Developing a social marketing program for physical activity to prevent obesity: The Case of BAİBU

Obesity, which is a global public health problem, is increasing rapidly and it is important to develop social marketing programmes to provide solutions to this problem. In this study, it is aimed to develop a social marketing programme for physical activity in line with the barriers, benefits and drivers elements perceived by campus employees who have a high risk of obesity due to sedentary working conditions, and thus contribute to prevent obesity. The research was conducted in BAİBÜ Gölköy Campus. Exploratory sequential design, one of the mixed method designs, was used in the study. The research data were collected with the Stages of Exercise Behaviour Change (SEBC) questionnaire, personal information form and semi-structured interview. A total of 330 academic and administrative personnel who could be reached by convenience sampling method were included in the quantitative stage. In the qualitative stage, criterion sampling method was used and those who were in the overweight/obese classification according to body mass index (BMI) and in the contemplation and preparation stage according to Stages of Exercise Behaviour were included in the research. According to BMI calculations, 17.3% were obese and 47.3% were overweight of the 330 personnel. 36.35% of the personnel are in the contemplation and 18.48% in the preparation stage with respect to SEBC. The sample of the qualitative phase consisted of 20 volunteer participants who met these criteria. Quantitative data were analysed with SPSS 15 software and qualitative data were analysed with thematic analysis method. The average sitting time of the 20 participants was 4.8 hours. Common barriers to participation in physical activity for participants in the contemplation and preparation stage were; climatic conditions, facilities, psychological barriers and situational barriers. Physiological and mental health were common perceived benefits. In addition, work efficiency is also perceived as a benefit for those in the contemplation stage. Organizations, facilitating arrangements, directives, physical activity areas are common themes in the facilitator elements of both stages, and the codes under these themes changed in the contemplation and preparation stages. At the end of the study, a social marketing program was developed and proposed based on the perceived benefits, barriers, and drivers related to physical activity, tailored to the characteristics of the target audience.