Promoting Alcohol-Free Pregnancy in Minnesota: A Case Study in Social Marketing

Abstract

Alcohol use during pregnancy is a pressing public health problem in Minnesota as in the United States. Prenatal alcohol exposure can result in intellectual impairment, growth delay, facial malformations, and numerous emotional and social disabilities.

Social marketing has emerged as an effective framework to plan and promote health-enhancing practices and polices. Several strategies characteristic of social marketing guided this campaign in Minnesota to promote alcohol-free pregnancy, including (1) an extensive, interdisciplinary planning process involving public health staff, a voluntary health organization, a statewide coalition, and a private agency specializing in advertising and market research, (2) research-based message development, (3) affirming messages designed to reinforce desired behavior, (4) coordinated radio and TV broadcast, and (5) linkages to community-based efforts. The following article presents this campaign as a case study in social marketing.

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