|
Kathleen Kelly, Ph.D., is Professor of Marketing and
Director of the Center for Business Ethics and Social Issues at Colorado
State University. An expert on social marketing, Dr. Kelly’s work
bridges the gap between business and social issues by demonstrating that
commercial marketing techniques can be used to “unsell” harmful
behaviors such as tobacco, alcohol, and violence.
An important aspect of Dr. Kelly’s work is her
study of advertising and counteradvertising of tobacco and other
products, as well as the policies surrounding regulation. She has
conducted extensive research in this area through grants from the
prestigious Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Substance Abuse Policy
Research Program. Her most recently funded study will allow her to
examine the effects of two increasingly mainstream tobacco products –
“flavored” and “natural” cigarettes – on adolescents’ perceptions and
purchase intentions (abstract).
Another current RWJF study examines tobacco counteradvertisement
strategies aimed at Mexican-American youth to see which languages and
themes will have the most impact on youth ad preferences (abstract).
A previous grant from RWJF allowed Dr. Kelly to examine the effects of
visuals in tobacco and alcohol ads on youth attitudes toward the ads.
One finding with far-reaching implications is that lifestyle imagery
does make products more appealing to youth; however, the impact of image
advertising tends to diminish in the case of cigarettes (article).
In addition, Dr. Kelly directs a $1.2 million
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) study that examines the effects
of localized media campaigns and peer leadership training on youth
tobacco use. As part of the project, youth from around the country
attended week-long workshops at the university to learn how to develop
their own prevention campaigns, including public service announcements
for TV, radio, and print. Youth also learned interpersonal skills to
allow them to become effective leaders among their peers and in their
community on smoking prevention.
Because many health behaviors are rooted in
community norms and beliefs, Dr. Kelly’s work takes into account the
interplay of community factors (such as cultural beliefs) with media and
health behavior. She currently co-directs a $3.5 million, NIDA-funded
randomized community trial to examine the effectiveness of media
campaigns and the “readiness” of communities to prevent substance use.
She is an originator of the Community Readiness Model used in the study,
which is a tool that helps communities mobilize for change using
strategies tailored to stage of readiness. The influential model has
sparked thinking in the prevention field and has been used worldwide to
address a variety of social issues. See articles:
The Community
Readiness Model: A Complementary Approach to Social Marketing;
Integrating Social Marketing, Community Readiness and Media Advocacy in
Community-Based Prevention Efforts.
Dr. Kelly’s multidisciplinary research involves
partners across the university, including collaborators at the
Tri-Ethnic Center for Prevention Research and the Department of
Journalism and Technical Communication. Because of the scope and
significance of her research efforts, she earned the College of Business
Excellence in Research Award in 2004 and in 2002. Among the publications
that have featured her work are Journal of Public Policy & Marketing,
Communication Research, Social Marketing Quarterly, Journal of Community
Health, Substance Use and Misuse, and other academic journals.
In addition to her research contributions, Dr.
Kelly provides expert guidance in social marketing to public-health
practitioners around the country through
conferences and other trainings. She has also introduced the field
of social marketing to new generations of socially conscious business
students. She has taught a popular graduate-level course in promotional
strategy that gives students hands-on experience in working on
commercial and social issues. During spring 2004, she taught a social
marketing course – the first to be offered at Colorado State University
– to encourage students to more fully explore the positive impact that
business and marketing can have on society. |
