For use with middle to upper primary and lower secondary students
Download this fact sheet: Social marketing—a teaching tool [PDF: 427 KB]
Introduction
This fact sheet is a guide for teachers who want to introduce the topic of social marketing to their students. It is designed to provide teachers with background information and ideas for activities to stimulate discussion, promote an understanding of the issues and encourage further research.
The suggested activities can be used in a variety of small group discussions or with the entire classroom. Students should be encouraged to consider the different disciplines that are involved in social marketing campaigns and the political, social and economic goals of these campaigns.
Background
Social marketing is the application of the concepts and tools of commercial marketing to the achievement of socially desirable goals. Social marketing differs from other types of marketing in that it aims to improve the wellbeing of the community (whereas the aim of commercial marketing is to benefit the interests of the marketer).
Social marketing has been used throughout history to influence positive changes in people’s behaviour and plays a central role in public health programs. The aim of social marketing can be to correct misconceptions, or increase the acceptability of a social idea, or practice, among a large group of people. Social marketing can be used to bring about change at a group or community level.
Social marketing incorporates many aspects of commercial marketing, such as:
- consumer research
- advertising and promotion
- positioning
- creative strategy
- message design and testing
- media strategy and planning
- effectiveness-tracking.
Social marketing also involves a number of other disciplines such as psychology, communication, economics, sociology, behaviour change theory and anthropology.
Community health campaigns
Target audience
Middle to upper primary school students (8–12 years)
Activity objectives
- Students will develop an understanding of why the health of individuals and groups is promoted by the community by looking at health promotion activities in their school.
Teaching procedure
- Ask students to identify some of the school’s health promotion campaigns (healthy eating, being SunSmart, keeping fit, anti-bullying etc).
- List the reasons your school is promoting these health activities/behaviours.
- List the ways your school persuades students to take up these positive behaviours (for example, information, punishments, rewards).
- Are the techniques used different for different health campaigns?
- Ask the students to create an advertisement that will convince their fellow students to eat healthy food.
Strategies used in health campaigns
Target audience
Upper primary school students (10–12 years)
Activity objectives
- Students will develop an understanding of ways in which the community promotes the health of individuals and groups.
- Students will learn about a range of community health promotion campaigns, including their aims and target audiences.
Teaching procedure
- Brainstorm any advertisements students might have seen on television or heard on the radio for community health campaigns. For example, Quit, TAC speeding, WorkCover, drink driving, binge drinking, problem gambling, rural safety and SunSmart commercials.
- On the board draw up a chart to compare the advertisements. For each advertisement:
– Record how many people in the class are familiar with the advertisement.
– Identify the aim of the advertisement
– At whom is the advertisement aimed?
– Is the advertisement intended to inform, frighten, or persuade viewers about the behaviour that should be changed?
– Rate each advertisement from 1–10 for effectiveness (based on its aims).
- Discuss what makes an advertisement effective.
- Ask students to work in groups to prepare their own advertisement, based on one of the health issues discussed/raised.
Developing a health campaign
Target audience
Upper primary to lower secondary students (10–14 years)
Activity objectives
- Students will recognise and consider the role of health campaigns.
- Students will develop and conduct a health campaign.
Teaching procedure
- The National Alcohol Campaign has targeted binge drinking. View footage of the campaign advertisements (http://nationalalcoholcampaign.health.gov.au) or discuss what students remember from the campaign.
- Ask students to identify the strategies used to encourage people not to drink if they are underage. Are they effective? Why, or why not?
- Ask students to research among their family members and friends to identify their attitudes to under age drinking and the types of marketing messages that would change or influence these attitudes. For example, if they think that it is acceptable for children to have a small amount of wine with a meal, the message that might change that could be information about how alcohol affects the young brain (see Fact Sheet 3.13: How alcohol affects teenagers).
- Ask students to develop a community health campaign aimed at informing young people about the dangers of underage drinking. They should work in groups to design slogans, posters, jingles and adverts that can be displayed and used at a parent and family forum. For example, the Year 8 students at Charlton P-12 College created dioramas as part of a combined health and art project. Each diorama has a narrative and an assertive response that illustrates the message (http://www.druginfo.adf.org.au/browse.asp?ContainerID=charlton_college)
More information
The teaching activities outlined in this fact sheet have been adapted from Primary Pathways: An Integrated Approach to Drug Education (ADF, 2005). For more information about this resource or to obtain a copy for your school visit the ADF bookshop at http://www.adf.org.au/store/ or phone 1300 85 85 84.