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Research

Social marketing (SM) is the application of commercial marketing principles to health, social and environmental problems. While commercial marketers encourage consumers to exchange money for products, SM encourages individuals to exchange unhealthy lifestyles for healthy ones. Using models inspired by commercial marketers—such as the 4Ps marketing mix with product, price, place and promotion, or other paradigms—social marketers sell social products. Using the marketing mix as a behavioural change framework, the product they sell is healthy or socially desirable behaviour; the price required is time and energy; the place is where behaviour is advocated or practiced; and promotion represents outreach to target audiences. For example, SM campaigns may encourage persons to recycle more, practice safe sex, bike to work or quit smoking.

There are many indications that SM is growing in popularity around the world. As one UK example, in June 2006, the British Department of Health announced that the UK Government spends £187 billion to treat preventable ill health that could be better addressed by marketing healthy lifestyles—it further called for a National Social Marketing Strategy for Health (National Consumer Council, 2006). At the same time, the Internet is the fastest growing communications medium—it is driving globalization; it is changing the way people, organizations and nations interact. In January 2006, it was announced that the worldwide number of Internet users surpassed one billion; and moreover, Internet penetration levels reached 65-75% in the leading countries, and 10-20% in developing countries. It was also estimated that there will be two billion Internet users by the year 2011 (Computer Industry Almanac, 2006). Research that examines both technology and health campaigning is starting to conclude that technology can motivate people to adopt healthier lifestyles in a way that will delay the onset of medical problems and improve their quality of life (IJsselsteijn et al., 2006).

This project is testing the proposition that SM can be conducted online; or in other words, that online interaction and website factors can influence users’ behavioural intentions. In particular, the project is examining how website credibility, trust and reputation can reduce online risk-based-costs to enhance the behavioural intentions of target audiences. Theoretically, it is examining these factors within social exchange theory, which underpins social marketing’s primary behavioural change model: the 4Ps and which also applies to a very useful framework for online social marketing: the BCOS factors (Andreasen, 2006)

The primary phase of this research focuses on a cross-sectional theoretical model that integrates website credibility, trust and behavioural intent. The secondary phase looks at long-term applications of online behavioural change theories, models and techniques.

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