How Marketers Can Apply Consumer Behavioural Theories to Reduce Tobacco Use in Australia - Case Study Example

The paper "How Marketers Can Apply Consumer Behavioural Theories to Reduce Tobacco Use in Australia" is a good example of a marketing case study. The government of Australia has in the past embarked on a series of policies and regulations meant to stop the marketing of tobacco products in the country (Ridolfo & Stevenson, 2001, p. 7). Despite its efforts, however, only a small decline in tobacco use has been registered. This, therefore, suggests that its time the government considered a different approach in discouraging its populace from taking up risky tobacco consumption habits. This report suggests that social marketing is one of the ideal ways that the government can engage tobacco consumers to give up tobacco use. As evident in other sections of this report, the social marketing approach will equip the consumer with more knowledge thus enabling him to make an informed decision regarding the continued use of tobacco products or quitting.

• 2.0Social Marketing

Social marketing is a concept that has turned the marketing principles used to encourage consumers to purchase products, into principles that encourage behaviors, attitudes, and ideas that are beneficial to individuals and the society at large (Weinreich, 2006). This means that unlike the conventional marketer who pushes product ideas into consumer’s minds for the sake of making maximum sales and hence benefiting his organization, the social marketer releases objective information about the product to the consumer market. The information provided by the social marketer is meant to benefit the consumer by enabling him or her to make an informed purchase decision. In regard to social marketing anti-tobacco products, the government of Australia would need to engage the 4Ps of the marketing mix.

• 2.1Product

As noted by Weinreich (2006), social marketing strategies are most successful when the target consumers perceive that they have a genuine problem that needs solving. If the statistics released by Clough, Robertson, and MacLaren (2009, pp.335-336) are anything to go by, most tobacco users in Australia already want to quit. However, the addictive nature of tobacco products and the lack of support for those trying to quit remains a major hindrance in their efforts. Research, however, needs to be done in order to identify if indeed most smokers in Australia understand the harmful effects of such products and whether they would like to quit. According to Weinreich (2006), more to the target audience accepting that their consumption of the product presents them with a genuine problem, they must also perceive the solution offered by the social marketing as viable enough to address the identified problem. This means that the Aussie government needs to convince the target population more, and probably give them evidence that tobacco cessation programs and aids are the best alternatives they have to a healthier life.

• 2.2Price

According to Weinreich (2006), price in a social marketing product or service does not necessarily refer to the monetary cost that a consumer has to pay. Rather, it refers to costs that the consumer must undergo in order to access the ‘better’ alternative. Such include money, time, efforts, or risks that a consumer makes. In regard to tobacco cessation, the price that one has to pay is giving up the hedonic qualities of the tobacco products in the conviction that that choice will make them healthier people. Withdrawal symptoms may also be an added cost, in addition to the time costs when one attends rehabilitation or therapies. Monetary costs associated with seeking treatment are also an issue that the government needs to address in its social marketing campaigns. The World Health Organisation (WHO, 2010) suggests that governments should make treating tobacco dependence a priority in the public health sector. This means that treatments that assist tobacco users to quit need not be expensive. More to this, WHO suggests that cessation programs should be availed to the willing tobacco users on an effective and consistent basis.