712 The Marketing Book
not a discrete event, but a process that occurs
through several stages: pre-contemplation, con-
templation, preparation, action and mainte-
nance. The model was initially developed to
explain smoking cessation behaviour, but has
since been applied to smoking, alcohol and
drug addiction, weight control and eating
disorders, safer sex behaviour, exercise partici-
pation, mammography screening, sunscreen
use, and other health behaviours (Prochaska et
al., 1994). During pre-contemplation, individ-
uals either do not want to change their behav-
iour or are unaware of its consequences for
themselves or others. During contemplation,
they begin to think about the costs and benefits
of changing their behaviour. In preparation, the
individual is motivated to change, and makes
initial mental and practical preparations. Dur-
ing the action stage, the individual is in the
process of changing, following which he or she
may proceed to either maintenance or relapse
to an earlier state.
The model is helpful in two ways. First, it
emphasizes that behaviour change is complex
and multi-staged, and that relapse may occur a
number of times. Second, it provides a frame-
work for designing appropriate messages and
support interventions (see Figure 27.3). By
understanding the target audience’s readiness
to change, the social marketer can develop
strategies appropriate to the group’s needs and
wants (Werch and DiClemente, 1994). For exam-
ple, Andreasen (1995) proposes a series of
marketing tasks for each stage of change. During
pre-contemplation, the marketer must create
awareness and interest in the behaviour, and it
may be necessary to try and shift value and
belief systems. During contemplation, the mar-
keter must persuade and motivate to enhance
the benefits of the behaviour (e.g. mobilize social
influence) and reduce the costs associated with
change (time, effort or money). Andreasen deals
with preparation and action stages simultane-
ously, and proposes that marketers must focus
on creating action by, for example, focusing on
skills training exercises or confidence building.
Finally, to maintain change, social marketers
should consider reducing cognitive dissonance
through reinforcement.Benefit characteristics
Classification by benefit sought is specific to the
particular product being marketed; for exam-
ple, the market for cigarettes could be seg-
mented on the basis of those who seek status
(e.g. smokers of exclusive brands of cigarettes
and cigars), those who need a cost-effective
nicotine fix (e.g. established smokers), and
those who seek reassuringly mainstream
smokes (e.g. adolescents).
This type of segmentation analysis seems
at first glance to have less relevance in social
marketing than the preceding three types.
Social marketing targets very often do not
welcome efforts to ameliorate their health and
social circumstances (Levy and Zaltman, 1975),
and if they are fundamentally resistant to
changing behaviour may see no benefits in the
messages and support being offered to them to
facilitate this process. However, social market-
ers still need to think in terms of consumers
and the benefits they seek rather than products.
For example, Case 6 shows how benefit seg-
mentation enhanced an attempt to influence
oral health in Scotland. The target (retailers)
was segmented on the basis of function (mar-
keting staff, space planners and buyers) and
different product benefits identified for each.
This case also illustrates how important seg-
mentation is when targeting not only the final
consumer, but those decision makers who can
influence their operating environment.
Another example is exercise. A compar-
ative study into younger and older people’s
perceptions of exercise (Stead et al., 1997b)
found that different subgroups perceived dif-
ferent benefits in the product ‘physical activity’:
some, typically younger men, wanted to com-
pete against an opponent, while others aimed
to better their own personal targets – to run
faster or swim further, for example. A third
group was most concerned with body image,
and a fourth enjoyed the prospect of meeting