An Abstract: Do We Need to Imply a Full Mix? 4P Versus 1P
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Rundle-Thiele, S
Dietrich, T
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New Orleans, USA
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Abstract
The Hevilapset program: Viisi Per Päivä (Five a day) was conducted in ten Finnish schools throughout 2016/2017 and aimed to understand whether a 4P intervention delivered more behavior change (increased fruit and vegetable consumption) than a 1P intervention. The commercial marketing mix (4Ps) has received a large range of criticism from social marketers (see Gordon 2012; Peattie and Peattie 2003) even though the effectiveness of the marketing mix application in social marketing has yet to be assessed empirically. Specifically, there are no studies that have empirically examined whether a full application of the 4Ps is more or less effective in delivering behavior change than 1P, e.g., promotion campaigns. Contemporary social marketing practice remains dominated by a 1P or communications focus (Carins and Rundle-Thiele 2014) which has been confirmed across multiple systematic reviews (e.g., Kubacki et al. 2015a, b). Therefore, an empirical investigation into the effectiveness of the marketing mix in social marketing is warranted. Employing an experimental design, the Viisi Per Päivä study was conducted in Finland in ten schools throughout 2016/2017 and aimed to understand whether a 4P intervention delivered more behavior change (increased fruit and vegetable consumption) than a 1P intervention. The 4P intervention reached 1,021 students and their caregivers, and the 1P intervention reached 898 students and their parents. The study deployed a repeated self-report measure design surveying both children and their parents to understand food intake, liking, attitudes, and behavioral intentions. Fruit and vegetable sales data was supplied by the cooperating food stores. The 4P schools (n = 372) showed a significant increase in fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption (p < 0.05) with FV intake at breakfast and dinner growing by 29%. While girls had a significant increase in FV intake, the boys FV increase was not significant. The 1P school group (n = 491) as well as the control group (n = 213) showed no significant difference (p > 0.05) in FV intake across both meals. These results suggest that utilization of a full marketing mix enhances behavior change effects and delivers more evidence that application of more of the social marketing benchmarks is likely to lead to more behavior change.
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Boundary Blurred: A Seamless Customer Experience in Virtual and Real Spaces
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Social marketing
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Lahtinen, V; Rundle-Thiele, S; Dietrich, T, An Abstract: Do We Need to Imply a Full Mix? 4P Versus 1P, Boundary Blurred: A Seamless Customer Experience in Virtual and Real Spaces, 2018, pp. 445-446