Social Marketing Interventions in Iran: A Systematic Review; 2002–2017

Abstract

Social marketing, as an interdisciplinary approach, has been proved effective in improving individual and social life in multiple fields. One way to expand this growing field is to investigate and evaluate the current literature on principles and benchmark criteria of social marketing. Thus, the present study aims to evaluate social marketing interventions in the country of Iran with two main objectives: (a) examining the use of seven social marketing components used in interventions and (b) investigating the scope of intervention in three social marketing streams (i.e., downstream, midstream, upstream). Following standard review studies in this field, a primary search was conducted on 13 online databases (7 Persian and 6 English databases). Using relevant keywords, Persian and English articles published from 2002 to 2017 were extracted from national and international journals. A total of 497 records were obtained from the search, 5 of which met the criteria for entering this review study. Analyses of the findings indicated that most interventions in Iran lack the minimum social marketing criteria and merely focused on a downstream approach. By investigating social marketing interventions, this research extends understanding of the social marketing status in developing countries, specifically in Iran with a non-English language. While the findings provide empirical support for the previous framework of the seven benchmark criteria, it can be concluded that Iran is at an early stage in its development of using social marketing interventions. This study recommends the use of multiple methods for conducting formative research and considers midstream and upstream approaches.