Social marketing strategies to reduce prejudice Vidushi Saxena

Social marketing strategies I looked at Communication Incentives

Communication -a dynamic process that looks to instigate a mutual understanding between two or more people (Williams & Wilkins, 2007), -a social process wherein people might negotiate cultural differences, or simply interact cross-culturally (Liu, Chua, & Stahl, 2010). -different modes of communication - computer-mediated, radio, written, spoken, face-to-face

Main findings about communication as a prejudice reduction method -framing in communication can change how people perceive messages -framing messages (phrasing them in a particular manner) based on individual identity vs group membership can reduce intergroup differences, less likely to be prejudiced against -perspective-taking can make outgroup more relatable -trying to make a message more relatable promotes intergroup harmony -pointing out similarities between groups in communication reduces prejudice -collaborative communication reduces prejudice in long-run -different modes of communication have different impacts -face-to-face more likely to increase intrinsic motivation to reduce prejudice, more long-term -written communication flexible, can be applied within computer, radio strategies -computer, radio more adaptable, more easily implemented, wider reach

Incentives -incentives further motivate people to act upon something they have already engaged with before (McKenzie-Mohr, 2011) -this motivation can be intrinsic, extrinsic or both -different incentives - appearing ‘politically correct’, gaining moral credentials, making outgroup more similar

Main findings about incentives as a prejudice reduction method -being more aware of your own prejudice incentivizes prejudice reduction, could increase intrinsic motivation and also extrinsic motivation to reduce prejudice -finding a connection with outgroup, perceived similarity incentivizes prejudice reduction, increases outgroup acceptance, intrinsic motivation to reduce prejudice -traveling, interacting with outgroup helps find connection, makes prejudice reduction more likely, increases intrinsic motivation -moral credentials temporary incentive, limited to extrinsic motivation

Best strategies and suggestions for future research -increasing opportunities for computer-mediated communication, giving people opportunities to interact with people in their outgroup, and improving opportunities for face-to-face interaction between different groups can especially increase intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to reduce prejudice in the long-run -future research can focus on how to frame communication in a way that makes outgroup more relatable, how to make moral credentials have a more permanent effect -focus on how to increase people’s awareness of their own prejudice - surveys, posters, self-reports?

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