Student attitudes toward the use of social marketing campaigns to reduce alcohol consumption and promote wellbeing

Research output: Other contribution to conferencePresentation onlypeer-review

Abstract

This paper reports qualitative findings from a social work honours project examining university student attitudes toward alcohol and consumption patterns in relation to safety, respect, mental health and wellbeing. The research utilised a postmodern and grounded theory framework to explore student attitudes toward the use of social marketing campaigns to reduce alcohol consumption. A mixed-methods questionnaire was developed including quantitative and qualitative measures. The questionnaire asked about respondent demographics, alcohol consumption and attitudes, as well as attitudes toward the use of social marketing. Respondents were required to be current Charles Sturt University students and to be at least 18 years of age. Two hundred and twenty respondents were recruited from the university’s five regional campuses in New South Wales, either online or via means of a paper-based questionnaire. Four key concepts emerged from thematic analysis of the qualitative data: 1) perceptions of the effectiveness of social marketing campaigns to reduce alcohol consumption, 2) influential factors within social marketing campaigns, 3) drivers of alcohol consumption, and 4) incongruence between student attitudes and social marketing campaign messages. The findings suggest that social marketing is a promising social intervention within tertiary communities, with the capacity to promote healthy behaviours and to promote both physical and mental health and wellbeing. To have the greatest impact however, social marketing campaigns should take into account student attitudes and motivations for consumption. Recommendations are made for future research, social policy, and practice directions within tertiary institutions by applying the four concepts to each of these three areas.
Original languageEnglish
Publication statusPublished - 2014
Event2014 Joint World Conference on Social Work, Education and Social Development - Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Melbourne, Australia
Duration: 09 Jul 201412 Jul 2014
https://web.archive.org/web/20140408044911/http://www.swsd2014.org:80/call-for-abstracts/ (Conference call for abstracts)
https://web.archive.org/web/20150531140709/http://www.swsd2014.org/download-abstracts/book-abstracts/ (book of abstracts)

Conference

Conference2014 Joint World Conference on Social Work, Education and Social Development
Abbreviated titlePromoting Social and Economic Equality: Responses from Social Work and Social Development
Country/TerritoryAustralia
CityMelbourne
Period09/07/1412/07/14
OtherWherever you work – in practice, policy, research, education or social development – we are keen to ensure that your interests are responded to in the development of our Conference Program. The theme is ‘Promoting Social and Economic Equality: Responses from Social Work and Social Development’. Our focus is on the intersection of the many factors that promote equality for all people within our diverse contexts around the world.

This Conference will provide opportunities for you to talk with colleagues about your interests in health, disability, mental health, child and family welfare, gender, human rights, migration and refugees and other current issues. Given the Australian context, we encourage a focus on Indigenous voices from around the world, as well as consumer voices, throughout the entire Conference Program. We will come together to share achievements and ideas from clinical and statutory practitioners, from researchers and educators, and from policy makers. We are keen to ensure that the broad interests of participants are clearly accommodated in the Conference sessions.
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