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Improving Quality of Life by Preventing Obesity

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Innovations in Social Marketing and Public Health Communication

Part of the book series: Applying Quality of Life Research ((BEPR))

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Abstract

This chapter will review the literature to analyze ways in which traditional social marketing techniques may be counter-productive in the context of obesity. More specifically, this paper considers how the issue of obesity may differ from other social marketing target issues, as well as the ways in which those differences impact campaign design. Among the social marketing issues to be examined are the impact of using fear and shame appeals, how target audiences respond to those appeals, how best to offer solutions or advice for losing weight, and the need to integrate structural social changes into the campaign which go beyond individual behavior. We conclude with an analysis of several anti-obesity campaigns that adopt various approaches and discuss how these approaches make the campaigns more or less effective.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Paul J. Hill School of Business, University of Regina, 3737 Wascana Parkway, S4S 0A2, Regina, SK, Canada

    Tatiana Levit & Lisa Watson

  2. School of Business and Economics, Thompson Rivers University, 900 McGill Road, V2C 0C8, Kamloops, BC, Canada

    Anne M. Lavack

Authors
  1. Tatiana Levit
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  2. Lisa Watson
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  3. Anne M. Lavack
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Correspondence to Tatiana Levit .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Management, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada

    Walter Wymer

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Levit, T., Watson, L., Lavack, A.M. (2015). Improving Quality of Life by Preventing Obesity. In: Wymer, W. (eds) Innovations in Social Marketing and Public Health Communication. Applying Quality of Life Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19869-9_17

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