Nutrition Education for Low Income Population through Social Marketing: Insight from Cooperative Extension Agents

Abstract

Social Marketing (SM) is emerging as a promising method to deliver targeted nutrition and public health messages, but the current usage of SM in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP‐Ed) programs is still limited across the nation. The purpose of this study was to conduct focus group interviews to learn from Cooperative Extension Agents (CEAs) perceptions of barriers, benefits, content, and media channels for a SM intervention designed for SNAP‐Ed eligible participants in the state of Georgia (southeastern USA). One focus group took place in each of the four Cooperative Extension Districts for a total of 4 groups. Thirty‐six female CEAs representing a range of rural – urban counties were recruited via convenience sampling. A semi‐structured interview guide was used. Focus groups were digitally recorded and transcribed. Thematic analysis was used for analysis. To ensure validity of findings, a member‐check was conducted by sending district level reports to participants from each district to review and provide feedback. CEAs had varied perceptions of SM, and tended to first think social media marketing. They expressed that SNAP‐Ed eligible individuals and families could benefit through participation in a SM intervention; however, they identified both individual level (e.g., lack of literacy and retention challenges) and community level barriers (e.g., lack of transportation, lack of available and affordable healthy food, and unreliable Internet) for a SM intervention reflecting unique social, economic, and population characteristics of urban and rural areas across the state. Agents suggested several geographic and audience segmentation strategies to address the identified barriers including recruiting participants at the places they frequent; using radio, TV, or in‐person communication (e.g., in churches, schools, libraries) in areas with unreliable Internet; and using incentives to get and maintain participation They also emphasized the use of visual methods (videos, posters, etc.) containing nutrition tips such as how to pick out produce that is in season, new food preparation methods, and how to budget food dollar resources, delivered by someone to whom low‐income population can relate. The findings of this study suggest that CEAs consider SM as a feasible SNAP‐Ed approach that has a high potential to deliver tailored nutrition education message to low‐income Georgians, which will inform a statewide SNAP‐Ed SM plan in Georgia.Support or Funding InformationThis project was funded by USDA SNAP‐Ed