An analysis of the social marketing of physical activity promotion: The comparative case study of ParticipACTION and Fitness Ontario.

A comparative case study was undertaken to determine the market orientation and the level of sophistication in using marketing constructs within the ParticipACTION and Fitness Ontario organizations. Using a qualitative approach, data were collected from interviews of eight current and former staff members of the organizations, and from written documents and records. The data were analyzed with the use of Lori\u27s (1991) plan and Wellington\u27s (1994) case approach. The results of the case study indicated that social marketing principles can be applied to organizations that sponsor the concept of physical activity, and in an effective manner as ParticipACTION demonstrated. Conversely, analysis of Fitness Ontario demonstrated that when engaging in the promotion of a physical activity, bureaucratic constraints can have a negative impact on the use of the aforementioned principles, and can contribute to marketing failure. An approach to using marketing principles for physical activity promoters was presented, with suggestions of certain success criteria. It was concluded that using marketing principles in social causes provides a better chance of successfully achieving objectives than failure to implement such principles.Dept. of Kinesiology. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis1994 .M397. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 34-02, page: 0750. Adviser: G. A. Olafson. Thesis (M.Hk.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 1994