23 pages., via online journal., This article presents a case study of two effective interventions promoting 1% low-fat milk consumption. Developed after extensive formative research and use of the 4Ps marketing mix, the first intervention in 2012, 1% Low-Fat Milk Has Perks!, was a multilevel intervention implemented in the Oklahoma City media market (OKCMM), which covers most of the western portion of the state of Oklahoma. The program evaluation was based on a quasi-experimental comparison-group design that compared milk sales in the OKCMM with the Tulsa media market (TMM) supplemented by a pre- and post-intervention telephone survey of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients. The program evaluation revealed that 1% milk sales significantly increased 15% from before to after the intervention ended in the OKCMM compared to a smaller increase in the TMM. In 2014, the second intervention, Choose 1% Milk: A Healthy Family Choice, was implemented statewide using three experimental conditions. The intervention resulted in a 42.9% statewide increase in 1% milk sales from before to after the intervention ended. In this article, we describe the use of the marketing mix in the planning, implementation, and summative evaluation of both interventions, including strategic decisions that provide insight into efforts to influence behavior at the population level.
18 pages, Digital agriculture has been developing rapidly over the past decade. However, studies have shown that the need for more ability to use these tools and the shortage of knowledge contribute to current farmer unease about digital technology. In response, this study investigated the influence of communication channels—mass media, social media, and interpersonal meetings—on farmers’ adoption, decision-making, and benefits obtained using technologies. The research uses data from 461 farmers in Brazil and 340 farmers in the United States, leaders in soybean production worldwide. The results show differences and similarities between these countries. LinkedIn has the highest positive association in Brazil between the communication channels and the digital agriculture technologies analyzed. In the United States, YouTube has the highest positive correlation. The overall influence of social media among Brazilian farmers is higher than among American farmers. The perceived benefits of using digital tools are more strongly associated with mass media communication in the United States than in Brazil. Regarding farm management decision-making, the study showed a higher relevance of interpersonal meetings in Brazil than in the United States. Findings can aid farmers, managers, academics and government decision makers to use communication channels more effectively in evaluating and adopting digital technologies.
19 pages., via online journal., The rapidly increasing rate of biodiversity and habitat loss across the globe can be largely attributed to human behaviors. Conservation practitioners have struggled to influence behaviors through traditional awareness-raising efforts and been slow to adopt techniques from the behavioral sciences such as social marketing to change behaviors and improve conservation outcomes. We conducted a meta-analysis of 84 social marketing campaigns that applied the same theory of change for human behavior to disrupt patterns of destructive activities such as illegal hunting and overfishing. Questionnaires of more than 20,000 individuals across 18 countries measured changes in behavioral variables pre- and post-campaigns, including knowledge, attitudes, interpersonal communication, behavior intention, and behavior. For each campaign, we extracted data and validated data for behavioral variables, estimated mean effect sizes for each variable across all campaigns, and used path analysis to measure relationships among variables included in seven different models. On average, all behavioral variables increased significantly (p < .001) from 16.1 to 25.0 percentage points following social marketing campaigns. The full model used a combination of all variables and had the highest explained variation in behavior change (71%). Our results highlight the importance of (a) incorporating behavioral theory and social marketing into traditional conservation programs to address threats to biodiversity across the globe; (b) designing interventions that leverage a combination of community knowledge, attitudes, and communication about a behavior; and (c) facilitating more opportunities for interpersonal communication as a main driver of behavior change. We conclude with potential applications for practitioners interested in behavior change campaigns.
Johnson, Evelyn S. (author / Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS 39762)
Format:
Report
Publication Date:
1994
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 97 Document Number: C07927
Notes:
abstracted from Ph.D. thesis, 1993; search through volume, In: Jacquelyn Deeds and Demetria Ford, eds. Summary of Research in Extension (1992-1993). Mississippi State, MS: Department of Agricultural Education and Experimental Statistics, Mississippi State University, July 1994. p. 48
United States: Troy, Ohio: North American Association for Environmental Education
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 53 Document Number: D08989
Notes:
James E. Grunig Collection, Pages 50-82 in L. A. Grunig (ed.), Environmental activism revisited: the changing nature of communication through organizational public relations, special interest groups and the mass media.
