Creating demand for better health by using social marketing techniques

The most significant environmental change to support people who want to give up smoking is the legislation to ban smoking in public places. Following Scotland in March 2006, and Wales and Northern Ireland in April 2007, England moves one step closer to being smoke free on 1 July 2007, when it becomes illegal to smoke in almost every enclosed public place and workplace. Social marketing will be used to support this health promoting policy and will become more prominent in the design of health promotion campaigns of the future. Social marketing is not a new approach to promoting health but its adoption by the Government does represent a paradigm shift in the challenge to change public opinion and social norms. As a result some behaviours, like smoking or excessive alcohol consumption, will no longer be socially acceptable. The Department of Health has decided that social marketing should be used in England to guide all future health promotion efforts directed at achieving behavioural goals. This paradigm shift was announced in Chapter 2 of the “Choosing health” White Paper with its emphasis on the consumer, noting that a wide range of lifestyle choices are marketed to people, although health as a commodity itself has not been marketed. The DoH has an internal social marketing development unit to integrate social marketing principles into its work and ensure that providers deliver. The National Centre for Social Marketing has funding to provide ongoing support, to build capacity and capability in the workforce. This article describes the distinguishing features of the social marketing approach. It seeks to answer some questions. Is this really a new idea, a paradigm shift, or simply a change in terminology? What do the marketing principles offer that is new, or are they merely familiar ideas repackaged in marketing jargon? Will these principles be more effective than current health promotion practice and, if so, how does it work? Finally, what are the implications for community pharmacy?

When electronic management tools work - and don't work - in social-based distribution channels:a study of IT manufacturers and resellers

Electronic information tools have become increasingly popular with channel manufacturers in their efforts to manage resellers. Although these tools have been found to increase the efficiency of communications, researchers and practitioners alike have questioned their effectiveness. To investigate how top-down electronic information affects social channel relationships we consider the use of such tools in information technology distribution channels. Using electronic communications theory and channel governance theory we hypothesize that the usefulness of the tools is a function of the type of information inherent in each tool (demand creation information or supply fulfillment information) and the particular communications characteristics of this information.

Enhancing creativity in a general work environment : the role of problem-solving demand

Prior research suggests management can employ cognitively demanding job attributes to promote employee creativity. However, it is not clear what specific type of cognitive demand is particularly important for creativity, what processes underpin the relationship between demanding job conditions and creativity and what factors lead to employee perceptions of demanding job attributes. This research sets out to address the aforementioned issues by examining: (i) problem-solving demand (PDS), a specific type of cognitive demand, and the processes that link PSD to creativity, and (ii) antecedents to PSD. Based on social cognitive theory, PSD was hypothesized to be positively related to creativity through the motivational mechanism of creative self-efficacy. However, the relationship between PSD and creative self-efficacy was hypothesized to be contingent on levels of intrinsic motivation. Social information processing perspective and the job crafting model were used to identify antecedents of PSD. Consequently, two social-contextual factors (supervisor developmental feedback and job autonomy) and one individual factor (proactive personality) were hypothesized to be precursors to PSD perceptions. The theorized model was tested with data obtained from a sample of 270 employees and their supervisors from 3 organisations in the People’s Republic of China. Regression results revealed that PSD was positively related to creativity but this relationship was partially mediated by creative self-efficacy. Additionally, intrinsic motivation moderated the relationship between PSD and creative self-efficacy such that the relationship was stronger for individuals high rather than low in intrinsic motivation. The findings represent a productive first step in identifying a specific cognitive demand that is conducive to employee creativity. In addition, the findings contribute to the literature by identifying a psychological mechanism that may link cognitively demanding job attributes and creativity.

UK social housing and housing market in England:a statistical review and trends

Around 80% of the 63 million people in the UK live in urban areas where demand for affordable housing is highest. Supply of new dwellings is a long way short of demand and with an average annual replacement rate of 0.5% more than 80% of the existing residential housing stock will still be in use by 2050. A high proportion of owner-occupiers, a weak private rental sector and lack of sustainable financing models render England’s housing market one of the least responsive in the developed world. As an exploratory research the purpose of this paper is to examine the provision of social housing in the United Kingdom with a particular focus on England, and to set out implications for housing associations delivering sustainable community development. The paper is based on an analysis of historical data series (Census data), current macro-economic data and population projections to 2033. The paper identifies a chronic undersupply of affordable housing in England which is likely to be exacerbated by demographic development, changes in household composition and reduced availability of finance to develop new homes. Based on the housing market trends analysed in this paper opportunities are identified for policy makers to remove barriers to the delivery of new affordable homes and for social housing providers to evolve their business models by taking a wider role in sustainable community development.

The reality of cross-disciplinary energy research in the United Kingdom:a social science perspective

Cross-disciplinary research is essential in understanding and reducing energy usage, however the reality of this collaboration comes with many challenges. This paper provides an insight into the integration of social science in energy research, drawing on the expertise and first hand experiences of a range of social science researchers (predominantly Early Career Researchers (ECRs)) working on UK cross-disciplinary projects in energy demand. These researchers, participants in a workshop dedicated to understanding the integration of social science in energy research, identified four groups of challenges to successful integration: Differing expectations of the role of social scientists; Working within academia; Feeling like a valued member of the team; and Communicating and comprehension between disciplines. Suggestions of how to negotiate those challenges included: Management and planning; Increasing contact; Sharing experience; and Understanding team roles. The paper offers a definition of ‘success’ in cross-disciplinary energy research from the perspective of social science ECRs, comprising external, internal and personal components. Using the logics of interdisciplinarity, this paper suggests that integration of the social sciences in the projects discussed may be partial at best and highlights a need to recognise the challenges ECRs face, in order to achieve full integration and equality of disciplines.