Question
Students will be guided by a design thinking process to present a social change strategy and marketing report submission that explain and justifies:
1. a selected target market for change – demonstrating a detailed understanding of the target market and presentation of a persona design, which is informed by ONE consumer interview, empathy mapping and creative design elements;
2. behaviour change goals and objectives;
3. a detailed explanation of the social marketing interventions,
4. behaviour change journey mapping: informed by marketing inventions that influence the consumer journey towards positive social change and linked to the social change champion (Target Market Selected).
*my topic is . The overall assessment was divided into 2 part. The first part is a scoping report, however, the score was low(39/100). Therefore, please use the scoping report only as a basic introduction to this strategy report.
*All the learning material (including PowerPoint/articles/handouts) about how to finish the marketing report better are attached. Please follow the instruction and guideline to ensure all the requirement of the report are perfectly satisfied.
Solution
Executive Summary
In Australia, conflicts between magpies and the locals have intensified as humans encroach on the birds’ habitats, in some cases leading to death for both parties. However, animal rights activists advocate that the birds are indigenous to the country, and should not be attacked to extinction levels. This report identifies the Caucasians living in East Coast Australia as the main perpetrators of bird killing, as the residents believe magpies are a bad omen. Alvin, the main persona in the report, is fascinated by game hunting, and kills birds visiting his compound. While it is fun hunting magpies for him, he has also been previously attacked by the birds, which makes him vengeful. Therefore, the aim of this report is to find appropriate ways to foster harmonious coexistence between residents of East Coast Australia and magpies. Behavioral change is identified as the primary approach to achieve peaceful coexistence; nonetheless, individuals are resistant to change. The social exchange matrix will define the varied ways of establishing exchanges that promote cooperation with Alvin, where it is applied through explanations of how hug, smack, nudge, and shove can be utilized. Several interventions on different levels, such as informing, educating, and supporting will be applied, where Lewin’s change model will be used to reduce resistance and enforce new behaviors.
Strategy Report
Problem Statement
The problem in Alvin’s case involves finding a balance so that magpies and the people can peacefully coexist. The gap exists since human activities have encroached the birds’ habitat, leading to reduction and lack of feeding areas, ultimately creating conflicts between residents and magpies. Notably, the interaction is usually hostile and sometimes fatal as birds defend their habitats aggressively and humans respond through force and kill the animals (Van Vuuren et al., 2016). However, the likelihood of the dispute escalating to extinction for the magpies has triggered animal rights groups and prompted Australian government to develop policies and laws against the intentional killing of the birds. Accordingly, while the magpies and humans have varying interests, they can find a way of coexisting such that the lives of both parties are safeguarded.
Target Market and Persona Description
The target market in the case are male Caucasians, who are characteristically obsessed with game hunting as a sport compared to other races. In addition, the segment’s cultural beliefs are that the birds are a bad omen, hence killing them is purposed at preventing undesirable events. Further, the fragment has the unrivalled ferocity as it believes the birds should be punished, and also seeks vengeance for those who have died from the attacks. Subsequently, the birds are identified as a nuisance and a threat to their residents of East Coast Australia (Gravolin et al., 2014). People in the target group are of the opinion that the magpies have invaded the humans’ rightful space (Environmental Psychology, 2016). The incidences and accidents are majorly prevalent during the mating season, where the injuries are significantly high. Moreover, the people in the region believe their freedom is denied as they cannot move around as much as they would wish, especially for cyclists who are more vulnerable to attacks from the magpies than other residents (The Morning Times 2019). Therefore, the group is insistent that restrictions against killing the birds should be eased. People in the market segment further provide an environment that attracts the birds since they litter and live in areas that have trees, creating a suitable habitat for the magpies. Indeed, the group is a significant threat to the birds, and contributes to several bird deaths, which makes them the appropriate target in the report.
The choice of the persona is influenced by the target group; thus, he is specifically a Caucasian male called Alvin whose hobbies include game hunting. Alvin is in his late fifties, and lives with his wife in the East Coast of Australia and also has two children, who moved to a different town. The persona’s attitude can be described as reserved and does not attribute any value to wildlife; in particular, he mentions that magpies should only live in the wild environment. Alvin lives in an expansive compound that has trees, which create the magpies’ habitat. He is passionate about his neighborhood, and has identified that the place would be better without the birds, relating his opinion to a few magpies-related incidences.
Social Change Aim and Objectives
The general aim of the social change is to make adjustments that will facilitate harmonious living conditions for both the people and the magpies. The following objectives will be used to provide direction for the strategies:
- To increase the forest cover in the remote areas by 10% in the next 5 years to support the migration of the birds.
- To displace the magpies in the following 1 year after the afforestation period.
Strategy: Social Exchange Matrix
The exchange matrix can help to identify the suitable value/cost exchange context relating to Alvin. The approach involves hug, smack, nudge, and shove as the appropriate forms of exchange as they foster appropriate relationships. The positioning statement in this case will be: for the residents of East Coast Australia to live harmoniously with magpies, they would like to have conflict issues resolved for a better neighborhood. According to French (2011) hugging involves reward; thus, in the matrix, it will involve rewarding Alvin for cooperating in the program. The reward can be in the form of recognition, prices in a competitive bid that will involve the other residents, and offering relief, such as by subsiding the costs of utility for a certain period. Smacking is the other alternative that involves punishing despite having offered Alvin with free will to choose. For instance, a fine can be imposed whenever he kills a magpie, and for any subsequent one he kills, the fine is increased. Contrarily, it can also involve having him contribute to afforestation in various measurable ways, failure to which he is subjected to a punishment. Jeff (2011) identifies nudging as encompassing a gentle push for Alvin to act accordingly, which can be applied by communicating the positive effects of stopping the killing of magpies and providing them with the appropriate environment. Moreover, he can also be exposed, through education, to success stories and benefits of harmonious coexistence of birds and humans in other areas to motivate him towards adjusting accordingly. French (2011) claims that shoving is passive and negative in addressing the change of behavior, where Alvin can be denied some of the amenities if he does not comply with the new requirements. Alvin’s needs and perception towards change will determine the model that will be used to prompt bird killing behavior.
Strategy: Intervention Matrix
Various interventions can be included in Alvin’s case to guide social change. Communication will relate to conveying knowledge about the possibility of people living with the magpies (Borah et al., 2020). Particularly, the possible solutions such as afforestation can be based on scientific facts. In addition, information about how other regions have countered the invasions can be convincing to Alvin and the target group. Another form of intervention will be educating Alvin regarding diverse perspectives of animal-human conflicts (Lemon & Verhoef, 2016). He can be engaged in the entire behavioral change process, starting with the consideration of magpies as part of the environment. Environmental-oriented education can be used to encourage him to stop killing the birds, and identifying the source of his vengeful feelings in order to manage them accordingly. Additionally, he can be trained on tree planting and waste management to prevent creation of unsuitable magpies’ habitats. Support is also essential in behavioral change; hence, Alvin will require resources and amenities to ensure that new behaviors are sustained. For instance, he will need tree seedlings and recreational amenities to help develop other hobbies. There can be social networking as a way of providing a large scale approach to behavioral change, as Manikam & Russell-Bennett (2016) claim that individual behavioral change is not impactful in the long term. The collective approach further helps in developing comprehensive ways of countering the conflict. The mix will also involve regulating, where rules will be instituted to rhyme with the social exchange mix (Wood, 2016). For instance, the intentional killing of magpies can be criminalized and the community and the law enforcers can ensure that the rules are followed (Salazar et al. 2019). Incentives can further be provided to the people so that they can be motivated to continue with their behavioral change. The interventions complement each other, and so it is suggested that they be concurrently implemented.
Social Marketing Intervention Mix
The journey map is inspired by the behavior focused positioning theory that describes change in habits. Dann (2011) describes the model as the positioning in which change in habits that the target should undertake should be emphasized. The journey map for the target group is aimed at changing its behavior and embracing products that will lead to a more amicable coexistence. The adjustment efforts can be faced with resistance from the people and the birds as the former can be less receptive towards ensuring that the magpies have a suitable environment, such as by refusing to plant trees and continuing littering. On the other hand, the magpies can move back to the people’s habitats since they are attached to the environment. Therefore, there requires a smooth transition, where the Lewin’s change model is applicable.
The theory provides a framework for creating a strategy towards changing the society. The model involves three stages, which include the unfreezing, changing, and freezing in order to influence the people from their usual behaviors (Levasseur 2012). It can be achieved by instituting driving forces that divert behavior from the prevailing conditions. Secondly, the restraining forces affecting diversion from the existing conditions can be eliminated or reduced, where finally the two methods can be used concurrently. In the change phase, there are adjustments in behavior and feelings to a more productive approach towards magpies, and in refreezing, the acquired behavior is enforced as the new normal (Portolese, 2012). It is quite crucial to prevent reverting to the old behaviors, and thus the Lewin’s model is the most appropriate for Alvin’s case.
Advocacy is involved in the sensitization and appealing to the target group to adopt the relevant approach to harmoniously living with the birds. Gardner and Brindis (2017) prompt that mass communication is appropriate for such efforts. Alvin can be reached in various ways including the television, radio, and the internet as the information can be provided relating to the expectations for a better coexistence with the birds. Rubin (2018) notes that in addition, the change can be advocated during gatherings in the region, especially since it is not a large locality; thus, it can be easy to communicate across the East Coast. The social media has a great contribution in advocacy given that it is an avenue for virtual interactions, which can be used to reach Alvin and the other residents.
Partnership is relevant in instituting behavioral change in the region. While there are regulatory bodies that are keen to subject people who do not adhere to the rules, there are other parties involved in countering the issue of magpies (Buyucek et al., 2016; Boothroyd et al., 2017). For instance, the wildlife service is charged with managing rampant invasion by the birds until the entire program is finalized. In addition, the animal rights activists ensure that the people are aware about the rights of the birds, while investors and the government can provide the capital and resources for the project. Therefore, it is necessary to integrate parties in resolving the problem for a better relation between the people and magpies.
References
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