Strategies for the Social Marketing Mix: A Systematic Review

The marketing mix is a key component of social marketing providing one of the differential points in bringing about behavior and social change. There is a dearth of information regarding the strategies used for the mix in social marketing interventions. This systematic review identifies the strategies used in the social marketing mix, product, price, place, promotion, policy, and partnerships, and their associated outcomes, in health behavior change interventions. A systematic literature search was conducted for peer-reviewed articles published in English from 1990 to 2009 that reported social marketing interventions addressing disease prevention, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, HIV, STDs, reproductive health, physical activity, nutrition, and tobacco. Articles must have identified at least 3 of the Ps of the marketing mix, reported the evaluation, and met the 6 social marketing benchmarks criteria. Twenty-four studies describing 17 interventions met the inclusion criteria. The complete marketing mix was identifiable in 5 interventions. Strategies such as removing perceived barriers, using the Internet for placement, applying innovative promotion, involving communities, and supporting policies were identified as current practices. The results identified a number of strategies that showed potential for the marketing mix with important implications for practice.