BRAND BUILDING
Behavior Change In
Coronavirus Imposed
Social Distancing: The
Role Of Social Marketing
By Dr. Catherine Ngahu
T
he single biggest danger facing
the world today is the exponential
spread of Coronavirus. All over
the world, health officials and researchers
are struggling to find a solution to the
Corvid-19 pandemic. The main focus of
health officials and governments is how to
control the spread from person to person.
The central strategy adopted globally is to
appeal for behavior change in individuals
in order to limit the risk of exposure. One of the challenges observed is the
apparent unwillingness or inability among
many in society to change behavior and
adopt the one meter ‘social distance’
between themselves and others. In Kenya,
this has been observed in towns and
markets and as people queue for transport
and other services. This calls to question
the nature of attitudes held by those
who are demonstrating unwillingness to
observe social distance.
One of the specific behavior changes
recommended is ‘social distancing’
which requires people to keep a physical
distance of at least one meter apart. Other
common messaging relates to everyday
precautionary actions that include staying
home when sick; covering mouth and nose
when coughing or sneezing; disposing
of used tissue instantly; washing hands
frequently with soap and water; and
cleaning regularly touched surfaces and
objects. In order to enforce social distancing, the
Government of Kenya has recently banned
social gatherings of all kinds including
weddings, events and church services. It
has further imposed a curfew between
7pm and 5am, and enforced fourteen days
quarantine for those who arrived recently
from outside the country. These measures
indicate the seriousness with which the
government has taken this problem.
Social distancing requires behavior change.
Social distancing requires behavior
change. Social marketing perspectives in-
dicate that many times behavior change
follows attitude change. Psychologists
tell us that human beings are creatures
of habit. That is why people struggle to
change behavior even for their own sur-
vival or to achieve their own personal
goals.
24 MAL35/20 ISSUE
Social marketing perspectives indicate
that many times behavior change follows
attitude change. Psychologists tell us that
human beings are creatures of habit. That
is why people struggle to change behavior
even for their own survival or to achieve
their own personal goals.
We all know how people struggle to
reduce calorie consumption or cut weight
even when they know that their health
and survival depends on it. How about
individual plans to raise personal efficiency
in order to increase income or improve
an important relationship? These are
common challenges which demonstrate
the complexity of behavior change. Most
individuals who start with good intentions
and commit to change their behavior
commonly fail to continue.
Social behavior change like consumer
behavior is influenced by many factors.
These include psychological, social and
environmental factors. Attitude is a
psychological concept and is one of the
key factors that impacts behavior change.
As such, one of the approaches commonly
used in social marketing is to seek to
influence attitude change in order to
achieve behavior change.
There is a complex relationship between
attitudes and behavior which is further
complicated by the social factors that
influence both. Behaviors typically tend
to reflect beliefs and attitudes held,
though not in all cases. Social marketing
approaches bring together behavioral
components of psychology, sociology
and marketing practices to promote
or discourage specific behaviors. This