Unit 4 Post

In the article titled Social Marketing for Public Health, the authors explore the use of social marketing as a technique that can change behavior and improve public health (p.104). In my opinion, social marketing encompasses both positive and negative effects. In essence, social marketing includes the utilization of television, mass media, videos, the radio, and the internet. I believe when using social marketing to improve public health, it is important to modify attitudes and behaviors of people through providing information and raising awareness, not through the consumption of products. In other words, social marketing works best when there is no endorsement of a particular service or product. For example, when I was in elementary school, I recall watching a public service announcement that showed an old woman who placed her cigarette inside the hole of her neck and she breathed in the smoke. In that public service announcement, she states in her raspy voice: “They said smoking isn’t bad for you…but, they were wrong.” This particular public service announcement served as a campaign against smoking and tobacco use. I firmly believe it was effective in getting the message across and it did not endorse any products or services. It simply addressed the issue of smoking. Another example that comes to my mind is the “Live Above the Influence” message seen on television. This is another campaign against drug abuse. On the other hand, some pharmaceutical companies use social marketing as a way to get patients to use their products. For example, I have seen many commercials that advertise sleeping prescriptions such as Ambien, weight loss pills such as Xenical, or allergy medications such as Zyrtec. These pharmaceutical companies give the impression that lack of sleep, weight loss, or allergies are public health problems that can only be resolved if people consume their products. This is where social marketing can have a negative effect because the focus is not on a particular health issue, instead it is on the product itself. Generally speaking, when products or services are promoted, typically large amounts of money is involved. Instead of helping patients improve their health, pharmaceutical companies become greedy and simply desire to sell their products. Therefore, I do agree with the authors to some extent that social marketing is an effective technique that can be used to convince people to improve the quality of their health. However, when using social marketing tactics, it is important not to advocate the consumption of a particular product or service because then it just becomes a commercial advertisement that fails to raise awareness or provide significant information regarding a public health related issue.
Reference
Walsh et al. (1993). “Social Marketing in Public Health.” Health Affairs. P.104-119.