Social marketers often use a number of social science theories to guide planning. These theories shed important light on what supports changes in behavior and practise. Marketers consider theories from the outset since these frameworks can guide the all-important audience analysis process.

On this page:
Social Science Theory Books | Exchange Theory | Theory of Reasoned Action | Transtheoretical Model

There are many guides to social science theories. A popular one is Theory at a Glance: A Guide for Health Promotion Practice
This guide is published by NCI and lead author is Karen Glanz, lead author of a seminal text on theories.

Theories and Models in Social Marketing appears in Handbook of Marketing and Society and is authored by R. Craig Lefebvre.



Another approach is to integrate many theories, and highlight the practical strategies arising from them. The Health Communication Unit (THCU) has done just that in its Changing Behaviors: A Practical Framework . THCU based its work on a theorist's workshop convened by NIMH in 1991, which produced a paper authored by Fishbein et al.

Health Behavior and Health Education: Theory, Research and Practice. K. Glanz, BK Rimer & FM Lewis (Editors).



Detailled Overview of the Transtheoretical Model. University of Rhode Island Cancer Prevention Research Center.

Theory of Planned Behavior. Icek Aizen (Ajzen). University of Massachusetts.




Diffusion of Innovations. E.M. Rogers






The Social Animal. Elliot Aronson. One of the most useful books of all time for social marketing.
“Social exchange theory is based on a central premise: that the exchange of social and material resources is a fundamental form of human interaction.”[1]
“Social marketing uses the methods of exchange employed by commercial marketing and applies them to a product with a social benefit.”[2] The following example illustrates how exchange theory worked in one of the social marketing campaigns in Africa.
Insecticide treated bed nets are a simple, low-cost malaria control method that works the best in conditions of sub-Saharan Africa. They are effective and cheap as long as they are used (and used properly).
In Tanzania, the private sector with large government support helps deliver treated bed nets to the poor. Since the program still needs external financial support, it was decided to sell the nets to the local people. However, the prices were adjusted to their ability and willingness to pay (and the real market competition keeps the price stable). As the local people have observed how effective bed nets are to prevent malaria over the years, they are now willing to exchange their limited resources for an opportunity to save their own and their children’s lives. On top of that, the fact that people contribute their money and, therefore, demonstrate their commitment to the decision, increases probability that they will actually use them.
“Children are most vulnerable to malaria attacks, which kill more than 3,000 children every day, largely in Africa. At least 100 Tanzanian children die daily because of the disease. Another high-risk group is pregnant women.”[3]
The issue of accessibility of vulnerable groups was addressed by setting up a voucher system for mothers of young children and pregnant women so that they could buy insecticide treated bed nets at a lower price.[4] Each mother was given a voucher to go to a drug store and buy a net. Mothers understand that they are saving lives of their children; therefore, they consider this purchase a priority for them and are willing to put some of their own cash on top of that voucher.
As a result, the net project in Tanzania (Kilombero valley) is a success story. The social marketing program succeeded in convincing the population to use their resources in exchange of a product that benefits them and the whole society as a result.
In Fishbein's and Ajzen's Theory of Reasoned Action (1975), behavior is seen in relation to beliefs and intentions. A person’s behavior is a function of his or her intention to perform that behavior, and is influenced by that person’s attitude toward the behavior and perceived social norms.


According to Andreasen (1995), behavioral intention is drive by a person’s perception of consequences and the influence of others. “What is important is not what [others] really want the person to do but what the person thinks they want,” Andreasen states. [1] He goes on to define the person’s motivation to comply with social norms as the “extent to which the individual is likely to go along with the wishes of each particular group.” [1]

One example is a program to increase the number of adult flu vaccinations in two inner-city Pittsburgh health centers.

[1] Andreasen, A.R. (1995). Marketing social changes: Changing behavior to promote health, social development, and the environment. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.

Behavioral Science Theory Research Summary
Behavioral and Social Change: Transtheoretical Model

I found an application of the Prochaska and DiClemente Transtheoretical Model in a health education campaign at Lafayette College (Easton, PA). The campaign director and journal author is Karen J. Forbes, director of counseling services at Lafayette. She outlines the Voices of Experience campaign, “Voices of experience: making students the experts”.

Voices of Experience is a health education campaign focused on Lafayette’s first-year students. In recognition of the time that is often required for change, Forbes wrote that she used the “followed guidelines for promoting behavioral change suggested by the research of Prochaska on stages of change and Bento's social marketing model” (Forbes, 1998, p. 1). She focused on the importance of providing benefits that outweigh the consequences of behavior. The poster campaigns were used throughout the year in the incoming freshmen orientation, and then in targeted health education weeks, to encourage quitting smoking, responsible sexual behavior, etc.

Forbes’ discusses the first two years of the campaign, which features the “voices” of sophomore, junior and senior students who participated in a series of focus groups identifying critical issues facing college students – especially those in their first year. She acknowledges “…many of our programming efforts, whether on time management or smoking cessation, have emphasized immediate action, a "what you can do" approach to the target problem. At the other extreme are awareness weeks or informational programs about alcohol or eating disorders that focus too much on the needs of those students who are merely contemplating change. The stages of change model emphasizes the importance of tailoring educational and counseling efforts to fit the individual's readiness to change…The stages of change model emphasizes the importance of tailoring educational and counseling efforts to fit the individual's readiness to change”(Forbes, p.3).
As noted earlier, the author also used Bento’s social marketing model. She attributes much of the campaign’s success (quantified in the article) by using credible experts, positive messages, and being easy to use. Earlier in the article, she references Prochaska’s estimate that “only 20% of the population is ready to make a change at any one time” (Forbes, p.2), and the faculty’s feeling that the poster’s are effective with this group. That, combined with the time-brief educational opportunities, may be why she credits Bento’s work.
Source: Forbes, Karen J. (7/1/1998). Voices of experience: making students the experts (electronic version). Journal of American College Health.


I am in my last week as an undergraduate student, studying business and specializing in marketing. I am currently in a social marketing class and when first hearing about Everett M. Rogers’ theory, diffusion of innovations, my professor was shocked that I didn’t know about this theory. After some research I learned that this is not a new concept to me, as it is what I have known to be related to the product life cycle and viewed as different variations of the bell-shape adoption curve. In what I always associated with commercial marketing, the adoption curve can also be applied to social marketing and its products and desired actions and/or behaviors.

There are many components to this theory, however the following includes what I find to be most the most important components as well as the ones that I have used in the past and find them to be applicable to social marketing as well.
Diffusion is the process by which the adoption of an innovation or idea spreads over time to other consumer groups through communications.

It was thought that the role of popular media was to transmit important information to key people who in turn, would pass it on in a subsequent step to the masses. However, through many studies of diffusion of innovations Rogers found that “most target populations had a set of opinion leaders who were among the earliest adopters of new ideas and behaviors, and who subsequently influenced followers among the early majority who rapidly accelerated the new behavior’s adoption and acceptance.”

Rogers identified characteristics that increase the rate of acceptance and diffusion [of a new product]:

1. Relative advantage. This is the degree to which consumers perceive a new behavior as having more benefits compared to competing behaviors.
2. Compatibility. This is the degree to which the behavior is consistent with consumers’ needs, attitudes, and past experiences.
3. Simplicity. This is the ease in understanding and applying a new behavior.
4. Observability. This is the ease that the behavior that can be observed and communicated to the consumers being targeted.
5. Trialability. This is the degree to which a behavior can be tried before adoption.

Characteristics four and five, observability and trialability are characteristics that can help marketers and others decipher whether the program or campaign they are working on can truly be categorized as one that is social marketing.

Rogers identified five categories of adopters:

1. Innovators, which represents the first 2.5% of adopters.
2. Early adopters, which represent the next 13.5% of adopters.
3. Early majority, which represent the next 34% of adopters.
4. Late majority, which represent the next 34% of adopters.
5. Laggards, which represent the final 16% of adopters.

These different stages are helpful to social marketers because all members of a society do not experience change simultaneously. It is best to first target a new behavior to innovators and early adopters as they influence followers. The laggard stage isn’t one where it is beneficial to spend a lot of time because they are a small percentage and they can’t influence others to follow their behavior. This isn’t to say that they should be ignored or pushed to the side, but they shouldn’t be a group where a lot of time should be devoted.

Rogers (1983) Theory of Diffusion of Innovations asserts that this particular process allows innovation to be communicated through selected channels. There are four elements that accompany this process and they are as follows: innovation, communication channels, time, and a social system. While target audiences may be aware of current innovations that are being geared towards them, they may not still be aware of what their full purpose entails. Rogers then created five functions that help “an individual pass from first hearing about an innovation to final adoption”: awareness, interest, evaluation, trial, and adoption. The combination of elements and functions are beneficial to social marketing because it provides individuals a chance to better accept the ideas that surround social issues and campaigns. This theory is helpful for those of us who may not be fully aware of, or knowledgeable about the social issues at hand. The diffusion of innovation theory is a solid indication of how we can obtain enough information to decide how we’re going to be influenced by society.