Syllabus

Master of Public Health

GPH 765: Public Health Social Marketing (Spring A 2025)

Credits - 3

Description

Social marketing practice supports social and behavioral changes that increase the well-being and quality of life for individuals, families, and societies. This course will equip students with the public health skills needed to tackle complex health problems by applying marketing principles and social change tools to inform, design, and implement societal-level behavioral changes that are efficient, inclusive, just, equitable, and sustainable.

Pre-Requisites

GPH 726 Social and Behavioral Health

GPH 738 Program Planning & Evaluation

Course Format

The course will be delivered in 8 weekly online modules, with each module beginning on Wednesday at 12:01 am and ending the following Wednesday at 11:59 pm, except for the last week (Week 8), which will begin on Wednesday and end on Sunday. Students will watch online lectures produced by the course instructor and field experts, engage in readings and other media provided by instructors, and will learn from one another through the discussion board and written assignments. Each section of this course will be facilitated by an instructor with significant professional and academic expertise in the area of study.  Individual meetings with the course instructor will be up to the student to schedule

Materials

Required:

Lee NR, Kotler P. Social marketing: Behavior change for social good. Sage Publications. 2019.

*Links to additional required and suggested weekly readings and multimedia are provided in the course.

Learning Objectives and Outcomes

Course Outcomes

Differentiate social marketing from other types of consumer marketing theories

Describe the rationale for integrating social marketing strategies into traditional public health program planning, implementation and evaluation

Mastery of the means by which just and equitable social marketing principles can affect social change and quality of life through informed public health practices and principles that include community participation

Utilize marketing concepts and processes to develop public health interventions that create social change for healthier communities

Prioritize and select measurable behaviors (not just awareness or attitudes) of individuals and communities to influence social change through public health measures

Apply just and equitable principles to the conduct of public health research, development, implementation, evaluation, and dissemination of a public health social marketing plan

Recognize the range of stakeholders involved in public health social marketing programs

Develop a social marketing proposal in response to a theoretical funding opportunity

Program Competencies

PC 6: Describe how societal, organizational, and individual factors influence and are influenced by public health communication and learning processes across diverse communities

PC 7: Apply theory and strategy-based communication principles across different settings and audiences to prioritize health education and promotion needs

PC 8: Collaborate with priority populations, partners, and stakeholders to develop and adapt public health education interventions to achieve desired outcomes

PC 9: Examine evidence-informed findings related to identified health issues and desired changes

PC 10: Design and deliver culturally appropriate evidence-based and timely information across diverse audiences

PC 18: Source credible public health information to inform practice

PC 19: Execute public health research, evaluation, policy, and/or practice using informed data analysis and interpretation

CEPH Foundational Competencies

FC 7: Assess population needs, assets, and capacities that affect communities’ health

FC 8: Apply awareness of cultural values and practices to the design, implementation, or critique of public health policies or programs

FC 13: Propose strategies to identify stakeholders and build coalitions and partnerships for influencing public health outcomes

FC 18: Select communication strategies for different audiences and sectors

FC 19: Communicate audience-appropriate (i.e., non-academic, non-peer audience) public health content, both in writing and through oral presentation

FC 20: Describe the importance of cultural competence in communicating public health content

FC 22: Apply a systems thinking tool to visually represent a public health issue in a format other than a standard narrative

Assignments

Week 2 Assignment: Background and Audience Description

Using a Campaign Strategy Guide, produce a rough draft of the Background and Audience Description sections of your proposal for instructor feedback. Include your SWOT analysis table.

Week 3 Assignment: Learning Journal Entry #1

How were the expectations of your priority audience challenged during your situational analysis?
How might your approach to understanding audience needs expand in the future?

Week 4 Assignment: Price: Determining Incentives and Disincentives

Refer to your campaign strategy and the identified priority audience’s demographics, geographics, behaviors, and psychographics.

Week 5 Assignment: Campaign Strategy

Produce a rough draft of your campaign strategy using the Market (Campaign) Strategy and Intervention Development sections of the Campaign Planning Guide.

Week 6 Assignment: Draft Creative Brief

Submit a draft of your creative brief using the Creative Brief Template. Creative Brief should be 3-4 pages in length and must include appropriate citations and a separate reference page. Do not copy and paste sections of text from your previous work. This is meant to serve as a quick-reference internal marketing team reference regarding the structure of your campaign.

Week 7 Assignment: Final Creative Brief

Creative Brief should be 3-4 pages in length and must include appropriate citations and a separate reference page. Do not copy and paste sections of text from your previous work. This is meant to serve as a quick-reference internal marketing team reference regarding the structure of your campaign.

Week 8 Assignment: Learning Journal Entry #2

How do you think social marketing might be able to play a role in reducing health disparities?
What were three “ah-ha” moments either personally or professionally you experienced as a result of the learning/work in this course?

Class Discussions

Discussion forums are an essential part of the online course experience. Discussion prompts build on readings, lectures, and course content, allowing students to contribute to the learning experience by collaborating with the instructor and peers. Read the prompts carefully and use the rubrics to confirm how discussions will be graded.
Unless otherwise specified in the course, initial discussion posts are due by Sunday at 11:59 PM ET and any response posts are due by Wednesday at 11:59 PM ET.

Grading Policy

Your grade in this course will be determined by the following criteria:

Grade Breakdown

TasksPoints
Acknowledgement of Academic Engagement Quiz1
Discussions (7 discussions, points vary) 25
Week 2 Assignment: Background and Audience Description10
Week 3 Assignment: Learning Journal Entry #16
Week 4 Assignment: Price: Determining Incentives and Disincentives2
Week 5 Assignment: Campaign Strategy8
Week 6 Assignment: Draft Social Marketing Proposal12
Week 7 Assignment: Final Social Marketing Proposal30
Week 8 Assignment: Learning Journal Entry #26
Total100

Grade Scale

Grade Points Grade Point Average (GPA)
A 94 – 100% 4.00
A- 90 – 93% 3.75
B+ 87 – 89% 3.50
B 84 – 86% 3.00
B- 80 – 83% 2.75
C+ 77 – 79% 2.50
C 74 – 76% 2.00
C- 70 – 73% 1.75
D 64 – 69% 1.00
F 00 – 63% 0.00

Schedule

Each week opens on Wednesday at 12:01 AM Eastern Time. Each week closes on Wednesday at 11:59 pm ET, with the exception of Week 8, which ends on Sunday.

Course Dates

Week 1: Jan 15 – Jan 22
Week 2: Jan 22 – Jan 29
Week 3: Jan 29 – Feb 5
Week 4: Feb 5 – Feb 12
Week 5: Feb 12 – Feb 19
Week 6: Feb 19 – Feb 26
Week 7: Feb 26 – Mar 5
Week 8: Mar 5 – Mar 9


The assignment and discussion descriptions mentioned below are summaries. Please make sure to review the full prompts in Brightspace.

Week 1: Understanding Social Marketing for Sustainable Public Health Practices

Learning Outcomes

  • Distinguish social marketing from commercial marketing
  • Apply social marketing principles to the development of a situation analysis
  • Explore the 10-Step Strategic Planning Model
  • Evaluate research options in determining a priority population
  • Evaluate evidence-based theories of behavior change
  • Examine the ethics of social marketing for health equity

Learning Activities

  • Week 1 Discussion: Introductions and Dove Campaign

Initial Post

First, please introduce yourself using the prompt:

  • Why here and why now, regarding your pursuit of an MPH?

Then, review the Dove campaign #ShowUs Social Marketing Campaign and respond to the following:

  • What aspects of this campaign work to increase inclusivity, and in what ways does it promote stereotypes?

Response Post

After your initial post, read the initial posts of your classmates and provide a written response to a minimum of one post. In your responses consider ideas that may further support or add a different perspective to the dialogue. 

Week 2: Priority Audiences: Defining Communities and Identifying Relevant Population Health Needs

Learning Outcomes

  • Analyze and evaluate data in order to synthesize formative research
  • Evaluate data and psychographics in order to segment priority audiences
  • Construct clear and measurable behavior objectives and goals

Learning Activities

  • Week 2 Discussion: Small Group Discussion 

Initial Post

This week you will use Canva Whiteboard to share details of your priority audience.

  • Your Canva whiteboard must consist of four separate slides with the following titles: Demographics, Behaviors, Psychographics, and Geographic.
  • Each slide should contain a sticky note defining your priority audience.
  • In lieu of citations provide the source URL on each sticky note (there should be a source for each note and you can use the same source as many times as needed).

Use the sticky note feature to add the appropriate details to each slide.

Response Post

After your initial post, read the initial posts of your classmates and provide a written response to a minimum of one post. In your responses consider ideas that may further support or may add a different perspective to the dialogue.

  • Week 2 Assignment: Background and Audience Description

Produce a Background and Audience Description that justifies the need for a PrEP campaign. Include demographics, behaviors, and psychographics, including social determinants of health, in the final segment, which will be your priority audience. Assignment should follow AMA 11th formatting, which includes appropriate line spacing and page numbering format.

Week 3: The Product: The Relationship Between Product and Theory

Learning Outcomes

  • Evaluate formative research in order to identify audience insights
  • Craft a social marketing campaign position statement
  • Apply social exchange theory to social marketing principles
  • Develop a marketing product platform for social change

Learning Activities

  • Week 3 Discussion: Small Group Discussion

Initial Post:
For the first part of the discussion post, define the behavioral theory you will use in your social marketing campaign and describe how it fits your priority audience, including AMA formatted citations where necessary.

For the second part of the discussion post, include a draft of your position statement.

Response Posts:
Choose one behavioral theory the Ad Council may have used in developing the product.
After your initial post, read the initial posts of your classmates and provide a written response to a minimum of one post. In your responses consider ideas that may further support or may add a different perspective to the dialogue.

  • Week 3 Assignment: Learning Journal Entry #1

Please answer the following questions.

  • How were the expectations of your priority audience challenged during your situational analysis?
  • How might your approach to understanding audience needs expand in the future?

Week 4: Price: Determining Incentives and Disincentives

Learning Outcomes

  • Identity the cost/benefit exchange related to price
  • Apply behavioral theory to determine price
  • Evaluate audience insights to determine incentives/disincentives
  • Apply principles of health equity to incentive development

Learning Activities

  • Week 4 Assignment: Price: Determining Incentives and Disincentives

Refer to your campaign strategy and the identified priority audience’s demographics, geographics, behaviors, and psychographics.

Using an assignment template, you will share two options for each category that you believe will resonate with your priority audience. For each option, provide a brief explanation of why you believe it will be effective in motivating the desired behavior change. You can choose any combination of incentives and/or disincentives.

Week 5: Place: Making Access Convenient and Pleasant

Learning Outcomes

  • Develop an equitable place strategy
  • Explore the role of accessibility in promotional materials and dissemination
  • Apply best practices in health communication to develop accessible promotional materials
  • Apply principles of social franchising to increase distribution channels

Learning Activities

  • Week 5 Discussion: #NotSpecialNeeds Campaign

Initial Post:

For this week’s discussion, you will critically review the #NotSpecialNeeds campaign. In your post, provide input regarding ways in which this campaign is successfully inclusive and areas for improvement regarding inclusion and accessibility.

Optional Response Posts.

  • Week 5 Assignment: Campaign Strategy

Submit the price and place strategies for your campaign, beginning with a brief description of your priority audience. Include the SDOH factors specific to your priority audience that were taken into consideration when assessing price and selecting place/s for your campaign.

Week 6: Promotion: Promoting Public Health Products

Learning Outcomes

  • Analyze specific marketing tactics and their role in message promotion
  • Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of a communication channel
  • Select communication channels
  • Apply best practices in health communication to develop an equitable promotion strategy

Learning Activities

  • Week 6 Discussion: Campaign Strategies

Initial Post:

For the discussion post the following regarding your campaign:

  • 3-5 potential taglines/campaign messages
  • Promotional channels
  • Promotional tactics

Include the psychographics of your priority audience that influenced your decisions.

Response Posts :

After your initial post, read the posts of your classmates and provide a written response to a minimum of one post. In your responses, consider ideas that may further support or may add a different perspective to the dialogue.

  • Week 6 Assignment: Draft Social Marketing Proposal

Submit a draft Social Marketing Proposal. This proposal will serve as a comprehensive guide for your marketing team to reference throughout the development and implementation of your campaign.

Week 7: Management of Public Health Social Marketing Programs, Including Evaluation and Budget Design

Learning Outcomes

  • Develop and justify social marketing a campaign budget proposal
  • Prioritize and select measurable behaviors
  • Develop a logic model informed by behavioral theory
  • Apply principles of process and outcome measurement to develop an equitable social marketing evaluation plan

Learning Activities

  • Week 7 Discussion: Childhood Anti-obesity Campaign

Initial Post:

  • Georgia’s controversial childhood anti-obesity ad campaign elicited polarizing emotions.
  • How might some of their social marketing tactics be counterproductive to desired behavioral changes by adults and children?
  • What are the potential ethical issues regarding this campaign style?

Response Posts:

After your initial post, read the posts of your classmates and provide a written response to a minimum of one post. In your responses, consider ideas that may further support or may add a different perspective to the dialogue.

  • Week 7 Assignment: Social Marketing Proposal

Submit a Social Marketing Proposal. This proposal will serve as a comprehensive guide for your marketing team to reference throughout the development and implementation of your campaign.

Week 8: Implementation and Sustainability of Equitable Public Health Behavior Plans

Learning Outcomes

  • Develop a social marketing campaign implementation plan
  • Apply principles of socioecological systems thinking to develop an equitable sustainability plan

Learning Activities

  • Week 8 Discussion: Course Reflection

Initial Post:

After your experiences in this course, how might you approach equity and justice differently in your future marketing development?

Optional Response Posts

  • Week 8 Assignment: Learning Journal Entry #2

Please answer the following questions. This is an informal write-up and does not require citations.

  • How do you think social marketing might be able to play a role in reducing health disparities?
  • What were three “ah-ha” moments, either personally or professionally, that you experienced as a result of the learning/work in this course?

Student Resources

Online Student Support

Your Student Support Specialist is a resource for you. Please don't hesitate to contact them for assistance, including, but not limited to course planning, current problems or issues in a course, technology concerns, or personal emergencies.

Questions? Visit the Student Support Public Health page

UNE Libraries:

UNE Student Academic Success Center

UNE's Student Academic Success Center (SASC) offers a range of free online services to support your academic achievement. Writing support, ESOL support, study strategy and learning style consultations, as well as downloadable resources, are available to all matriculating students. The SASC also offers tutoring for GPH 712 Epidemiology, GPH 716 Biostatistics, GPH 717 Applied Epidemiology, GPH 718 Biostatistics II, and GPH 719 Research Methods. To make an appointment for any of these services, go to une.tutortrac.com. For more information and to view and download writing and studying resources, please visit:

Information Technology Services (ITS)

  • ITS Contact: Toll Free Help Desk 24 hours/7 days per week at 1-877-518-4673

Policies

AMA Writing Style Statement

The American Medical Association Manual (AMA) of Style, 11th edition is the required writing format for this course. Additional support for academic writing and AMA format is provided throughout the coursework as well as at the UNE Portal for Online Students.

Online resources: AMA Style Guide

Turnitin Originality Check and Plagiarism Detection Tool

The College of Professional Studies uses Turnitin to help deter plagiarism and to foster the proper attribution of sources. Turnitin provides comparative reports for submitted assignments that reflect similarities in other written works. This can include, but is not limited to, previously submitted assignments, internet articles, research journals, and academic databases.

Make sure to cite your sources appropriately as well as use your own words in synthesizing information from published literature. Webinars and workshops, included early in your coursework, will help guide best practices in APA citation and academic writing.

You can learn more about Turnitin in the guide on how to navigate your Similarity Report.

Technology Requirements

Please review the technical requirements for UNE Online Graduate Programs: Technical Requirements

Course Evaluation Policy

Course surveys are one of the most important tools that University of New England uses for evaluating the quality of your education, and for providing meaningful feedback to instructors on their teaching. In order to assure that the feedback is both comprehensive and precise, we need to receive it from each student for each course. Evaluation access is distributed via UNE email at the beginning of the last week of the course.

Late Policy

Students are responsible for submitting work by the date indicated in Brightspace.

Quizzes and Tests: Quizzes and tests must be completed by the due date. They will not be accepted after the due date.

Assignments: Unless otherwise specified, assignments will be accepted up to 3 days late; however, there is a 10% grade reduction (from the total points) for the late submission. After three days the assignment will not be accepted.

Discussion posts: If the initial post is submitted late, but still within the discussion board week, there will be a 10% grade reduction from the total discussion grade (e.g., a 3 point discussion will be reduced by 0.3 points). Any posts submitted after the end of the Discussion Board week will not be graded.

Please make every effort ahead of time to contact your instructor and your student support specialist if you are not able to meet an assignment deadline. Arrangements for extenuating circumstances may be considered by faculty.

Student Handbook Online - Policies and Procedures

The policies contained within this document apply to all students in the College of Graduate and Professional Studies. It is each student's responsibility to know the contents of this handbook.

Student Handbook

UNE Course Withdrawal

Please contact your student support specialist if you are considering dropping or withdrawing from a course. The last day to drop for 100% tuition refund is the 2nd day of the course. Financial Aid charges may still apply. Students using Financial Aid should contact the Financial Aid Office prior to withdrawing from a course.

Academic Integrity

The University of New England values academic integrity in all aspects of the educational experience. Academic dishonesty in any form undermines this standard and devalues the original contributions of others. It is the responsibility of all members of the University community to actively uphold the integrity of the academy; failure to act, for any reason, is not acceptable. For information about plagiarism and academic misconduct, please visit https://www.une.edu/studentlife/plagiarism.

Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to the following:

  1. Cheating, copying, or the offering or receiving of unauthorized assistance or information.
  2. Fabrication or falsification of data, results, or sources for papers or reports.
  3. Action which destroys or alters the work of another student.
  4. Multiple submissions of the same paper or report for assignments in more than one course without permission of each instructor.
  5. Plagiarism, the appropriation of records, research, materials, ideas, or the language of other persons or writers and the submission of them as one's own.

Charges of academic dishonesty will be reviewed by the Program Director. Penalties for students found responsible for violations may depend upon the seriousness and circumstances of the violation, the degree of premeditation involved, and/or the student’s previous record of violations.  Appeal of a decision may be made to the Dean whose decision will be final.  Student appeals will take place through the grievance process outlined in the student handbook.

Attendance Policy

8 week: Students taking online graduate courses through the College of Professional Studies will be administratively dropped for non-participation if a graded assignment/discussion post is not submitted before Sunday at 11:59 pm ET of the first week of the term. Reinstatement is at the purview of the Dean's Office.

16 week: Students taking online graduate courses through the College of Professional Studies will be administratively dropped for non-participation if a graded assignment/discussion post is not submitted before Friday at 11:59 pm ET of the second week of the term. Reinstatement is at the purview of the Dean's Office.

Student Handbook Online - Policies and Procedures

The policies contained within this document apply to all students in the College of Professional Studies. It is each student's responsibility to know the contents of this handbook.

UNE Online Student Handbook

UNE Course Withdrawal

Please contact your student support specialist if you are considering dropping or withdrawing from a course. The last day to drop for 100% tuition refund is the 2nd day of the course. Financial Aid charges may still apply. Students using Financial Aid should contact the Financial Aid Office prior to withdrawing from a course.

Academic Integrity

The University of New England values academic integrity in all aspects of the educational experience. Academic dishonesty in any form undermines this standard and devalues the original contributions of others. It is the responsibility of all members of the University community to actively uphold the integrity of the academy; failure to act, for any reason, is not acceptable. For information about plagiarism and academic misconduct, please visit UNE Plagiarism Policies.

Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to the following:

  1. Cheating, copying, or the offering or receiving of unauthorized assistance or information.
  2. Fabrication or falsification of data, results, or sources for papers or reports.
  3. Action which destroys or alters the work of another student.
  4. Multiple submissions of the same paper or report for assignments in more than one course without permission of each instructor.
  5. Plagiarism, the appropriation of records, research, materials, ideas, or the language of other persons or writers and the submission of them as one's own.

Charges of academic dishonesty will be reviewed by the Program Director. Penalties for students found responsible for violations may depend upon the seriousness and circumstances of the violation, the degree of premeditation involved, and/or the student’s previous record of violations. Appeal of a decision may be made to the Dean whose decision will be final. Student appeals will take place through the grievance process outlined in the student handbook.