The health care sector uses a multiplicity of marketing initiatives to not only ensure that important health messages reach the intended populations but also to facilitate behavior change and modification (Twenebuah-Koduah & Owusu-Frimpong, 2013). Most of the marketing initiatives have been successful in modifying health behaviors as people are inclined to new ways of doing things if they develop a strong conviction that something of value or significance is exchanged between them and the marketers (Sharma & Konekar, 2007). This paper first defines social and commercial marketing, before describing an appropriate social marketing strategy that could be used to encourage the uptake of a dental hygiene program targeting children.
Social marketing has been defined in the literature as “the use of commercial marketing techniques to help in the acquisition of a behavior that is beneficial for the health of a target population” (Sharma & Konekar, 2007, p. 3). Commercial marketing, on the other hand, has been defined as the process of developing, communicating, and delivering value to customers and other relevant stakeholders for economic gains or profit-oriented motives (Dibb, 2014). Drawing from these definitions, it is clear that the difference between the two types of marketing lies in their objectives rather than the strategies used to achieve the objectives.
The dental public health program selected for this paper is promoting dental hygiene in children aged between six and 10 years. Available literature underscores the importance of increasing children’s knowledge and improving their behavior concerning dental hygiene with the view to reducing the incidence of dental carries and enhancing the quality of life indicators (Panic & Cauberghe, 2014). Interactive computer games targeting this group of the population can be used as a social marketing strategy aimed at providing age-appropriate information on why it is important to maintain good oral hygiene and improve dietary habits. It is important to accompany the computer games with threat appeals that can motivate children to adopt healthy dental habits. In the digital and interactive environment provided by computer games, threat appeals can be communicated in terms of pictures or images that are designed to scare the children by illuminating the horrible things that may happen to them if they do not comply with the projected messages (Panic & Cauberghe, 2014). This intervention is likely to motivate children and enhance their self-efficacy in taking proactive steps aimed at maintaining good dental hygiene.
This social marketing strategy was selected based on the fact that children spend a substantial amount of time (around 61 minutes per day) playing computer and video games (Panic & Cauberghe, 2014). Additionally, interactive computer games provide a more appealing framework to communicate dental hygiene health messages to children than traditional marketing strategies that normally rely on less appealing strategies to communicate the message. Lastly, computer games are less complex to understand than traditional strategies such as brochures and posters, implying that children are likely to find the health messages attractive and easy to understand (Panic & Cauberghe, 2014).
This paper has not only defined social and commercial marketing but also described how computer games and threat appeals can be combined to encourage the uptake of a dental health program aimed at promoting dental hygiene in children. Overall, it is evident that such a social marketing strategy can promote voluntary behavior change and modification in the targeted population by reinforcing the negative health implications associated with poor dental health behaviors.
References
Dibb, S. (2014). Up, up and away: Social marketing breaks free. Journal of Marketing Management, 30(11-12), 1159-1185.
Panic, K., & Cauberghe, V. (2014). Promoting dental hygiene to children: Comparing traditional and interactive media following threat appeals. Journal of Health Communication, 19(5), 561-576.
Sharma, M., & Konekar, A. (2007). Social marketing for reduction in alcohol use. Journal of Alcohol & Drug Education, 51(4), 3-6.
Twenebuah-Koduah, E.Y., & Owusu-Frimpong, N. (2013). Social marketing and AIDS: Using transtheoretical model to understand current condom usage among commercial drivers in Accra, Ghana. International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing, 18(4), 241-260.