Policymaking for Citizen Behavior Change

A Social Marketing Approach

Nancy R. Lee

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• eBook ISBN: 9781315525631
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Marketing
• Index: Business

Social marketing is a discipline unfamiliar to many policymakers, often confused with the more frequently applied and studied fields of social media, behavioral economics, or social change. Social marketing is a growing field and methodology, however, that has been successfully applied to improve public health, prevent injuries, protect the environment, engage communities, and improve financial well-being. Policymaking for Citizen Behavior Change is designed to demonstrate the ways in which social marketing can be an effective and efficient tool to change citizens' behavior, and how to advocate for and support its appropriate application.

Providing a 10-Step Planning Model and examining a variety of social marketing cases and tools, including more than 40 success stories, Policymaking for Citizen Behavior Change is core reading for current policymakers, as well as all those studying and practicing social marketing, particularly in the public sector. It's also worthwhile supplementary reading for those studying public policy, public administration, environmental justice, public health, and other programs on how to effect social change.

1
Citizen Behavior Change for Good

Three Options

“Marketing offers a mechanism to find a cooperative balance between the rights of the individual and the rights of society. By operating through free choice, marketing protects the rights of the individual, because no one is forced to accept the societal offering.”¹

Michael Rothschild, PhD Professor Emeritus, University of Wisconsin

Imagine the positive economic and societal impact, as well as the enhanced individual well-being, if citizens followed recommendations such as the following examples from U.S. governmental agencies:

• Improving Health: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), emphasizes four personal behaviors that can help reduce chronic diseases: getting regular physical activity, eating healthy, not using tobacco, and reducing excessive alcohol use.²
• Reducing Injuries: The National Highway Traffic Safety Commission, with a mission to “reduce the number of deaths and injuries on our nation’s roadways by getting drivers, pedestrians and cyclists to change their behaviors once they get behind the wheel,”³ emphasizes wearing seatbelts, not texting while driving, ensuring children are in the right car seat, not drinking and driving, and obeying speed limits.
• Protecting the Environment: The Environmental Protection Agency encourages behaviors that protect water quality (e.g., use safer pesticides), conserve water (e.g., purchase energy-efficient appliances), protect air quality (e.g., use alternative transportation), and decrease landfills (e.g., compost food waste).
• Engaging Communities: The Department of Housing and Urban Development supports individuals experiencing chronic homelessness who seek to enter transitional housing and receive rehabilitation services; Municipal Animal Control Agencies encourage adoption of shelter pets; Secretaries of State encourage voter registration and participation in elections.
• Enhancing Financial Well-Being: The U.S. Department of Labor promotes “10 Ways to Prepare for Retirement.”⁴ The Financial Literacy and Education Commission encourages individual and families to access financial education resources. The U.S. Treasury Department issues fraud alerts, highlighting protective actions citizens can take.
• Improving Academic Performance: The U.S. Department of Education encourages applications for federal aid for college tuition and participation in work-study programs while attending college in addition to supporting adult education and literacy programs. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services supports the participation of low-income parents in postsecondary education through the provision of campus-based child care services.

Options for Citizen Behavior Change

Policymakers, especially elected officials, agency directors, and program managers, have historically relied on two tools to influence citizen behaviors that will benefit society as well as the individual: education and law. When an education campaign (e.g., “Buckle Up”) doesn’t achieve the desired levels of behavior change, a law and/or increased enforcement approach is often adopted (e.g., “Click It or Ticket”). This guidebook is intended to inspire policymakers to consider a third option, social marketing, one that is often proven to be the most effective in achieving high rates of behavior change and, importantly, to deliver the greatest return on investment of resources. Distinctions and key components of these three tools are described in Table 1.1 and illustrated in Figures 1.1–1.3.

Education: When Is This Approach Most Effectively Used?

For purposes of this guidebook, the education option for behavior change refers primarily to messages intended to inform and/or persuade a target audience to adopt a desired behavior. It is typically the least expensive option, requiring primarily only resources for message development and placement. It is the most effective and efficient option when the desired behavior change is relatively new in the marketplace, there are few barriers to performing the behavior, benefits are valued, and a significant portion of the population will be motivated by “words alone.” The desired behavior change might surface as a priority based on new scientific research (e.g., aspirin for children increases the risk of Reye’s syndrome), concerning trends (e.g., declining salmon populations), or catastrophic events (e.g., an impending hurricane). In these situations, there are often a

Table 1.1 Three Major Tools for Citizen Behavior Change

Tool	Assumption	Tactics
Education Show Me	Information alone will be likely to motivate the behavior change. Often it is information that is new, urgent, and/or publicized more frequently.	Messages describing a desired behavior and rationale appear in a variety of media channels, most frequently including signage, brochures, posters, product packaging, social media, news media, and public service announcements (e.g., “Tobacco Kills.”).
Law Make Me	Behavior change is not likely to happen without a new law, heavier fines, and/or increased enforcement.	Messages regarding laws, fines, and/or likelihood of being “caught” most often appear at points of decision making, points of purchase, and in public venues (e.g., “NO SMOKING Within 20 Feet of Building”).
Social Marketing Help Me	It will take more than words to motivate this behavior change.	All tools in the marketing toolbox are c...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• CONTENTS
• DETAILED CONTENTS
• About the Author
• Foreword
• Preface
• 1 Citizen Behavior Change for Good: Three Options
• 2 More on the Social Marketing Option: 10-Step Planning Model and 15 Principles for Success
• 3 Social Marketing to Improve Public Health: 10 Success Stories
• 4 Social Marketing to Reduce Fatal and Nonfatal Injuries: 10 Success Stories
• 5 Social Marketing to Protect the Environment: 10 Success Stories
• 6 Social Marketing to Engage Communities: Six Success Stories
• 7 Social Marketing to Enhance Financial Well-Being: Six Success Stories
• 8 Social Marketing to Improve Academic Performance: Six Success Stories
• 9 Decision Criteria and Assessment Tools
• 10 Supporting a Successful Social Marketing Approach: The Policymaker’s Role
• Appendix A: Social Marketing Plan Example: Youth Suicide Prevention
• Appendix B: Social Marketing Plan Example: Emergency Preparedness
• Index