Chapter 18
Marketing Nutrition and Health Promotion
Lecture Launcher
In your own words, define “marketing” and its relationship to community nutrition.
Chapter Outline
I.
Introduction
A. The same basic principles are behind both the commercial and social approaches to marketing.
B. The aim of both approaches is to strengthen the fit between the products, services, and programs
offered and the needs of the population.
C. Marketing is for everyone, regardless of their job description.
II. What Is Marketing?
 Peter Drucker is credited with demonstrating the benefits of marketing to business.
 Selling and promotion are only part of marketing.
 Marketing is the process by which individuals and groups get what they need and want by
creating and exchanging products and values with others.
 Social marketing draws on many of the techniques and technologies of commercial marketing,
except that it seeks to increase the acceptability of an idea, a practice, a product, or all three
among the target population.
 Social marketing is a strategy for changing consumer behavior and it combines the best elements
of consumer behavior theory with marketing tools and skills.
 The purpose of marketing is to find a problem, need, or want and to fashion a solution to it.
 The solution to the problem, need, or want is outlined in the marketing plan.
A. Develop a Marketing Plan
 The marketing plan outlines the steps for achieving the goals and objectives of the overall
intervention strategy and program plan.
 It describes how and in what form the nutrition and health messages will be delivered to the
target population.
1.
There are several steps in developing the marketing plan:
a. Determine the needs and wants of the target population because marketing always starts
with the customer.
1. Ideas about the needs and wants can be gleaned from the community needs
assessment and from focus group sessions.
2. Additional information can be collected by asking questions of the target group.
b. Specify the benefits of the product or service to the target population.
c. Conduct a situational analysis.
1. Analyze your potential market, the environment in which your product or service
will be positioned, and the competition.
IM for Community Nutrition in Action 4e, by Melanie Burns of Eastern Illinois University
2.
Select a target market which will be the primary, distinct customer group for your
product, program, or service.
3. You may want to split your target population into smaller groups at this point in
time.
d. Develop a marketing strategy for ensuring a good fit between the goals and resources of
the organization and the needs and wants of the target population.
1. The marketing strategy specifies a target market and four distinct elements known as
the four P’s: product, place, price, and promotion.
2. This phase requires setting goals and objectives to indicate what the marketing
strategy is expected to accomplish.
e. Before the marketing plan can move forward, a budget and timetable must be developed.
f. Next, implement the plan according to the original design and then evaluate its
effectiveness.
2.
Conduct a Situational Analysis
 A situational analysis is a detailed assessment of the environment including an
evaluation of the consumer, the competition, and any other factors that may affect the
program or business.
 This step is sometimes referred to as a SWOT analysis which stands for:
 Strengths
 Weaknesses
 Opportunities
 Threats
a.
b.
c.
Getting to Know Your Market. The first step in the marketing process is the
identification and analysis of all consumers of your product or service and they can be
categorized as follows:
1. Users of services who are the clients themselves.
2. Referral sources that include physicians, social workers, teachers, and former clients.
3. Other decision makers such as family members and third party payers.
Market Research: Target Markets. An inherent part of the situational analysis is to
determine and target your clients or audiences.
1. Each target market should be viewed as a separate and different audience.
2. Ideally you would develop a specific marketing strategy for each target audience.
3. Actual and potential markets should be divided further into distinct and
homogeneous subgroups, which is a process called market segmentation.
4. Market segmentation offers several advantages:
a. A more precise definition of consumer needs and behavior patterns.
b. Improved identification of ways to provide services to population groups.
c. More efficient utilization of nutrition and health education resources through a
better fit among products, programs, and services and consumers.
Market Research: Market Segmentation. Market research enables community
nutritionists to target specific groups in terms of their geography, demography, and
psychography.
1. Four classes of variables are typically used for market segmentation:
a. Geographical segmentation refers to grouping of people according to the location
of their residence or work.
IM for Community Nutrition in Action 4e, by Melanie Burns of Eastern Illinois University
b.
3.
Demographic segmentation is grouping based on such variables as income, age,
sex, occupation, family size, religion, marital status, and life cycle stage.
c. Psychographic segmentation is based on criteria such as personal values,
attitudes, opinions, behavior, lifestyle, and level of readiness for change.
d. Behavioristic segmentation is based on such criteria as purchase frequency and
occasion, benefits sought, and attitude toward the product.
2. The situational analysis demands a significant amount of market research which
includes the use of both primary and secondary data.
a. Primary data are new data collected for the first time through random sampling
surveys, questionnaires, and qualitative methods such as focus groups.
b. Secondary data are those gathered by government agencies, private market
research companies, and nonprofit organizations.
c. Federal government sources of secondary data include the Bureau of Labor
Statistics, Census Bureau, and the National Center for Health Statistics.
d. Private market research companies include A.C. Nielsen and America’s Research
Group.
Analyzing the Environment and Watching for Trends. The next step in the situational
analysis is to identify any external environmental factors or social trends that may influence
the needs of the program or organization.
 Such issues include health care reform, legislative and regulatory changes, shifting
demographics, and the competition.
 General age of the target area is also influential in determining needed programs.
a.
Analyzing the Competition. You must now determine how your existing competitors
are positioned in the marketplace and identify their strengths and weaknesses.
1. Your aim is to find a market niche for your program or service in which your
strengths can be matched with the needs of your particular target market.
2. When you set your product or service apart from other providers in the same market,
you improve your competitive edge.
3. Examples of competitive edge include the following:
a. Your area of expertise.
b. Your professional image.
c. Your size, location, and customer service.
B. Develop a Marketing Strategy
 The four elements of the marketing strategy are usually referred to as the marketing mix.
 The development of the appropriate marketing mix should result directly from the analysis
of the consumer, environment, and the competition.
 Successful marketers get the right product, service, or program to the right place at the right
time for the right price.
1.
Product. The term product refers to all of the characteristics of the product or service that are
to be exchanged with the target market.
a. Characteristics include the style, special features, packaging, quality, brand names, and
options designed to fit the needs and preferences of the target market.
b. The product or service is viewed as a collection of tangible and intangible attributes that
may be offered to a market to satisfy a want or need.
1. In community nutrition, the product is often a service to be delivered.
IM for Community Nutrition in Action 4e, by Melanie Burns of Eastern Illinois University
2.
2.
3.
4.
These services should be of high quality, tailored to fit the needs of the target market,
and adapted to meet the consumers’ social characteristics.
Place. Place refers to the actual location where the exchange takes place.
a. Accessibility, convenience, and comfort for the client are criteria to consider.
b. Place also includes the channels of distribution required to deliver the product or service
to the consumer.
c. Distribution channels vary depending on the target market and service provided.
Price. Price includes both tangible costs and intangible commodities that the consumer must
bear in the marketing exchange.
a. Tangible costs include fee for service.
b. Intangible commodities include time, effort, and inconvenience.
c. You must persuade the consumer that the benefits to be received outweigh the perceived
costs.
d. Also, incentives can be offered to increase motivation and facilitate consumer
participation.
e. Likewise, costs can be reduced (less waiting time) or prices can be discounted to certain
groups.
Promotion. Promotion refers to the organization’s informative or persuasive communication
with the target market.
a. Promotion has four objectives:
1. To inform and educate consumers about the existence of a product or service and its
capabilities.
2. To remind present and former users of the product’s continuing existence.
3. To persuade prospective purchasers that the product is worth buying.
4. To inform consumers about where and how to obtain and use the product.
b. Promotion includes more than advertising, which is any paid form of nonpersonal
presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor.
1. Sales promotion consists of such things as coupons, free samples, point-of-purchase
materials, and trade catalogs.
2. Personal promotion can be done through small group meetings, counseling sessions
and nutrition classes, displays and booths at health fairs, and telephone
conversations with the public.
3. Public relations, or publicity, is used to create a positive image of an individual or
organization.
4. Publicity Tools. Publicity tools include articles in newsletters or newspapers,
informational brochures, radio and television interviews, Internet Web sites, public
service announcements (PSAs), direct mail, and word-of-mouth.
C. Monitor and Evaluate
1. Evaluation is the key to the success of any marketing program.
2. Methods include tracking changes in volume or net profit, referral sources, and customer
satisfaction.
3. Marketing is an ongoing process and situations change, sometimes affecting your marketing
strategy.
III. Social Marketing: Community Campaigns for Change
 Social marketing makes a comprehensive effort to influence the acceptability of social ideas in a
population, usually for the purpose of changing behavior.
IM for Community Nutrition in Action 4e, by Melanie Burns of Eastern Illinois University

Examples of social marketing include public service messages produced by electronic and print
media such as messages intended to change behavior related to hypertension, teenage pregnancy,
and drug use.
A. Introduction
1. Marketers identify four types of behavior change, listed in order of increasing difficulty:
a. Cognitive change is a change in knowledge and is the easiest to market.
b. Action change is more difficult to achieve, as the individual must first understand the
reason for change and then invest something of value to make the change.
c. Behavior change is more difficult than either cognitive or action changes because it costs
the consumer more in terms of personal involvement on a continuing basis.
d. Value change is the most difficult to market; an example would be population control
strategies to persuade families to have fewer children.
2. Social marketing seeks to bring about changes in the behavior as well as in the attitudes and
knowledge of the target audience.
3. Social marketing can be applied to a wide variety of social problems but is particularly
appropriate in three situations:
a. When new research data need to be disseminated.
b. When countermarketing is needed to offset the negative effects of a practice or
promotional effort.
c. When action is needed to move people from intention to action.
B. Social Marketing at the Community Level
1. The Pawtucket Heart Health Program (PHHP) is an example of how marketing principles
can be used in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of a community-wide social
marketing campaign.
2. The PHHP “Know Your Cholesterol” campaign was one of the earliest cholesterol awareness
and screening efforts.
3. Objectives for the campaign were formulated based on national random sampling data of
both the general population and physicians.
4. Early program development steps included a pilot test of a self-help “nutrition kit” on
lowering cholesterol levels and pretesting of the SCORE (screening, counseling, and referral
events) protocol at the community hospital.
5. In the marketing mix, SCOREs were initially priced at $5 per person for both an initial and
follow-up measurement.
6. Price reductions and specials were also offered.
7. The essential components of the campaign’s marketing strategy were integrated into the
ongoing activities of the PHHP.
8. During the first two years of the project, over 10,000 persons had their blood cholesterol
measured, were given information on dietary management of high serum cholesterol, and
were referred to physicians when necessary.
9. A survey of local physicians showed they were more aggressive in initiating either diet or
drug therapy than physicians in the neighboring community.
10. The researchers concluded that informed consumers had influenced changes in their
physicians’ treatment of high serum cholesterol levels.
IV. A Marketing Plan for “Heartworks for Women”: Case Study 1
IM for Community Nutrition in Action 4e, by Melanie Burns of Eastern Illinois University
A. The team responsible for the nutrition intervention in the “Heartworks for Women” program
reviewed results of the community needs assessment, the goals and objectives for the
intervention strategy, and the program goals.
B. Specific needs and wants of the target population were identified, such as wanting to feel better,
look better, and not have a heart attack.
C. The benefits of the program addressed these needs and wants.
D. The objectives for the marketing strategy were designed to meet the broad goals outlined for the
program:
1. Increase women’s awareness of the relationship of diet to CHD risk.
2. Build skills related to heart-healthy eating and cooking.
E. The marketing mix for the program focused on worksites and universities as the primary gates
for delivering program messages and promoting the program.
F. Promotion of the program occurred through brochures, posters in company cafeterias, press
releases, the painted city bus, and the Internet Web site.
G. Summative evaluation conducted at six months after the launch determined that only 35
companies had signed on for the program, and most of these were large companies with a human
resources department and more than 200 employees.
H. The marketing strategy and program format were redesigned to be attractive to women who
worked in light manufacturing companies with no human resources department and fewer than
100 employees.
I. Adjustments in the marketing strategy would be made again in another 6 months when another
evaluation was planned.
V. Entrepreneurship Leads the Way
A. The challenge for the present decade will be to use the marketing strategies described here to
remind consumers of the benefits of good health and to motivate them to make behavior changes.
B. The important thing is to stay focused on the needs and wants of the consumer of health
promotion activities.
C. Consumers can and should be grouped into smaller, better-defined categories, and the Internet
makes one-to-one marketing a reality.
D. Mass marketing is giving way to selective, target marketing.
E. Tomorrow’s consumer promises to be an independent thinker, highly educated and
sophisticated, demanding, a seeker of innovation, and a pursuer of wellness.
F. Marketing helps capture this changing profile, and entrepreneurship helps plan for it.
IM for Community Nutrition in Action 4e, by Melanie Burns of Eastern Illinois University