Investigation of the Relationship among Cost of Social Marketing, Societal Culture, Social Marketing Media and Public Opinion: A Case Study Of UBSUP

Abstract

The general objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between social marketing and public opinion. In an effort to fulfill this objective, the research attempted to answer the following research objectives: to establish the relationship between cost of social marketing and public opinion; to evaluate the relationship between societal culture and public opinion and; to ascertain the relationship between social marketing media and public opinion with regard to the need for improved sanitation. The research design that was used was Descriptive research design. Kware A, in Ongata Rongai, was the area considered and has a total population of 7822 people which is quite large. The area was thus broken down in terms of households who do not have access to basic sanitation. There are 1565 households with an average of 5 household mem bers of which the respondents were drawn from the households. A sample size of 95 respondents was drawn from the 1565 households with the assumption that at least one member per household would be interviewed. Primary data was collected through the use of mixed mode surveys which were presented through self-administered print questionnaires. The researcher drew the findings and conclusions from these statistics through calculations of means, median, mode, standard deviations, frequency distributions, cross-tabulations, correlations, regression and analyses of variance (ANOVA). This was done through the use of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software for drawing an analysis of the data, tabulation of data and for the pictorial representation of data. This study was conducted between the months of January 2013 to April 2013. Cost of social marketing proved rather critical as it determined how and why the consumers would relate to a product and especially the toilets that are being promoted by UBSUP in this case. The study found that the opinion of a product rose when they were charged for a product. Their opinion on whether to buy or not to buy a product also rose given their level of education. Significantly the respondents felt when the product was of a higher price it was of better quality and durable. Income generation was a plus for a project in increasing the public opinion. If a project attached an income generation activity to it then it was widely received unlike if it did not have. Societal culture plays a role in the influence of public opinion. This was seen in essence by the fact the respondents believe culture is the influence an individual's needs, wants and behavior. Therefore anything that is targeted to a specific culture should be tai lor-made towards that market. Religion should therefore be viewed as something crucial in considering the approach of social marketing to change public opinion. Companies need to carry out follow-up visits in areas which they have initiated projects to fully incorporate the community. The community is critical in determining whether a project will be wholly endorsed or not. Social Marketing Media is vital as it is the means through which message will be passed across. TV and radio are considered the best form of media to be used. Word of mouth was not very popular though it can be crucial in helping especially where the marketing programs are specific. Respondents preferred mass media over all the forms of media. They see this as the best method to convey social marketing messages. In conclusion, cost is key as it is evident that the far greater the budget, the more the public opinion change is expected to be experienced. Culture will determine how and why a community will adapt a project as they will see how it incorporates in their life. The communities are also at the centre of influencing public opinion and initiatives channeled through them are likely to raise Public Opinion. Social Marketing Media helps motivate, communicate a message and hence change the perception thus initiating Public Opinion. Key recommendations would be Social Marketing considers cost as critical while implementing Social Marketing programs, culture being integrated in designing Social Marketing approaches to be considered and Social Marketing media to be distinguished to make sure they are effective and efficient. More research could be done to actually understand the cost of social marketing and not in terms of the product being offered but what the company will have to incur and value as a cost. There is need to understand that the companies or organizations carrying out the social marketing incur costs but the impact has no clear way of being measured like in the case of commercial marketing where sales and profits are used. More research has to be done to find out exactly which aspects of the societal culture impact the change in the social marketing and in case of obstacles, what can be done to curb this. More research has to be done to discover the most effective media that can be used to social market the need for improved sanitation to actually bring out the change in public opinion. Concepts should be developed to show the best way social marketing can be embedded into the Kenyan systems to bring about change in public opinion for the community's good. This study only covered a very small percentage of the Kenyan population and more studies like this need to be conducted in other urban centers in the country. This is in light with the fact that UBSUP is to be a countrywide project and there is need to understand what the other people in the other parts of the country feel about social marketing and its role in the change of public opinion.