/resources/detail/coalition-impact-environmental-prevention-strategies
