Social Marketing Quarterly

While social change research designed to promote recycling has increased rapidly in recent years, empirical documentation of the importance and effectiveness of distribution channel management for enhancing public support and participation is lacking. In this paper, it is argued mat the design of reverse distribution channels for recyclables influences support and participation through at least three distinct mechanisms:

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it influences attitudes and behavior by affecting the perceived costs of recycling;

The importance of channel design characteristics through these three mechanisms is illustrated by the results from a continuing research program aimed at boosting the recycling of household waste in Denmark.

Social marketing communicators have frequently utilized scare tactics or fear appeals to persuade people to cease undesired behaviors and adopt desired alternatives. Although there is now a general consensus in the literature on the usefulness of such appeals under certain conditions, much of the literature contains contradictory findings. In this paper, we argue that use of the term fear appeal is inappropriate and recommend the term threat appeal instead. The term threat appeal is more inclusive, since perceived threat generates a variety of cognitive and emotional responses, not just fear. Furthermore, the term fear appeal confounds stimulus factors (i.e., message content) and response factors (i.e., the reaction of fear), and, with the emphasis on generating a fear response, has led to neglect of message factors and other emotional responses that could mediate persuasion. It is likely that these neglects have contributed significantly to conflicting findings in the area. This paper attempts to refocus attention on stimulus factors and to widen the scope of study by offering: (a) a definition of threat appeals and their components; and (b) incorporating concepts from the Rossiter-Percy communication model and learning theory to provide an overall framework for more precisely developing and targeting the message content of threat appeals.

A mail survey of 747 small to medium sized charities in the United Kingdom (UK) revealed that 123 of 344 respondents employed a conventional advertising agency (as opposed to a public relations consultant, direct marketing agency or other type of marketing services firm) and that 134 claimed that they completed all aspects of the marketing function in-house. The remainder used a variety of forms of outside help with their advertising and marketing campaigns. Respondents were contacted again by letter and (if necessary) telephone and requested to complete an adaptation of Kohli et al.'s (1993) MARKOR instrument (a set of questions designed to establish the extent of market orientation within organizations). Outcomes were factor analyzed, and significant dimensions of market orientation utilized as independent variables (with others) in a logistic regression that had the state variable 1 = Employs an advertising agency; 0 = Does not employ an agency, as the variable to be explained. Results indicated that key elements of market orientation critically determined small to medium sized charities' (SMC's) decisions to engage advertising agencies. Overall, it seemed that the importance of effective marketing was widely recognized by SMCs.