Social Marketing in Ritual Custom Context: A Case Study of the Ghost Money Burning Reduction Policy in Kaohsiung

[[abstract]]在臺灣地區，焚燒紙錢此一風俗儀式是民間祭祀所不可或缺的重要活動之一。然而，隨著臺灣人口數量增加、住宅密度提高，每逢特定節日焚燒紙錢所產生的灰煙，會影響附近住家的環境品質，甚至對整體台灣整體空氣品質造成影響，故各地政府開始推動減少紙錢焚燒計畫。為尊重民間習俗兼顧空氣品質，政府運用行銷技術與原則進行宣導，讓民眾接受並自願改變風俗習慣，以提升社會整體福祉，此即社會行銷運用之目的。據此，本研究乃以風俗儀式、社會行銷4P組合與民眾焚燒紙錢態度作為衡量指標，以探討風俗儀式與社會行銷4P組合兩者分別對民眾焚燒紙錢態度之影響，更進一步探討兩者的相對影響程度。本研究採用非隨機抽樣中的便利抽樣，樣本主要以大學在學學生、公務人員與一般大眾為主，有效樣本數為255份。研究結果發現：1.若受訪者認為在風俗儀式觀念下焚燒紙錢行為是重要的，則其焚燒紙錢態度會更明顯。即表示，受訪者認為減少焚燒紙錢對其而言是有害的，且他們較不願意減少焚燒紙錢。2.社會行銷4P組合中，「成本代價」與「途徑便捷」兩者對受訪者焚燒紙錢態度具有抑制效果。此表示，當受訪者認為減少焚燒紙錢可獲得更多的益處，則他們便較會認為焚燒紙錢是有害的，且願意減少焚燒紙錢。另外，當受訪者認為使用替代焚燒紙錢產品之途徑較為便捷時，她們也較願意減少焚燒紙錢。3.綜合而言，風俗儀式對焚燒紙錢態度之影響大於社會行銷4P組合之執行。有鑑於此研究結果，政府在利用社會行銷推廣減少焚燒紙錢政策時，需以降低成本代價與提升途徑便捷兩部分為主，若能將此兩構面運用得當，則會對民眾焚燒紙錢態度之改變更具影響力。[[abstract]]Ghost-money burning is an important ritual custom in Taiwanese folk religion. But with the growth in population and residential density, such burning becomes more and more threatening to air quality and public health. To make compromise between folk customs and air quality, the government urged the public to change the custom. To understand how successful the government's strategies are, this study used 4 social marketing variables and people's concern for ritual custom to predict people's attitude toward ghost-money burning. A convenience sample of college students, workers in local court, and people from the general public were invited to answer the questionnaire in this study. A total of 255 participated and gave valid answers. Results found that: 1. The more people believed that ghost-money burning was required by ritual customs, the more positive their attitude would be. That is, they would regard the burning as less harmful, and would be less willing to reduce it. 2. Social marketing strategies that changed cost and convenience had negative effect on attitude. That is, when people believed burning less ghost money was good for them, they would regard the burning as harmful and be more willing to reduce it. The same happened when people believed it was convenient to take alternatives for burning ghost money. 3. The effect of ritual customs on attitude toward ghost-money burning was greater than the effect of social marketing variables. In light of these findings, when urging the policy of Ghost-Money Burning reduction by means of social marketing, the government should both focus on changed cost reduction and convenience enhancement, which will be more effective on changing people's attitude toward Ghost-Money Burning