Social Marketing of Successful Components of the Initiative: Supporting and Maintaining Behavior Change
Learn how supporting behavior change can take many forms, all aimed at making it easier for people to take action.
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WHAT DO WE MEAN BY SUPPORTING AND MAINTAINING BEHAVIOR CHANGES?
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WHAT TYPES OF BEHAVIOR CHANGES NEED TO BE SUPPORTED AND MAINTAINED?
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WHAT ARE BARRIERS TO TAKING ACTION AND CHANGING BEHAVIOR?
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HOW DO YOU ADDRESS BARRIERS TO ACTION AND SUPPORT BEHAVIOR CHANGE?
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WHAT ARE BARRIERS TO MAINTAINING BEHAVIOR CHANGES?
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HOW DO YOU ADDRESS BARRIERS TO MAINTAINING BEHAVIOR CHANGES?
Many smokers looking for an easy way to quit have tried the patch, an adhesive pad that allows them to absorb nicotine through the skin. In theory, the nicotine in the patch initially acts as a substitute for cigarettes, to help them stop smoking. As their craving for cigarettes themselves diminishes, they use patches with diminishing amounts of nicotine until, eventually, they don't need either cigarettes or the patch: they've quit!
It sounds easy, and that's why many people try it. Unfortunately, relatively few of them successfully stop smoking, unless they're part of a structured program that includes education and group and individual support. It's hard to take that first step to stop smoking; it's a great deal harder to stick to it without support.
Just about everyone either knows or is a person who's concerned about his weight. The cycle of dieting, losing weight, starting to eat "normally," regaining what was lost, and dieting again has become totally familiar, the subject of sitcom jokes and conversation among friends. Perhaps a majority of Americans have been on diets at some point in their lives, and many or most have lost weight. But most gain the weight back within a year, and the U.S. remains the home of the most overweight population of any developed country in the world.
As these examples make clear, behavior change isn't just a matter of decision. All those smokers really do want to quit permanently, and all those dieters really do want to lose weight and keep it off. In most cases, however, they need help. If you want to make sure that your social marketing campaign is effective, you not only have to convince people to take action, but you have to support them as they do, and then you have to help them maintain the change once they've made it.
Note: This section, like the others in this chapter, assumes that you have done your market research. Listening to what your target audience has to say and responding to it is a cornerstone of social marketing. In this circumstance, it will tell you what makes it difficult for your target audience to take action or maintain behavior change
WHAT DO WE MEAN BY SUPPORTING AND MAINTAINING BEHAVIOR CHANGES?
Supporting behavior change, in simplest terms, involves helping to create or provide the environment, circumstances, equipment, information, and the logistical and psychological assistance that make it possible for people to take action to change their behavior. As we'll discuss later in this section, that support can take many forms, but they're all aimed at making it easier for people to take action.
Maintaining behavior change, on the other hand, goes on after the initial action has been taken. Often, that action is only the first step. Going on a diet, for instance, doesn't mean the dieter has accomplished the change he wants. That has only happened when he has reached his ideal weight and can stay at that point indefinitely. In order for that to happen, he may have to change a number of behaviors permanently: eating habits, exercise patterns, alcohol consumption, perhaps even where and with whom he eats lunch, or where he takes vacations.
Your social marketing campaign can't be successful unless it can help people maintain their changes over time. That may require some of the same kinds of support that action does, as well as helping people learn new skills and acquire other attributes that contribute to their ability to sustain the changes they've made.
WHAT TYPES OF BEHAVIOR CHANGES NEED TO BE SUPPORTED AND MAINTAINED?
There are essentially four types of behavior change, each requiring a different approach to support and maintenance. Recognizing which type you're hoping to encourage will help you choose a strategy to make that change more probable.
One-time changes. The change may be permanent, but it requires only a single action to accomplish it. With one-time changes, you may have to provide support, but once the action has been taken, maintenance isn't an issue (although follow -up psychological support may be). Some one-time changes:
- Getting a vasectomy
- Donating a kidney
- Making an emergency donation for disaster relief
- Registering to vote
Repeated, but finite changes. This type of change requires more than one action, but has a definite end point, when the actions can cease. In this circumstance, support for the change itself is important, but help with maintaining the change until the goal is reached is even more so. Because the goal is defined and limited, it is relatively easy to find out what people need to keep moving, and to try to provide it. Examples of this kind of change include:
- Getting a child the appropriate immunizations
- Undergoing cancer treatment
- Earning a certificate in a job training program
Permanent lifestyle changes. These changes need to be sustained forever if they're to be effective. Here, obviously, support for both action and maintenance are crucial. The action may be hard to take just because it looks so daunting; changing a whole lifestyle is not the same as sending one check or signing a voter registration card. By the same token, once the action has been taken, the idea of having to keep at it forever - especially at a time when it still seems unfamiliar and difficult - can be overwhelming. Your campaign should be providing as much help as possible to keep people focused. Permanent lifestyle changes might entail:
- Adjusting eating and exercise habits to maintain ideal weight and fitness
- Keeping abreast of political issues and casting an informed vote in every election
- Recycling, composting, conserving electricity, and other environmentally-conscious practices
- Quitting smoking
Situational changes. Changes that need to maintained over the long term, but only require action in certain situations. Although these actions don't need to be performed constantly, they really need to be treated as a combination of all three other types. They are new, one-time actions each time they come up; they must be repeated each time a member of the target audience is in the appropriate situation; and they have to be continued indefinitely if they are to have the desired effect. Thus, they require both continuing support for specific action and ongoing encouragement and facilitation for maintenance. Some examples:
- Appointing a designated driver
- Practicing safe sex
- Using car seat belts
WHAT ARE BARRIERS TO TAKING ACTION AND CHANGING BEHAVIOR?
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