wtf is social marketing? campaigns, behaviour change and behavioural economics

So… WTF is social marketing?

Max St John – April 2010

def.

“The systematic application of marketing, alongside other concepts and techniques to

achieve specific behavioural goals, for a social good”

or (better)...

“Consumer behaviour is our bottom line”

starting point

identifying behavioural challenges

developing behavioural interventions

the roots

social policy marketing

_social sciences

_social reform

_social campaigning

_commercial

_public sector

Allied with: behavioural economics, health promotion, publichealth, behavioural psychology, environmental advocacy.

social marketing via the core concept of marketing

three factors

to create a socially just and fairer society

set of tools or technologies

why it matters: joyless growth

why it matters: an unequal society

core principles: focus on behaviour

typically want people to do one of four things:

_accept a new behaviour

_reject an undesirable behaviour

_modify and existing behaviour

_abandon an old, undesirable behaviour

core principles: people first mindset

systematic audience understanding

beneficiary is the individual, group or society: not us.

in-depth understanding of audience: deep truths

principle elements

_Customer or consumer orientation

_Behaviour and behavioural goals

_'Intervention mix' and 'marketing mix’

_Audience segmentation

_‘Exchange’

_‘Competition’

Demographic

male

born 1948

British

2nd marriage

affluent

well known family

Where demographics fail

the individual in a wider context

Individual

Friends and family

Communities and neighborhoods

Wider society

Global context

Directly influence

Indirectly influence

what is behaviour?

Not a single action

But ‘a series of actions over time’

Behaviour is ‘inherently dynamic’.

The result of conscious decisions but often driven by learned patterns or unconscious decisions

Variation and inconsistency is common

behavioural models

Pre-Pre-ContemplationContemplation

MaintenanceMaintenance ContemplationContemplation

ActionAction PreparationPreparation

TerminationTermination

ways of influencing behaviour

Communicate Remind Trigger

Teach Engage Inspire Skill

Service Provide Assist

Alter environment EngineerChange context

Regulate Legislate Monitor Police

Make aware

Model

Inform

Educate

Support

Design

Control

Some examples

Making it fun

What about this...?

behavioural economics

“Decision making under uncertainty.”

the difference

standard economic model behavioural economics

_rational

_governed by selfishness

_treat all assets as fungible

_motivated by expected utility maximisation

_consistent time preferences according to discounted utility

_ ?

economics meets psychology

why we behave the way we do

how we make choices

why we shop and buy things the way we do

how choices affect markets

how to influence choices

two kinds of behaviour

reflective automatic/limbic

_thinking

_rational

_self aware

_”turbulence is fine”

_deductive

_mr spock

_emotional

_intuitive

_unconcious

_”we’re all gonna die”

_associative

_homer simpson

behavioural economics

heuristics

prospect theory

anchors

loss aversion / the endowment effect

etc