Exploring anti-smoking and anti-binge drinking issues in the context of generally accepted consumer theory

The marketing of social issues has become a significant area of government, public sector and nonprofit activity over recent times. However, consumer behavior oriented research is quite sparse and as such, furthering our understanding of consumer behavior related to social issues has both practical, as well as theoretical importance. This study examines the relationships between social issue involvement and susceptibility to interpersonal influence for social issues with attitudes toward social issues and intention to comply with a social marketing campaign. Data were gathered for two social issues from a convenience sample of individuals aged between 17 and 30. The results indicate that differing relationships were found with susceptibility to interpersonal influence, involvement and attitudes and intention to comply between the identified campaigns.