An in-depth Perspective Analysis for Developing a Social Marketing Model to Promote Female Adolescents’ Participation in Regular Physical Activities: A Qualitative Study

Background: Physical activity is one of the key factors in children and teenagers’ health. The first step of planning based on social marketing is to conduct qualitative research. The present study follows a qualitative approach to identify the participants’ viewpoints about regular physical activity and determine approaches to promote it based on social marketing framework.
Methods: The social marketing theory served as the framework of the study. The study was carried out as a qualitative directed content analysis in 2020 in Kermanshah city, Iran. Data gathering was done through individual semi-structured interviews. Totally, 23 students (aged 12–15) as the main participants along with five mothers and four physical education teachers were selected through purposive sampling.
Findings: After data analysis and extracting initial codes, they were all categorized in four predefined categories of social marketing model (product, price, place and promotion) and related sub-categories. The majority of participants emphasized on the advantages of physical activity, namely prevention of chronic diseases, physical fitness, increased concentration, better learning performance, and a decrease in depression. They noted that they preferred a happy and friendly environment for doing physical activity. The teenagers listed fitness clubs, the media, and social media as preferred places to receive educational messages. The majority of participants mentioned that face-to-face education, social media, and the internet are the best communication channels.
Conclusion: The results gave an insight and a deeper knowledge about values and motivations in teenagers that affect their decision to perform regular physical activity. Moreover, researchers can use the findings to design and implement interventional programs to promote regular physical activities for teenagers