MPH Social Marketing

Degree: Master of Public Health
Program (Major/College): M.P.H./P.H.
Concentration: Social Marketing  (Banner Code: SOM)      
COPH Department: Community and Family Health
Minimum Credit Hours: 43

NOTE: The Social Marketing concentration was approved by Graduate Council December 2014 and became effective Fall 2014.

In addition to the overall Masters of Public Health degree competencies, Social Marketing graduates will be able to:

1. Present social marketing to people outside the field and argue for its appropriate application.
   1. Differentiate social marketing from other planning approaches, e.g., education and health communication.
   2. Explain social marketing's distinguishing features, using recognized benchmarks or other essential ingredients in the social marketing approach, e.g., audience segmentation, reliance on consumer research to create an integrated marketing plan (4Ps, positioning), importance of considering all 4 Ps, and inclusion of an evaluation plan.
   3. Argue the benefits and pitfalls of using social marketing for various applications.
2. Segment target populations and select an appropriate segment to give the greatest priority in program planning.
   1. Use appropriate base variables to segment, e.g., current behavior, perceived benefits, demographics, psychographics, state of change.
   2. Use of evaluation criteria to evaluate segments and select an appropriate target segment(s).
3. Prioritize and select behaviors or policies to promote
   1. Use of established principles (e.g., McKenzie-Mohr's Impact, Willingness, Market Opportunity/Penetration Model) to identify priority behaviors for a project.
4. Design and conduct formative research needed to create integrated marketing mix.
   1. Understand the value and implications of barrier and benefit research with priority audiences.
   2. Identify appropriate methods for conducting social marketing research.
   3. Identify and use existing data sets.
   4. Identify information needed to create an integrated marketing plan and develop a formative research plan to fill those gaps.
   5. Conduct research or hire and supervise researcher team to conduct research to fill information gaps needed to create each component in the marketing plan.
5. Create an integrated marketing strategy that includes product, price, place, and promotional intervention tools.
6. Select and apply appropriate behavioral theories to inform development of social marketing strategic plan.
7. Evaluate social marketing interventions.  
8. Apply ethical principles in developing and implementing a social marketing plan.
   1. Define ethical dilemmas and challenges of a project such as: social equity, unintended consequences, competing priorities, full disclosure, responsible stewardship, conflicts of interest.

Concentration Details