Social Marketing and Sustainability

Introduction Social marketing involves the application of marketing skills and technology in influencing human behaviours with a view of overcoming certain issues in society.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Social Marketing and Sustainability specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Moreover, social marketing is a powerful tool in influencing human behaviours because it involves the use of downstream and upstream strategies, as well as applying theories of behaviour change to address some of the social issues. Speeding is a social issue in New South Wales because it causes about 40% of road deaths, results into more than 200 deaths, and is responsible for over 4000 injuries per year (Blender, 2009). In this view, this report analyses RTA campaign and examines application of two behavioural change models. Background Information, Target Audience Behaviour Change Following rampant cases of road accidents, the Road Transpo rt Authority (RTA) of New South Wales, Australia, launched an anti-speeding campaign with a video entitled â€Å"Speeding: No One Think Big of You† (NOTBOY). The RTA speeding campaign was remarkably successful because it enabled RTA to reduce the occurrence of accidents on the roads of New South Wales. According to Bender (2009, p.158), RTA campaign was â€Å"one of the cleverest ad campaigns† and â€Å"very successful† because it ridiculed racing drivers, thus discouraging speeding behaviour among drivers.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Prior to the RTA speeding campaign, the RTA employed campaign approach that instils shock and fear on the drivers, but it never worked well. The RTA campaign targeted the entire community to influence changes in behaviour amongst youths who regard speeding as a fun activity, way showing off, and a trendy affair. The RT A campaign was successful because it had its basis on previous anti-speeding campaigns, but extended to use social approach, which empowered the community to create a culture that does not accept speeding. By use of social approach, the RTA campaign made extensive awareness amongst the youths and community leading to decreased cases of accidents. The audience targeted by the RTA campaign included divers, particularly young male drivers between the ages of 17 to 25 who like speeding on the roads of New South Wales. Road accidents in New South Wales have been increasing exponentially due to the behaviours of young male drivers who like speeding. Statistics show that about 40% of road deaths occur due speeding in New South Wales (Dorn 2010). The dominant group of drivers involved in the accidents is the group of young male drivers. The young male drivers speed because they perceive speeding as a means of displaying their prowess in driving (Hartig 2000).Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Social Marketing and Sustainability specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In this view, the RTA campaign targeted the young male drivers through upstream and midstream social marketing strategies. The upstream social marketing focused on the use of media and community as influencers of behaviour change while midstream social marketing involved the use of family and friends in discouraging speeding. Therefore, the youths between the ages of 17 to 25 years were the target audience given that they were ready for action because they form about 17% of the speeding drivers, who experience accidents in New South Wales. The RTA campaign proposed to change speeding behaviour of young male drivers, who used driving as a way of showing off their driving prowess. To change speeding behaviour and perceptions of the youths, the RTA campaign aimed at making speeding a socially unacceptable trend coupled with discouraging peer app roval of speeding. Overall, the RTA campaign aimed at involving community in creating cultural and societal perceptions that discourage speeding among male youths of New South Wales. From the principles of success, the RTA campaign focused on a single behaviour that is simple and executable in discouraging speeding. Kotler and Lee clarifies, â€Å"One of the key successes is to establish behaviour objectives that are single, simple, and doable acts that become core of the campaign effort† (2004, p.22).Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More By empowering the community to view speeding as a socially unacceptable behaviour, the RTA campaign managed to influence an individual’s perception, as no one would speed without having the fear of being a subject of ridicule. The behaviour change of discouraging speeding has potential impact of transforming individual and societal perceptions on speeding as unacceptable behaviour attributed to young and immature boys. Since none of the drivers wanted to appear as young and immature as per the implication of the â€Å"pinkie† campaign, New South Wales experienced a significant reduction in speeding and cases of accidents. The RTA campaign experienced barriers such as peer approval and unsupportive attitude. Peer approval was one of the barriers that the RTA campaign experienced when it aimed at discouraging speeding among male youths. The youths perceived speeding as fun, exciting, and a trendy activity. Moreover, the young male drivers viewed speeding as a way of expr essing their masculinity and showing off their prowess skills in driving. Hence, as the RTA campaign tried to depict speeding as a socially unacceptable behaviour, it was like denying the youths their masculinity. Andreasen (2005) claims, â€Å"barriers in the environment external to the individual make it difficult or impossible to act in employing the downstream approach of social marketing† (p.74). Hence, it was hard for the RTA campaign to influence the youths using the downstream approach because their culture approved speeding. Moreover, unsupportive attitude of the youths is another barrier, as they do not like driving at low speeds. Youths associate low speeding with rawness and female drivers who cannot drive well. Competitively, the youths were struggling to gain experience in speeding and become veteran drivers, while the RTA campaign restricted the same. To overcome barriers of peer approval and unsupportive attitude, the RTA campaign employed upstream and downstr eam approaches of social marketing by involving the media, friends, family, and community. The use of media ensured that the campaign gained extensive awareness among youths and the entire society. Moreover, the RTA campaign empowered the community to participate actively in discouraging speeding behaviours because a significant number of drivers speed on the roads of New South Wales. Donovan and Henley (2010) state that a social marketer can enhance the effectiveness of a campaign strategy by â€Å"adopting upstream approaches that create changes in the environment, as well as downstream approaches targeting individual undesirable behaviours† (p.45). Friends and family members are downstream influencers who helped in overcoming peer pressure and unsupportive attitude, which were barriers to the RTA campaign. Thus, by employing both upstream and downstream approaches, the RTA campaign managed to overcome barriers and change behaviours of youths through the influence of commun ity members. The RTA campaign has significant benefits to the New South Wales. Following its launch, the RTA campaign has considerably reduced cases of accidents in New South Wales because many youths have reduced their speed of driving. Hence, reduced rate of accidents due to speeding is a considerable measurable benefit. Another benefit of the campaign is that there is increased awareness of speeding, thus depicting speeding among youth as unacceptable behaviour in the society. Brennan and Binney (2010) state that about 94% of the general population recognised anti-speeding message in the RTA campaign, while 58% of the young males realised that speeding is unacceptable behaviour in the community. Such figures indicate that the RTA campaign was quite successful in creating a culture in the community that perceives speeding as a socially unacceptable behaviour. Thus, New South Wales has significantly benefited from the campaign, as many youths will no longer speed and cause accident s that lead to loss of lives and cause injuries. Behaviour Change Models Social Norm Theory Social norm theory is one of the theories that explain the change in behaviour among male youths due to the RTA campaign. Social norm theory postulates that change of behaviour of an individual occurs to influence one’s perception on what is normal. Schultz et al. assert that social norms influence human behaviours because they â€Å"not only spur, but also guide action in the direct and meaningful ways† (2007, p.429). In the case of speeding amongst youths, the theory explains that the culture of speeding emerged due to pluralistic ignorance, which made youths view speeding as a socially acceptable behaviour. From the perspective of the youths, speeding was quite acceptable because it was a means of displaying their masculinity as well as prowess in driving. Speeding was one of the social norms that the youths practised because it was a trendy activity for the young male driver s to exhibit their skills. Through their pluralistic ignorance, the youths assumed that all drivers were speeding, and thus they wanted to attain the status of speeding like everyone else. According to the social norm theory, an intervention that exposes the reality of the norms is indispensable in correcting pluralistic ignorance. Although the youths were driving at high speeds, they were comfortable because it was normal according to their norms. In this view, the RTA campaign developed a strategy that focused on changing the youths’ perceptions. The perceptions of the young male drivers were contrary to the reality. While the young male drivers perceived speeding as fun, exciting, and expression of masculinity, the society perceived it as a dangerous affair. Thus, the RTA campaign employed both downstream and upstream strategies of social marketing to influence the community to perceive speeding as unacceptable behaviour. Terry and Hogg (1999) state that a change of human behaviour occurs through a systematic process where dominant social norms influence the development of behaviour. Thus, for the RTA campaign to overcome dominant behaviour of speeding among the youths, it empowered the community to create a culture that views speeding as a despicable behaviour. Theory of Planned Behaviour The theory of planned behaviour postulates that behaviour is a product of benefits, social norms, and cost associated with a given activity. Before one performs a given activity, one has to analyse the benefits and costs associated with social norms. Therefore, the young male drivers found pleasure in speeding because they got recognition from their peers coupled with expressing their masculinity. According to Armitage and Christian (2003), attitudes predict behaviours for social norms moderate the attitude-behaviour relationship. Hence, the behaviour that the young male drivers exhibited reflected their attitudes. To overcome the unsupportive attitudes of the youn g male drivers, the RTA campaign aimed at changing attitudes of the community members so that they can have overwhelming influence on the attitudes of the young male drivers. Ultimately, the RTA changed the community attitudes and perceptions, branded speeding unacceptable behaviour, and reduced cases of accidents due to speeding. Although the young male drivers attempted to hold on to their speeding behaviours, they failed because the community was already empowered to influence their behaviours. Conner and Armitage (1998) assert that the theory of planned behaviour examines attitudes and perceptions relative to social norms of the people. As the RTA campaign changed perceptions and attitudes of the community members who are the majority, the minority young male drivers were unable to resist change. Hence, when community members viewed speeding as a despicable behaviour, the young male drivers followed the perceptions of the community. Eventually, the young male drivers had to comp ly with the demands of the society because the societal norms perceived speeding as unacceptable behaviour among the youths. Buckworth and Dishman (2002) argue, â€Å"Behaviour is predicted by intentions and intentions are predicted by attitude and societal norms† (p.27), which have overwhelming influence on human behaviour. Therefore, the RTA campaign influenced behaviours of the young male drivers to drive at moderate speeds. Conclusion The RTA campaign is the most successful campaign in dealing with speed driving because it managed to change the behaviour of young male drivers as well as other drivers. Despite the many challenges associated with social marketing, the RTA campaign employed both upstream and downstream strategies, which empowered the community, family, and friends to effect changes in behaviour of young male drivers, who perceived speeding as fun, exciting, and a way of expressing their masculinity. Analysis of the RTA campaign shows that it complied with fa ctors necessary for successful social marketing. Moreover, the RTA applied theory of social norm and the theory of planned behaviour in changing speeding behaviour of young male drivers in New South Wales. Reference List Andreasen, A 2005, Social marketing in the 21st century, SAGE Publisher, California. Armitage, C Christian, J 2003, Planned behaviour: The relationships between human thought and action, Transaction publishers, New York. Bender, M 2009, The fast, the fraudulent the fatal: The dangerous and dark side of illegal street racing, drifting and modified cars, AuthorHouse, California. Brennan, L Binney, W 2010, ‘Fear, Guilt and Shame Appeals in Social Marketing’, Journal of Business Research, vol. 63 no. 2, pp.140-146. Buckworth, J Dishman, R. 2002, Exercise Psychology, Human Kinetics, New York. Conner, M Armitage, C 1998, ‘Extending the theory of planned behaviour: A review and avenues for further research’, Journal of Applied Social Psycholo gy, vol. 28 no 1, pp.1429-1464 Donovan, R Henley, N 2010, Principles and practice of social marketing: An international perspective, Cambridge University Press, New York. Dorn, L 2010, Driver behaviour and training: human factors in road and rail transport, Ashgate Publishing, London. Hartig, K 2000, ‘Claiming the Freeway: Young Male Drivers in Pursuit of Independence, Space and Masculinity’, Journal of Interdisciplinary Gender Studies, vol. 5 no 1, pp.36-49. Kotler, P Lee, R 2004, Corporate social responsibility: Doing the most good for your company and your cause, John Wiley Sons, New York. Schultz, P, Nolan, J, Cialdini, R, Goldstein, N Griskevicius, V 2007, ‘The constructive, destructive, and reconstructive power social norms’, Psychological science, vol.18 no 5, pp.429-434. Terry, D Hogg, M 1999, Attitudes, behaviour, and social context: The role of norms and group membership, Taylor Francis, Mahwah. This report on Social Marketing and Sustainability was written and submitted by user Norah Stuart to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.