Effective Marketing of Quality Child Care

Abstract

Abstract The effective marketing of quality child care has been deterred by internal factors such as a history which stressed the pathology of families who utilized the service, by confusing terminology, by equivocation about the definition of quality, and by conflict about profit from a human service. External deterrents such as parental guilt, lack of conviction about the importance of early childhood for future development, and perception of child care as exclusively a “women's issue” have also militated against parental choice of high quality services as opposed to those of poor quality. Those using a marketing communication program to influence parents to choose high quality services need to be aware of possible strategies for changing either attitudes or behavior and to target communication programs to the type of change sought. Concepts and principles of marketing are appropriate for the task and can help ensure that the supplementary care needed by large numbers of children will be of such quality that it can enhance and not inhibit the development of the children.