Hygiena 2011, 56(4):127-131

Social Marketing Programs Aimed at Healthy Lifestyle: Possible Theoretical Approaches

Zuzana Chytková, Miroslav Karlíček, Marek Hrkal

Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze, Fakulta podnikohospodářská, Katedra marketingu, Praha

The lifestyle epidemic is one of the most pressing issues of the developed world. It represents a major cause of reduced lifespan and gives rise to significant healthcare costs. As a consequence, governments make use of social marketing program-mes aimed at altering unhealthy behaviour in the population. These programmes are mostly theory-based and primarily aimed at presenting scientific information regarding healthy lifestyle. Nonetheless, recent studies have demonstrated that this form of consumer education is not sufficiently effective. Such education is based on an erroneous model of rational behaviour and tends to confuse the target audience with contradictory information, resulting in scepticism on the part of consumers otherwise interested in the issues of healthy living. The present article analyzes other theoretical approaches and models that can be used for the design of social marketing programs aimed at altering population lifestyle. Apart from the information-based approach, it considers other approaches based on the theory of reasoned action, operant conditioning, social-cognitive theory and the health belief and ecological models.

Keywords: social marketing, healthy lifestyle, theory of reasoned action, social-cognitive theory, health belief model, ecological models

Received: May 2011; Accepted: August 1, 2011; Published: December 1, 2011  Show citation