Use of social marketing principles in sexual health: an exploratory review

Abstract

This paper presents a systematic review of the use of social marketing principles in sexual health studies in order to determine the effectiveness of the programmes. Systematic literature review method was used, and Andreasen’s (2002) benchmark criteria were adopted to analyse the use of social marketing principles in the selected studies. There is evidence of full use of some elements of Andreasen’s (2002) benchmark criteria, for example, consumer research, behaviour change objectives and segmentation. The use of the marketing mix theory and exchange elements were limited, whereas the evidence of the use of competition is not noted. In addition, the majority of the selected studies focus on short-term objectives leading to varying and inconsistent outcomes. Overall, no single element of Andreasen’s (2002) benchmark criteria was independently associated with the success of any of the selected studies. The review highlights a need to use more social marketing principles in planning and implementing sexual health programmes to enhance their effectiveness. Improvement in performance might be achieved through the development and application of a new social marketing informed methodology for designing social programmes on sexual health.