Public Health Marketing

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Marketing is a research-based process required to plan, develop, implement, and assess activities designed to influence behavior in target audiences.

Public Health marketing has been employed to help bring about changes in individual behavior, such as promoting better nutrition, as well as developing support for Public Health related policies such as mandatory seat belt use.

Public Health marketing involves difficulties not found in private sector marketing:

• Intangibility of the product
• Lack of training of Public Health professionals
• Better financed competition
• Frequent lack of involvement by clearly defined constituencies and audiences
• Non-monetary valuation of public health

Public Health marketing difficulties require that Public Health marketing efforts be carefully framed.

Framing is the packaging and positioning of an issue to convey a specific meaning. Framing an issue relates the behavior you are seeking to promote to the values and perspective of the audience you are trying to influence.

Novick presents different frames used by pro and anti tobacco marketing campaigns in their efforts to win public opinion (page 492), e.g. the American freedom of choice is at stake (value) - don’t restrict smoking (a behavior) versus the duty to protect our youth from risk (value) - restrict access to cigarettes (behavior).

The careful definition of a frame for a public health marketing effort is necessary before a marketing and communication strategy can be developed.

KEY FRAMING QUESTIONS

Novick discuses key questions to ask in developing a framing and communication strategy:

• Who is the audience?
• What action should they take versus what they are doing?
• What obstacles exist in performing the desired action?
• What are the benefits to the audience of the desired behavior?
• What makes these benefits credible to the audience?
• What is the best way to reach the audience?
• What image should the marketing convey?

This case involves your development of a frame for a marketing effort by the US Environmental Protection Agency to protect citizens against the risks from radon exposure.

The Radon guide was developed by the EPA to inform citizens about radon. In order to perform the case, first read the assignment memo below, then read the Radon guide, and then you may wish to review the Novick material on framing (pages 491-498).

Public Health Marketing last updated April 20, 2004 (epowell)