Abstract
The macro-environment in which social marketing is practised is an important factor in how it is structured and practiced, as well as its effectiveness. This paper analyses Cuban practices aimed at encouraging health behaviour change from a social marketing perspective. We utilise the case study method to assess the key social marketing dimensions of three health promotion programmes (tobacco, tuberculosis and AIDS) in Cuba. Each case is assessed against social marketing benchmark criteria used in prior research. Analysis of the cases is used to explicate the Cuban government use of macrosocial marketing approaches to address health challenges. Results demonstrate: (1) how Cuba uses a unique organisational approach to address population health needs and challenges and (2) the role of particularities of the Cuban context in the theory and practice of social marketing in Cuba. An examination of Cuban social marketing activities can broaden our understanding of the way social marketing is conceptualised and practised and may help increase the effectiveness of social marketing to improve health.
Highlights
Social marketing is used worldwide across a variety of contexts including different socio-political structures, cultural norms and market dynamics in both “developed” and “developing” countries
We turn to our combined analysis of the three health efforts in Cuba related to AIDS, tobacco, and tuberculosis to identify the way in which social marketing is practised in Cuba
Our analysis describes the organisational structure underlying macro-social marketing activities for public health in Cuba
Summary
Social marketing is used worldwide across a variety of contexts including different socio-political structures, cultural norms and market dynamics in both “developed” and “developing” countries. The particular features of a society’s macro-environment undoubtedly influence the nature of social marketing within it. Diverse social, political, cultural or economic environments mean that particular configurations of market dynamics impinge on individual behaviour and the way in which social marketing is conceptualised and implemented. The macro-environment for marketing efforts includes demographic, economic, natural, technological, political and cultural forces which influence the practice of social marketing (Kotler and Armstrong 2006). Lefebvre (2013b) describes how the field of social marketing is conceptualised and approached in two different ways based on whether it is a developed or developing country context. Lefebvre (2013b) argues that the development of these two tracks is potentially influenced by specific marketplace dynamics, government priorities and philosophies, and acknowledges the importance of macroenvironmental forces in understanding the use of social marketing
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