Seeing through a Glass Onion: broadening and deepening formative research in social marketing through a mixed methods approach

ABSTRACT

The purpose of formative research in social marketing is to understand the target audience to generate consumer insight, which informs the planning, development and initial implementation of social marketing programmes. Focus groups, interviews or surveys, all of which are self-report methods, are the most commonly reported methods employed in formative research. Reliance on a relatively narrow range of methods may constrain understanding and insight gained during formative research. This paper challenges social marketers to mix methods or use multiple methods and research perspectives to generate a broader understanding of the consumer and the context in which they behave. A case study is used to demonstrate how mixed methods were used in a formative research study to inform the development of a social marketing programme designed to change eating behaviour. Challenges of mixed methods are detailed along with recommendations for future research.

KEYWORDS:

• Social marketing
• formative research
• healthy eating
• observation
• systematic literature review
• depth interview

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge the interviewees who so generously gave their time and freely shared their thoughts; the food outlets who allowed us to record information within their outlets; the diners within the cafeteria who willingly allowed the researchers to observe their choices, and the cafeteria management who allowed the research team to conduct this study within their establishment.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Julia E. Carins

Julia E. Carins works for the Australian Department of the Defence as an experienced Nutrition Researcher within the Defence Science and Technology (DST) Group. Since commencing with DST Group in 1996, Julia has undertaken or contributed to Defence research projects, including investigation of the behavioural aspects of ration pack eating, determination of dietary intake and nutritional deficiencies in Defence personnel, food allergy risk and suitability and acceptability of new foods and menus for ration packs. Julia recently completed her PhD, investigating the application of social marketing principles to encourage healthy eating by Australian Defence Force personnel, and is currently extending her research in this domain.

Sharyn R. Rundle-Thiele

Sharyn Rundle-Thiele is an internationally renowned marketing expert who bridges academia with practice. Sharyn has been with Griffith University since 2009 and she leads Social Marketing@Griffith. Sharyn’s research focuses on behaviour change and she currently serves as an advisor on a diverse range of social marketing projects. Her current projects include changing adolescent attitudes towards drinking alcohol and increasing healthy eating and physical activity to combat obesity. Sharyn has managed both large and small qualitative and quantitative studies including formative research to gain consumer and stakeholder insights, segmentation studies, choice modelling studies and process and outcome evaluations for social marketing interventions. Sharyn has published over 80 refereed papers, reports, and she co-authors Australia’s market leading Marketing Principles textbook.

Justin J. T. Fidock

Justin Fidock works for the Australian Department of the Defence as a senior cognitive scientist within the Defence Science and Technology Group. Since joining Defence in 1998, Justin has undertaken a number of studies aimed at facilitating improved implementation, user acceptance and integration of technologies in the Australian Defence Force, with a particular emphasis on information technologies and land vehicle systems. His main research interests are technology appropriation, human systems integration, technology evaluations and organisational change. Justin holds a PhD in Business Information Systems from RMIT University and a Master of Psychology (Organisational) from the University of Adelaide.