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Background: Social marketing managers promote desired behaviors to an audience by making them tangible in the form of environmental opportunities to enhance benefits and reduce barriers. This study proposed "benchmarks," modified from those found in the past literature, that would match important concepts of the social marketing framework and the inclusion of which would ensure behavior change effectiveness. In addition, we analyzed behavior change interventions on a "social marketing continuum" to assess whether the number of benchmarks and the role of specific benchmarks influence the effectiveness of physical activity promotion efforts. Methods: A systematic review of social marketing interventions available in academic studies published between 1997 and 2013 revealed 173 conditions in 92 interventions. Results: Findings based on χ2, Mallows' Cp, and Logical Analysis of Data tests revealed that the presence of more benchmarks in interventions increased the likelihood of success in promoting physical activity. The presence of more than 3 benchmarks improved the success of the interventions; specifically, all interventions were successful when more than 7.5 benchmarks were present. Further, primary formative research, core product, actual product, augmented product, promotion, and behavioral competition all had a significant influence on the effectiveness of interventions. Conclusions: Social marketing is an effective approach in promoting physical activity among adults when a substantial number of benchmarks are used and when managers understand the audience, make the desired behavior tangible, and promote the desired behavior persuasively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: In this cross-sectional follow-up study, we explored Canadian's awareness of ParticipACTION and their levels of physical activity (PA) after seven years of campaigns. Methods: A population-based survey was conducted with 7282 adults over a period of 14 months from February 2014 to May 2015. The survey consisted of questions on the 2014-2015 Physical Activity Monitor relating to awareness and knowledge of ParticipACTION. Weighted logistic models were constructed to examine whether awareness was associated with PA-related beliefs, intentions, and leisure time physical activity (LTPA). Results: Approximately 20% of Canadians reported unprompted awareness of ParticipACTION and 82% reported prompted awareness. Education, income, and having children were significant correlates of awareness among Canadians. The adjusted odds of people being aware of ParticipACTION (prompted & unprompted) were greater if they were more educated (OR = 1.57, 95% CI: 1.04-2.39; OR = 2.00, 95% CI: 1.24-3.24), reported higher income (OR = 3.92, 95% CI: 2.35-6.53; OR = 2.29, 95% CI: 1.44-3.62), and had children (OR = 1.93, 95% CI: 1.40-2.66; OR = 1.70, 95% CI: 1.26-2.30). Furthermore, awareness of ParticipACTION was positively associated with outcome expectations and self-efficacy, and negatively associated with LTPA status. Conclusion: Levels of unprompted awareness of ParticipACTION are higher than previously reported and, in comparison to active Canadians, inactive Canadians are more likely to be aware of the organization. Given that it had primarily targeted parents of inactive children over the past seven years, it appears the organization has been partially effective in achieving its communication goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: ParticipACTION is a Canadian physical activity communications and social marketing organization relaunched in 2007. The purpose of this study was to qualitatively investigate organizational capacity for physical activity promotion among Canadian organizations, and the influence of ParticipACTION on capacity five years after relaunch. Methods: Using a purposive sampling strategy, semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with 44 key informants representing national, provincial, and local organizations with a mandate to promote physical activity. Interview data were analyzed using a thematic analytic approach. Results: Organizational capacity in terms of partnerships and collaborations, and the general climate for physical activity promotion have improved since ParticipACTION's relaunch. Although financial resources reduced the ability of organizations to fulfil their mandates, internal factors such as skilled employees and sponsorships, and external factors such as technological improvements in communication and information sharing helped to offset this strain. There were mixed feelings on ParticipACTION's contribution to capacity. While ParticipACTION has brought more attention to inactivity, this was perceived as a complement to work already taking place. While some organizations perceived ParticipACTION's relaunch as competition to funding and access to popular media, others found it as an opportunity to co-brand social marketing campaigns, utilizing ParticipACTION's products and reputation. Conclusion: According to participants, organizational capacity to promote physical activity in Canada has increased since 2007 in subtle but important ways because of a strong climate for physical activity promotion, skilled employees, and information sharing technology. Organizational capacity changes were minimally attributed to ParticipACTION. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: ParticipACTION is a Canadian physical activity communications and social marketing organization relaunched in 2007. This study assesses the capacity of Canadian organizations to adopt, implement, and promote physical activity initiatives. The four objectives were to compare findings from baseline (2008) and follow-up (2013) with respect to: (1) awareness of ParticipACTION; (2) organizational capacity to adopt, implement and promote physical activity initiatives; (3) potential differences in capacity based on organizational size, sector, and mandate; and (4) assess perceptions of ParticipACTION five years after relaunch. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, representatives from local, provincial/territorial, and national organizations completed an online survey assessing capacity to adopt, implement, and promote physical activity. Descriptive statistics and one-way analyses of variance were conducted to examine the objectives. Results: Response rate for opening an email survey invitation and consenting to participate was 40.6% (685/1688) and 540 surveys were completed. Awareness of ParticipACTION increased from 54.6% at baseline to 93.9% at follow-up (Objective 1). Findings at both baseline and follow-up reflected good organizational capacity to adopt, implement and promote physical activity (Objective 2) although some varied by organizational sector and mandate (Objective 3). Most respondents reported that ParticipACTION provided positive leadership (65.3%), but there was less agreement regarding ParticipACTION's facilitation of infrastructure (44.0%) or organizational will/motivation (47.1%)(Objective 4). Conclusion: Canadian organizations continue to report having good capacity to adopt, implement, and promote physical activity. There was no discernible change in capacity indicators five years after ParticipACTION's relaunch although its broader contribution to the physical activity sector was endorsed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Youth physical activity levels remain low in Canada and worldwide. Lack of environmental resources (e.g., access to equipment and facilities, transportation options, and participation costs) is a key barrier for youth participation. Micro-grants are small budgets of money awarded via grant applications and may help community organizations facilitate youth physical activity participation by alleviating environmental resource barriers. ParticipACTION Teen Challenge was a national micro-grant scheme administered in Canada. Secondary analysis of survey data from Provincial and Territorial coordinators, registered community organizers, and successful grant applicants were used to evaluate the process and outcomes of Teen Challenge. Results showed that the financial subsidy of 500CAD was used mainly toward equipment, instruction, and transportation. Coordinators and community organizers indicated high levels of satisfaction and benefits for communities and teens. A key benefit for coordinators was leveraging the Teen Challenge network for physical activity promotion. Reported benefits for teenaged participants included leadership opportunities (e.g., helping create and implement programs) and increased physical activity participation. Findings highlight the value of micro-grants for supporting sport and physical activity opportunities for Canadian teens, and show that such schemes address barriers related to environmental resources. The sustainability of micro-grant schemes remains to be seen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of large-scale, 'mass' community-based sport, and physical activity (PA) events on population PA has yet to be established. The enhancement of organizational capacity to support health promotion initiatives is one mechanism through which such events may be helpful. Sports Day in Canada (SDIC) is an annual, nation-wide event celebrating the role of sport within communities and promoting sport participation. Beginning in 2010, thousands of Canadian sport and PA organizations have created SDIC events each year. The objective of this study was to examine the types of organizations who participate in SDIC and to determine if and how these organizations benefit from hosting an event. Online surveys of event organizers (2010 to 2013 SDIC) were conducted. Descriptive analyses identified organization and event characteristics, and one-way ANOVAs across time assessed event organizers' perceptions related to their overall satisfaction, benefits obtained, and challenges faced while participating in SDIC. Findings showed that organizations were mainly from the provinces of Ontario, British Columbia, and Quebec, worked with children and youth, and registered an event that was a tournament or school based. There was a significant increase in overall satisfaction [F(3, 996) = 27.26, p <.001] and benefits obtained [F(3, 1000) = 18.36, p <.001] across all four years of SDIC. One main benefit reported by organizations was an increased awareness and interest among community members in sport program(s) offered by their organization. Mass events like SDIC may help enhance organizational capacity to deliver health promotion initiatives including sport and PA programming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Applied Physiology, Nutrition & Metabolism is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Introduction. ParticipACTION’s 2011 “Think Again” campaign aimed to draw parents’, and specifically mothers’, attention to the amount of physical activity (PA) their children do relative to the national guidelines (physical activity guidelines [PAG]). Purpose. To evaluate ParticipACTION’s “Think Again” campaign in the context of the hierarchy of effects model. Methods. Data were drawn from “Think Again” campaign evaluations conducted among two cohorts of parents with children ages 5 to 11 years (3 months postcampaign launch [T1], n = 702; 15 months postlaunch [T2], n = 670). Results. At T2, campaign awareness was weakly associated with parents agreeing that their children were not active enough (p = .01, d = .18). Parents who were aware of the campaign showed greater knowledge of PAG (ps < .01, ϕs > .14), had higher outcome expectations about their children engaging in PA (p < .01, d = .16), had stronger intentions to help their child meet the guidelines (p < .01, d = .18), and engaged in more parental support behaviors (p < .001, d = .31) as compared with parents who were not aware. At T1, parents aware of the campaign had greater perceived behavioral control (PBC) to influence their child’s PA participation (p < .01, d = .22), whereas parents not aware of the campaign had greater PBC to find practical ways to help their child be active (p < .01, d = .26). Parental awareness of the campaign was not associated with children meeting the PAG at either time point (ps > .05). Conclusions. The campaign appeared marginally effective for increasing parental knowledge of PAG and for creating realistic awareness of children’s PA levels. Additional intervention strategies are needed to produce larger effects and to change parental behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sports Day in Canada (SDIC) is an annual event celebrating the role of sport within communities and promoting sport participation across Canada. SDIC ends a week of thousands of local sporting events and activities with a day-long national television broadcast. The objectives of this study were to evaluate whether awareness of SDIC has increased over time among Canadians (2010–2013), identify correlates of awareness, and assess changes in individuals' intentions to engage in sport. Online surveys were administered (2010: N = 863; 2011: N = 674; 2012: N = 861; 2013: N = 1447) to assess demographics, levels of physical activity and sport participation, awareness of SDIC, and intentions to participate in sport and physical activity as a result of SDIC. Analyses were conducted using independent t-tests, one-way ANOVAs, and a series of binary logistic regressions. Awareness of SDIC increased significantly from 26.9% in 2010 to 41.2% in 2013. Current sport participation (OR 1.21; 95% CI [1.11, 1.32]; OR 1.32; 95% CI [1.19, 1.47]; OR 1.26; 95% CI [1.16, 1.37]; OR 1.30; 95% CI [1.22, 1.38]) was the only significant correlate of awareness in years 2010–2013, respectively. Among people aware of SDIC, intentions to participate in sport as a result of SDIC have significantly increased over time, F(3, 1662) = 8.88, p <.001. Special events such as SDIC appear to have a role to play as part of a broader strategy to encourage sport participation among Canadians. A challenge for such events remains in reaching inactive people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Parental support has been established as the critical family-level variable linked to child physical activity with encouragement, logistical support, and parent-child co-activity as key support behaviors.Purpose: This study aims to model these parental support behaviors as well as family demographics as mediators of mothers' perceptions of child physical activity using theory of planned behavior (TPB) across two 6-month waves of longitudinal data.Method: A representative sample of Canadian mothers (N = 1253) with children aged 5 to 13 years of age completed measures of TPB, support behaviors, and child physical activity.Results: Autoregressive structural equation models showed that intention and perceived behavioral control explained support behaviors, yet child age (inverse relationship) and family income were independent predictors. The three support behaviors explained 19-42 % of the variance in child physical activity between participants, but analyses of change showed much smaller effects.Conclusions: Mothers' support behaviors are related to perceived child physical activity, but support is dependent on perception of control, child age, and family income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although social marketing promotion efforts are typically evaluated online using either finished video or static images, limited evidence exists whether media type influences audience response. In a posttest-only experimental study with a nationally representative sample of 663 Canadian mothers of 5- to 11-year-old children, participants were randomly assigned to one of two media conditions consisting of Think Again physical-activity Public Service Announcements created by ParticipACTION. Mothers reported campaign recall, ad liking, motivation to respond to the ad (i.e., assist one’s child to get at least 60 min of physical activity every day), and their support behaviors. Data were analyzed using χ2 and independent samples t-tests. Those exposed to the video version of the ad in comparison to the static image reported higher message recall and liking, and motivation to respond. There were no differences in parental support behaviors. Social marketing promotion efforts should be evaluated using the same format as the media message originally used. The study concludes that media type influences findings when evaluating social marketing promotion campaigns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Applied Physiology, Nutrition & Metabolism is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Social marketing researchers have identified brand equity as a potential mediator of the relationship between campaign message exposure and resulting behavior. This study examined whether message exposure and components of brand equity contribute to overall brand equity changes over the course of a 12-month campaign evaluation. In addition, we examine whether brand equity consistently accounts for covariance (i.e., mediation) in the relationship between message exposure and parental support (PS). Data were drawn from ParticipACTION’s “Think Again” campaign evaluations that targeted parents, specifically moms, with children between the ages of 5 and 11 years (three independent samples: March 2011, N = 702 [T1]; September 2011, N = 706 [T2]; March 2012, N = 670 [T3]). Univariate analyses of variance were used to examine changes in message exposure and components of brand equity over time, while structural equation modeling was used to examine the brand equity model relationship. Findings revealed that message exposure was greatest at T3 (ps < .01) and that brand equity was greatest at T2 (ps < .05). Model fit statistics revealed modest to good fit. Results demonstrated that Think Again message exposure was related to brand equity (standardized effects .10–.28) and that brand equity was related to PS (standardized effects .30–.40; (ps < .01). Importantly, an indirect effect of message exposure on PS through brand equity (standardized effects .03–.09) emerged in all models (ps < .05). This study demonstrates the utility of branding social marketing campaigns to increase campaign effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the results of a study on the potential disconnect parental perception and reality on the physical activity levels of their children. Topics covered include the methodology of the study and the results of the study based on parents' reception of and reactions to ParticipACTION public service advertisements. The study concludes that more creative approaches are needed to address the disconnect in perceptions between sufficient and recommended levels of activity.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to empirically test O'Reilly and Madill's (2012) process model to assess social marketing elements of a multi-year partnership between Coca-Cola Canada and a physical activity microgrant program, known as Teen Challenge, managed by ParticipACTION, a Canadian not-for-profit organization that champions sport and physical activity participation. ParticipACTION's Teen Challenge is a multi-year initiative that was developed in 2008 and involves over 5,800 community organizations (COs) and over 500,000 Canadian teens across the nation (ParticipACTION, 2016). Design/methodology/approach: A series of ten hypotheses related to the evaluation are tested using longitudinal data from event participants over a five-year period from 2009 to 2013. Findings: The study revealed that sponsor and sponsee shared objectives around sport participation, including the three found in this study. Practically, this is a positive result for sport participation properties who might now consider this as part of a sponsorship sales strategy. The research found that both Coca-Cola Canada and ParticipACTION have the following shared objectives in this particular sponsorship: motivate and support youth to get active and live a healthy life; remove barriers that youth face in getting physically active; and encourage more COs to be involved in the program. Conceptually, this finding extends the discussion of shared social marketing objectives in sponsorship proposed by Madill and O'Reilly (2010). Research limitations/implications: The findings support the sponsorship literature, in suggesting that shared objectives among sponsorship partners are important for the sponsorship to achieve successful outcomes (Cornwell et al., 2001). Shared sponsorship objectives can be utilized as a strategic tool for the sponsee to demonstrate the effectiveness of the program and to build a long-term relationship. The results of the logistic regression analysis indicate that COs which viewed partners' collaboration as positive agreed that the Teen Challenge program made physical activity more accessible and affordable for youth. Practical implications: This study provides several important implications for non-profit organizations that aim to establish an effective social marketing campaign. One way for non-profit organizations to build a strong relationship with sponsors was through positive collaboration where the two partners work together (e.g. activation) to maximize the sponsorship's effectiveness. First, it increased youth participation in the Teen Challenge program and made it affordable for teens to participate in other physical activity programs. Second, it enhanced Coca-Cola's image as supporters of active lifestyle in the eyes of COs. Finally, it affected the likelihood that COs would recommend the program. Social implications: Results of the survey of COs that are registered with the program provides us with another important finding that positive partner collaboration is only one component of overall effectiveness. Another component would be to take action to communicate to COs that positive collaboration indeed took place in the sponsorship. One way to achieve this goal is to demonstrate to COs the importance of funding that the sponsor provides as well as the impact of sponsorship partners' positive collaboration on the overall program. The authors also found that sponsorship partners' positive collaboration in the delivery of the Teen Challenge program played an important role in whether COs recommend the program to others. Originality/value: The results of this research contribute to the evaluation of the sponsorship of a health-oriented social marketing sponsorship of a sport participation property or sponsee (ParticipACTION) and a major brand as sponsor (Coca-Cola). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]