Background: MPH 630: Health Communication and Social Marketing for Health Populations covered the first seven steps of the Social Marketing framework. These included 1. Public Health Issue Identification; 2. Situation Analysis; 3. Audience Selection; 4. Behavior Objectives & Goals; 5. Audience Insights; 6. Positioning; and 7. The Four P’s (product, price, place, promotion). The overall goal of social marketing is to utilize traditional marketing practices and communication strategies to develop a campaign that effectively influences behavior change for the betterment of society. For the course practice lab, we were put into groups and asked to work through step five of the social marketing framework focused on gaining target audience insights.
Key Questions: Based on a public health topic and target behavior / audience of our choosing, we were required to identify potential barriers, benefits, motivators, and competing behaviors. My group decided to choose the public health topic / audience of illicit drug use among adolescents and the target behavior of abstinence from illicit drug use among adolescents. We then considered the first five social marketing steps for our audience and target behavior.
Method: Through the use of an in-class zoom breakout room, my group met to choose a topic and work through the practice lab worksheet together. We primarily utilized the information gained from our course textbooks, Lee and Kotler, 2016 Chapter 7 and Resnick and Siegel, 2013 Chapter 6. Additionally, we utilized trusted online sources (CDC) and our personal knowledge to complete each section.
Findings: Using the practice lab worksheet to guide our process, we identified the perceived barriers & benefits, potential motivators, and competing behaviors for our chosen target behavior and audience. Some perceived barriers to adolescent abstinence from illicit drug use we identified were lack of knowledge about the dangers of drug use, peer pressure to use illicit drugs, and media influence showing drug use as cool and fun. Some of the perceived benefits we identified were better performance in school and extracurricular activities, avoiding negative impacts to physical appearance, and reducing the risk of facing criminal consequences. We considered several motivators for the target behavior change among our audience including testimonials or stories from other adolescents that have stopped using drugs and showing images of the impacts of illicit drugs on the body. We also identified several competing behaviors with the main one being adolescent drug use and use of other substances like alcohol, cigarettes, and vaping products. We also considered the costs and benefits of each competing behavior. While this is just an overview of our findings, a complete description for each section is included in the embedded document below.
Recommendations: As the above Findings section exemplifies, influencing adolescents to adopt our target behavior of abstinence from illicit drug use is complex. Based on our identification of perceived barriers and benefits, we developed several potential motivators for our target behavior. These included utilizing testimonials from peers to provide more relatable and acceptable messaging, developing culturally relevant and on-trend educational materials, showing graphic images of the impacts of drugs on the body, utilizing peer mentors or support groups to provide a source of nonjudgemental help, fostering a strong community or familial support system, and providing alternative activities that adolescents care about like sports, drama clubs, or art classes that require abstinence from substances to excel in. Again, these recommendations are covered in full detail in the embedded document.
Public Health Significance: Illicit drugs have the potential to cause several negative health outcomes among adolescents including impacts on growth and development, the potential development of adult health problems, addiction, and overdose (1). While 2022 rates of reported illicit drug use among adolescents have continued to remain lower than pre-pandemic rates, 11% of eighth graders, 21.5% of 10th graders, and 32.6% of 12th graders still reported illicit drug use in the past year (2). In order to maintain these reduced rates and lead to additional reductions, effective social marketing efforts can be used to influence abstinence among adolescents as they return to in-person classes and have increased risk of exposure to substances and peer pressure.
- Teen Substance Use & Risks. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/fasd/features/teen-substance-use.html. Published: February 10, 2020. Accessed: March 5, 2022.
- Most Reported Substance Use Among Adolescents Held Steady in 2022. National Institute on Drug Abuse. https://nida.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/2022/12/most-reported-substance-use-among-adolescents-held-steady-in-2022#:~:text=In%202022%2C%20reported%20use%20of,use%20in%20the%20past%20year. Published: December 15, 2022. Accessed: March 5, 2022.