MARKETING
Consumer Psychology : The Role Of Insights In Social Marketing
By Jonathan Phillip Kyetume
Beyond the economic burden , Africa is faced with many challenges at the social level that include but are not limited to ; HIV , Gender-Based Violence , Female Genital Mutilation , child marriages , women empowerment , and girl child education .
Annually , on the 26th of September , World Contraception Day is commemorated globally with a focus on creating awareness about contraceptive knowledge and family planning , whose success heavily relies on understanding and supporting the concept of social marketing . Sexual Reproductive Health remains a key factor in supporting Africa ’ s socio-economic development . According to Statista ( 2022 ), from the East African perspective , the population growth rates are quite alarming with South Sudan having the continent ’ s highest at 5.05 %, Burundi at 3.68 %, Uganda at 3.31 %, the Democratic Republic of Congo at 3.16 % and Tanzania at 2.81 %.
The Silent Crisis
Africa still grapples with an increasing rate of sexually transmitted diseases & infections and early & unintended pregnancies . Despite all interventions by various partners in the sexual and reproductive health space , there is a growing concern about decreasing contraception usage in key populations - the youth . According to Statista ( 2022 ), more than 60 % of Africa ’ s population is under the age of 25 , which is a key concern and projects into Africa ’ s development . The 2020 Uganda Population-based HIV Impact Assessment report revealed that HIV prevalence estimates were higher among the 20-24year age group . A recent risky behaviour study revealed that perceptions in the abovementioned age group were a growing barrier to contraception adoption and usage , with the new belief that HIV and AIDS are no longer a significant concern , and that some methods are not effective , reduce physical pleasure , and have many side-effects .
Beyond Advocacy
Social marketing involves the application of marketing principles to influence target audience behaviour to benefit society . Consumer insights play a key role in building technology-driven , target population-centered , and innovative solutions to influence human behaviour , in line with contraception access and usage , and will be key to the success of various interventions . It is imperative to understand the population ’ s contraceptive information-seeking behaviour , search trends , conversations , and analysing of target segment journeys . The target population segment is tech-savvy , and this has supported the growth of digital health innovation . More than 80 companies are now digitising the distribution of pharmaceutical products in Kenya , Uganda , Nigeria , and Ghana . There is a need to improve the digitisation of access and distribution of contraception products across Africa to consumers , as guided by respective national regulators .
Social media has proven to be a powerful resource in deeply sourcing and understanding consumer insights , tools like Twitter Spaces can greatly be exploited to drive inclusive participation , and discussions to address the barriers to the desired behaviour change in society . Influencer marketing could also be exploited to drive awareness and facilitate social conversation on share of voice regarding the desired behaviour change . Social media as a source of social insights is extremely resourceful in detecting and analysing focus discussions in real-time to support the structuring of strategic communication , assess sentiments , improve targeting , and campaign optimisation to support behaviour change objectives in the target population segment .
Behavioural Change Sustenance
The concept of Digital Social Behavioural Change Communication ( DSBCC ) is still open to discussion in line with models , frameworks , and expected outcomes . Content marketing and digital storytelling play a key role in supporting behavioural change sustenance , but there are still concerns regarding ageappropriate SRH information that need to be addressed , especially regarding the African cultural context . Well-designed insight-driven content and copywriting improve engagement and sentiments with consistency in identified target segments .
From the legal perspective , the East African Community Sexual and Reproductive Health Bill seeks to address some of the key challenges regarding access to sexual and reproductive health-care services , including family planning , information and education , and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programmes by 2030 in all member states .
Overall , achieving social marketing objectives in line with desired behaviour change requires a concerted comprehensive effort by all key stakeholders ; Government , Civil Society Organisations , SRH implementing organisations , religious leaders , community leaders , and the media .
Jonathan Phillip Kyetume is a Marketing and Communications Specialist . You can commune with him on this and related issues via email at : Jonathankyetume @ gmail . com .
30 MAL50 / 22 ISSUE