Social Marketing and the Pro-Life Movement

Social marketing is a field which was first explored in the 1970’s. It can be defined as the application of commercial resources toward the solution of social problems in an effort to create ‘behavioral change.’ Social marketing deals more with the ‘selling’ of ideas rather than the normal definition of marketing which is concerned with selling products. Like commercial marketing, the primary focus is on the consumer – on learning what people want and need rather than trying to persuade them to buy what the company happens to be producing.

Around the same time that the concept of social marketing was defined, the abortion debate began in America. In the 1973 Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, it was declared legal that women have the right to choose whether or not they wish to have abortions or keep their baby. The decision created a major ideological split in the minds of many Americans: those who are Pro-Choice (in favor of the decision) and Pro-Life (those who strongly oppose the Court’s decision.) For this assignment I have chosen to examine a campaign from the Pro-Life base and evaluate its effectiveness.

Student LifeNet is a coalition of pro-life students located throughout the United Kingdom. They have launched several campaigns since their creation in 1999 with the aim of changing the way people think about abortion – and ultimately earning more support for the pro-life movement. The first P (product) therefore, would be rather too complex to simply list one. Successful pro-life campaigns are usually characterized by literature (detailing the pro-life mission, etc.) and protests. According to their website, the first major campaign launched by Student LifeNet was in October of 1999. It focused on the birth of the six billionth human being. This campaign featured protests in front of the UK Parliament as well as other rallies. The product for a campaign such as this is difficult to simply define as it is an idea which the group is trying to sell; (if an individual identifies with the ideal than they are likely to join in the protests and reinforce the group.)

The next P is price. For a campaign such as this, there isn’t really a monetary price. The price typically associated with a pro-life campaign is ideological. In order for consumers to obtain the product, they need only read some literature and join up with the pro-life movement.

The third P (place) similarly does not really relate with this issue since it is a global, intangible topic. For a campaign such as the Student LifeNet one, the Place could refer to the literature they distribute, the demonstrations they organized or the mass media coverage they received during the campaign. The social marketing product can reach consumers in any number of ways.

The fourth and final P (promotion) is an overall evaluation of the effectiveness of the campaign. With the Student LifeNet example, it is difficult to discuss the success of the campaign since it is so intangible. Nevertheless, their rally in front of Parliament did attract over a thousand people to attend. In the United States, no pro-life campaigns have ever achieved their goal of causing the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade. Yet, that doesn’t mean they weren’t successful. The goal of a social marketing campaign is to change a person’s behavior and many pro-life campaigns in America have done that.