Communication for social marketing: an approach for developing communication appeals for family planning programs

Abstract

This study has developed and tested an approach and a methodology for identifying persuasive communication appeals that have the best chances of influencing people's attitudes and behaviour in the area of social marketing, specifically, family planning. It can be used by social marketers for designing communication campaigns. Social psychologists and sociologists have emphasized that people's value systems and their perceptions of how these values are related to an object (behaviour or person), have an important influence on their attitudes and Behaviour towards that object. In designing a family planning communication, the choice of its two most important elements - 'message appeal' and 'source' - requires an understanding of the value system and perceived value-instrumentalities of the target population. Research in family planning has neglected the problem of 'appeal' determination.