Teaching what Society Needs:“Hacking” an Introductory Marketing Course with Sustainability and Macromarketing

Marketing classes are often focused on the micro level, failing to account for wider societal issues. In this article, we argue for the inclusion of a wider macro-sustainability focus, one that "hacks" marketing education. With that objective in mind, we developed and delivered an introductory marketing course that integrated both the micro and the macro, thus infusing the course with macro-sustainability. This was done through an "expanded voice" perspective that included alternate complementary micro and macro class sessions while using a traditional managerial marketing textbook supplemented by macro-sustainability materials. We also integrated a controversies approach to support discussion and learning. We taught this course to 150 undergraduate students and conducted both quantitative and qualitative assessments of the course, including comparing results with an "unhacked" marketing course. Findings indicated increased awareness of macro-sustainability topics and movement on appreciation of sustainability and the role marketing can have in achieving this awareness. Finally, we offer a model of how marketing classes at all levels can be "hacked" with a macro-sustainability approach

The feasibility of a Comprehensive Resilience-building psychosocial Intervention (CREST) for people with dementia in the community: protocol for a non-randomised feasibility study

Background: A dementia diagnosis can prevent people from participating in society, leading to a further decline in cognitive, social and physical health. However, it may be possible for people with dementia to continue to live meaningful lives and continue to participate actively in society if a supportive psychosocial environment exists. Resilience theory, which focuses on strengthening personal attributes and external assets in the face of serious challenges, may provide a scaffold on which an inclusive multifaceted psychosocial supportive environment can be built. This protocol paper describes a study to determine the feasibility of conducting a multifaceted complex resilience building psychosocial intervention for people with dementia and their caregivers living in the community. Methods: This is a non-randomised feasibility study. Ten participants with dementia and their primary caregivers living in the community will be recruited and receive the CREST intervention. The intervention provides (a) a 7-week cognitive stimulation programme followed by an 8-week physical exercise programme for people with dementia and (b) a 6-week educational programme for caregivers. Members of the wider community will be invited to a dementia awareness programme and GP practices to a dementia training workshop. Trained professionals will deliver all intervention components. Outcomes will assess the feasibility and acceptability of all study processes. The feasibility and acceptability of a range of outcomes to be collected in a future definitive trial, including economic measurements, will also be explored. Finally, social marketing will be used to map a route toward stigma change in dementia for use in a subsequent trial. Quantitative feasibility outcome assessments will be completed at baseline and after completion of the 15-week intervention while qualitative data will be collected at recruitment, baseline, during and post-intervention delivery. Conclusion: This feasibility study will provide evidence regarding the feasibility and acceptability of a comprehensive multifaceted psychosocial intervention programme for people with dementia and their caregivers (CREST). The results will be used to inform the development and implementation of a subsequent RCT, should the findings support feasibility

Macromarketing Pedagogy:Empowering Students to Achieve a Sustainable World

The United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are challenging the world to work towards a more sustainable future. Its 17 goals are ambitious, requiring concerted and system-based efforts driven by critical and socially aware thinking. However, marketing education is largely falling short of teaching students to think that way. Given macromarketing's unique perspective on the interactions among markets, marketing, and society, macromarketers are poised to contribute to marketing pedagogy and to commit students to realizing the SDGs. This article first looks back at the previous 40 years of macromarketing pedagogy, before offering contemporary approaches to teaching macromarketing through four illustrative case studies found in an online repository called Pedagogy Place. It then looks forward, setting an aspiring vision for macro-oriented classrooms in the coming years

Vaccine effectiveness against COVID-19 hospitalisation in adults (≥ 20 years) during Omicron-dominant circulation: I-MOVE-COVID-19 and VEBIS SARI VE networks, Europe, 2021 to 2022

Introduction: The I-MOVE-COVID-19 and VEBIS hospital networks have been measuring COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness (VE) in participating European countries since early 2021. Aim: We aimed to measure VE against PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 in patients ≥ 20 years hospitalised with severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) from December 2021 to July 2022 (Omicron-dominant period). Methods: In both networks, 46 hospitals (13 countries) follow a similar test-negative case-control protocol. We defined complete primary series vaccination (PSV) and first booster dose vaccination as last dose of either vaccine received ≥ 14 days before symptom onset (stratifying first booster into received < 150 and ≥ 150 days after last PSV dose). We measured VE overall, by vaccine category/product, age group and time since first mRNA booster dose, adjusting by site as a fixed effect, and by swab date, age, sex, and presence/absence of at least one commonly collected chronic condition. Results: We included 2,779 cases and 2,362 controls. The VE of all vaccine products combined against hospitalisation for laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 was 43% (95% CI: 29-54) for complete PSV (with last dose received ≥ 150 days before onset), while it was 59% (95% CI: 51-66) after addition of one booster dose. The VE was 85% (95% CI: 78-89), 70% (95% CI: 61-77) and 36% (95% CI: 17-51) for those with onset 14-59 days, 60-119 days and 120-179 days after booster vaccination, respectively. Conclusions: Our results suggest that, during the Omicron period, observed VE against SARI hospitalisation improved with first mRNA booster dose, particularly for those having symptom onset < 120 days after first booster dose.Key public health message: 1. What did you want to address in this study? In order to understand how well the COVID-19 vaccine is performing in Europe against hospitalisation during the period when the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant was circulating, we investigated vaccine effectiveness using data from a multi-country study of complete and booster-dose COVID-19 vaccination among adults aged 20 years and over. 2. What have we learnt from this study? Between December 2021 and July 2022, vaccine effectiveness against hospitalisation with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 was 43% for complete vaccination. With addition of an mRNA booster dose, effectiveness was 59% overall. It was higher when onset of illness was close to the date of the last vaccination, at 85% when last booster dose was 14–59 days before onset, at 70% for 60–119 days, and falling below 40% for 120–179 days. 3. What are the implications of your findings for public health? In European hospital settings in 2022, during the Omicron period, COVID-19 mRNA booster vaccine provided an improved benefit for preventing hospitalisation, particularly if disease onset was within 4 months of receiving the booster dose.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Social Marketing: From Tunes to Symphonies (2nd Edition)

Social Marketing involves the application of marketing techniques (usually associated with promoting consumption) to social ends. Beyond this simple definition, social marketing offers an alternative to the standard Western economic model of consumption at all costs. This popular introductory textbook has been updated to provide greater depth on marketing theory, more on branding, co-creation of value, Community Based Prevention Marketing (CBPM) and the vital role of critical thinking. In addition, the communications chapter is extended and radically updated to include much more on digital media. The rise of corporate social responsibility is also critically analysed. The subject of social marketing is brought to life with the integration of case studies from across the world to provide a textbook which is required reading for students at advanced undergraduate and postgraduate levels

From Closed Models of Authoritive Governance to Open Systems of Collaborative Engagement: Progressing Science Policy

Atlanta Conference on Science and Innovation Policy 2011Through an integrated social marketing perspective, autocratic science policies can transfuse into open systems of collaborative engagement. Science should be informed by, and should itself incorporate, more effective forms of symmetrical two-way deliberation, empowering inputs from a wider diversity of social actors, downstream as well as upstream

A review of science outreach strategies north and south: with some recommendations for improvement

No abstract availableThis report is the first comprehensive census and examination of science outreach and communication activities on the island of Ireland. The report introduces social marketing theory as an alternative way to think about more effective outreach strategies. Data collected at the first annual Science Communication, Outreach and Public Engagement Research Symposium held in the National University of Ireland, Galway on 24- 25 May 2007 will be discussed along with data from the first all-Ireland survey of science communication and outreach providers, practitioners and policy makers. The data gathered show the key challenge facing Irish science communication and outreach stakeholders is the greater integration of multiple partners, from government and state bodies to schools, teachers, NGOs, commercial players and the general public. The data also suggest that there is a need for a shift away from simply providing information about science or increasing an interest in science, toward an approach that attempts to influence voluntary social behaviour to increase public engagement with the sciences. Furthermore, a more comprehensive evaluation of outreach activities is needed to make the best use of available resources. This report offers science outreach providers and educators a snapshot into the diversity of outreach activities and their scope, and recommends innovative approaches to increase science literacy. Building science literacy and attracting and retaining future scientists is essential to the growth of social and economic development in the new knowledge economy.Seed funding for this research was provided by the Standing Conference on Teacher Education North and South, Forfás and the NUI Galway Millennium Research Fundnon-peer-reviewe

The Get Your Life in Gear Truck Driver Social Marketing Intervention on the Island of Ireland

The worldwide problem of obesity has been widely publicized as a major health issue (2004). The ‘Get Your Life in Gear' pilot project is a workplace initiative that sought to play a strategic role in tackling male obesity on the island of Ireland. Truck drivers are known to be a high risk group, characterized by poor eating habits due to constant snacking, irregular meal patterns and live solitary lifestyles working in isolation. This initiative focused on facilitating healthy eating and physical activity by encompassing the overall lifestyle of male truck drivers. The results highlighted the need for strategic social marketing that incorporates a total market approach (individual, community and systems based change) to creating and sustaining healthy lifestyles for men. This knowledge should be used to further examine the upstream issues that impact on its long term success.Man's health; obesity; nutrition; partnerships