The World Anti-Doping Agency: The Role of Social Marketing

Abstract

SUMMARY Doping in sport poses a clear threat to the significant social and economic roles that sport plays in the world. To combat this threat, sport organizations and governments from around the world founded the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to eradicate doping from sport. This article reports on research that documents and assesses approaches to anti-doping behavior utilized since early in the twentieth century including those used by WADA to achieve its goal of eradicating doping in sport. In particular, it assesses the extent to which social marketing is used in its strategy. Results show that sanctions and education are the major approaches employed to combat doping and that social marketing has not been used. Findings suggest that social marketing strategies, as a complement to WADA's current legal and education approaches, have a future role; demonstrating that, in a broader context, social marketing could enhance educational and legal approaches to behavior change.