This dissertation is a study of the problems and prospects of marketing family planning social products in the over-populated Bangladesh society • A social marketing perspective was used to develop models and hypotheses and the objectives of the conswner survey. Through the consumer survey, data on a large spectrum of variables was gathered to permit investigation of the demographic characteristics, and knowledge, ~ttitude and practice relating to the family plamling social product. Examination of the background characteristics of the survey couples brought out the critical nature of the population problem presently facing Bangladesh and the environmental constraints of a social marketing programme. The couples are primarily uneducated, engaged in agricultural occupation, have more than two children, are relatively young wi th a large nWllber of years of reproductive life ahead and with an age structure conducive to further population growth. There is a high degree of awareness of family planning concept and methods and high degree of approval for the same, but the practice of birth control is dismally low. The determinants of demand singled out by the study are the education of the wife, attitude towards family planning, the number of living children and the cost of contraception. This suggests that some of the structural barriers, such as the education of the wife and the family size, will continue to persist and will make the social marketing task difficult. The cost and attitude variables, on the other hand, are actionable within a social marketing framework. A differentiated marketing strategy,in deference to the present undifferentiated one, is suggested by the segmentation approach. Similarly the high degree of clustering of product preferences indicates the need for abandoning a 'cafeteria' approach to product line decision. The poor performance of the family planning social product has been caused by lack of demand and not by lack of supply. Motivation ~o adopt birth control is low and the social marketing approach is emphasised as a means of creating motivation and hence demand. The supply element, considered simply as physical distribution, is not presently a significant barrier towards birth control. Within the constraints of the consumer survey approach, the broad guideline for formulation of a social marketing action strategy involving all the elements of the social marketing planning process framework has been indicated. The 'newness' of the approach of this study, did not permit delineation of policy alternatives in the light of prior experience, especially with respect to the social marketing instrumental variables. A substantial amount of field experimentation and field oriented research utilising sample survey and other existing, as well as new, research tools will be necessary to firm up the basic social marketing theme of this thesis.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:465893 |
| Date | January 1976 |
| Creators | Miyan, A. |
| Publisher | University of Manchester |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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