Social marketing and its influence in the solution of health problems

Introducción: el marketing social es una disciplina de la mercadotecnia dirigida a influir en el comportamiento de las personas a fin de que mejoren su bienestar y el de la sociedad. Por sus características tiene potencialidades de influir en la solución de problemas de salud a nivel individual, grupal y social, en especial desde el punto de vista de las acciones de comunicación a aplicarse, como las actividades sociales,campañas sociales, charlas, relaciones públicas, ruedas de prensa, entre otras.Objetivo: el objetivo del artículo es valorar a partir del criterio de expertos, la influencia que puede ejercer el marketing social en la solución de problemas de salud en Ecuador. Métodos: se aplicó un cuestionario para conocer el criterio de 10 especialistas de las ciencias médicas y administrativas de Ecuador, en función de la influencia que pueden ejercer los instrumentos y estrategias de comunicación de marketing social en la solución de problemas de salud. El procesamiento de los datos se realizó con Microsoft Excel, para determinar el comportamiento descriptivo de estos y, de forma inferencial, a través del coeficiente R de Pearson.Introduction: Social marketing is a discipline of marketing aimed at influencing people's behavior in order to improve their well-being and that of society. Because of its characteristics, it has the potential to influence the solution of health problems at the individual, group and social level, especially from the point of view of communication actions to be applied, such as social activities, social campaigns, talks, public relations, press conferences, among others. Objective: The objective of the article is to evaluate, based on the criterion of experts, the influence that social marketing can exert on solving health problems in Ecuador. Methods: A questionnaire was applied to know the criteria of 10 specialists from the medical and administrative sciences of Ecuador, depending on the influence that can be exerted on the instruments and strategies of communication of social marketing in the solution of health problems. The data processing was done with Microsoft Excel, to determine the descriptive behavior of the same and inferential form through Pearson R Coefficient. Results: Based on the criteria of the experts, the importance of social activities for the solution of health problems in Ecuador was determined, especially the explanatory social campaigns and demotivation of vices, as well as motivational messages. The epidemic and developmental diseases are highlighted as the main objects of the campaigns, and the national government is the main agent of social marketing. While the community has low participation and negative relationships with other variables studied. Controlling the ommunication process limits the effectiveness of social marketing actions. Conclusions: The empirical analysis developed from the expert criterion allowed to diagnose the influence of social marketing in the solution of health problems, as well as the main communication tools used, the most active agents and some shortcomings in the proces