Behavioural Change and Social Marketing

Program Lead: Professor Rebekah Russell-Bennett   |   Deputy Program Lead: Dr Kate Letheren

This program will focus on the impact of social marketing as a behaviour change approach to help policymakers, non-profits and commercial organisations to achieve societal outcomes such as healthier citizens and environmental sustainability. This program applies commercial marketing principles, such as value creation, customer-orientation, segmentation and competition to solve complex social problems, such as alcohol use, recycling, electricity consumption, sexual health and preventative health screenings. Working with programs 1 and 4, Behavioural Change and Social Marketing researchers will combine marketing theories and techniques with behavioural economics to develop innovative strategies for societal problems. This transdisciplinary approach has already commenced with researchers from both programs working together effectively with multiple public agencies and private organisations in funded collaboration. Key techniques such as service design and co-creation are emerging creative approaches that are gaining traction in the wider business community as effective in generating innovation solutions.

The program’s research agenda will involve innovation in developing solutions to assist research end users to meet the evolving needs of contemporary consumers in an increasingly digital economy.