Page 277 - The Handbook of Persuasion and Social Marketing

Public Support for Regulating the Public 253

intended to limit the marketing of “high-sugar” foods will depend upon
the extent to which one believes that a child’s preference for such foods is
the product of marketing communications (socially constructed), that the
costs of obesity are borne by the taxpayers (public problem), and that al-
most all parents and children know that cola has a great deal of sugar and
too much sugar can make people fat.
There are many depictions of the process that can lead to the creation of
a law or expenditure with the objective of enhancing public health or the
environment. There is a vast amount of research in multiple fields that
sheds light on critical links in the process. Below, we will provide a brief
introduction to this stream, often referring the reader to sources that can
provide more in-depth discussion. Our goal is to set the potential role of
marketing in terms of understanding the exchange faced by a “voter” in
the broader policy-change context.

The Upstream Process, Key Actions, and Marketing’s Role

The Upstream Process

A campaign to induce elected officials to pass a law that contributes to
a public health objective is often called a public will campaign. Figure 9.1
draws on literature from marketing—public health literature in general
and Coffman’s (2002) “logic model” in particular—to depict the process
that can lead to the passage of a policy that restricts behaviors to achieve a
public good.
To create policy change with a public will campaign, the agent interacts
with potential allies and forms a coalition; the coalition can communicate
either directly to the public (message dissemination) or to legislators (lob-
bying). The coalition can also attempt to indirectly influence these key
players by engaging in media advocacy, which entails communicating to
the media, which in turn communicate to both legislators and the public.
Whether message dissemination or media advocacy is used, the logic is
that attention is given to the issue (first-tier agenda setting), pro-policy
beliefs are formed (second-tier agenda setting/framing), the beliefs induce
support for the policy, and public support leads to legislative support and
passage of the policy.
Following both Coffman (2003) and the norms of logic models, the
process is depicted from the perspective of the change agent. The concep-
tual model highlights the key steps that an agent should take to reach
short-term, intermediate, and long-term goals. This brief review of the
upstream process includes a discussion of the nature of support for the