Research Engagement Can Brotherhood be Sold Like Soap…Online?
| Can Brotherhood be Sold Like Soap…Online? |
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Over 50 years ago, the psychologist G. D. Wiebe asked the question ‘Can brotherhood be sold like soap?' In his paper, ‘Merchandising Commodities and Citizenship on Television', Wiebe proposed that organizations which successfully ‘sell' intangible social objects-such as goodwill, respect for the environment or community development-would be more successful if they sold their social objects the way marketers sell sports cars or mouth wash. To test this notion, Wiebe developed a set of five criteria (Table 1) and used them to evaluate how social campaigns compared to commercial marketing practices. After evaluating four social campaigns by his five criteria, Wiebe concluded that the more social campaigns resembled commercial marketing practices, the better their chance of success. Beyond frequently quoting Wiebe's famous question, his criteria were deemed success factors for non-profit campaigns by the marketing authority Philip Kotler who also compared them to marketing's 4Ps-product, price, place, promotion-in his 1971 article where he coined the term ‘social marketing'. Although Wiebe's criteria are over 50 years old, they still stand as success criteria for social campaigns; and with their conceptual relationship to the 4Ps-which are the primary behavioural exchange model used for social marketing (SM)-they provide a tested and relevant framework.
Table 1: Wiebe's (1951) criteria for campaign success
One meta-analysis that compared several web-based versus non-web-based health intervention studies showed that online programmes significantly increased participants' knowledge and health related behaviour. A number of publications showcase counter campaigns that pit the ‘good guys' against the ‘bad guys' such as health campaigns against tobacco companies or drug use . The most promising research addresses online persuasion. For example, a person's willingness to forward email is impacted by length, media attachments and positivity while website loyalty is impacted by usability, trust and user satisfaction. Using Wiebe's five criteria as a framework, this paper presents the findings from a pilot study intended to identify factors of online campaigns that influence users' behaviour. Read the full article: Can Brotherhood be Sold Like Soap…Online? |
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Dr. Cugelman Speaking at Your Event
I frequently speak at public events and offer lively talks on a range of topics. These include online social change campaigns, the design of web-based behavioural change interventions, various topics related to non-profit outreach, and anything on non-profit research and evaluation. I have a decade of real-world experience conducting campaigns for the United Nations and various non-profit organizations, plus experience evaluating some of the world's largest social change campaigns. For content, I have a number of published works, great experiences to share, and no shortage of original research and fresh thinking. Get in touch if you would like to discuss your upcoming event.Feature Publications
Communication-Based Influence Components Model
This paper presents a model used to describe the psychology of online behavioural change interventions. It then shows how the model works by describing the common features in over thirty online behavioural change websites.
The dimensions of website credibility and their relation to active trust and behavioural impact
This research paper examines the relationships between website credibility, users' trust, and their willingness to be more involved in a social campaign. It examines the dimensions of website credibility and discusses how to design stronger online campaigns.
