A Survey Of Marketing Promotion Techniques Used By Ngos In Their Social Campaigns Against HIV/AIDS In Kenya

Abstract

The HIV/Aids pandemic threatens to destroy the very fabric of the Kenyan society. The government of Kenya declared the scourge a national disaster, and put into place numerous mechanisms to address the problem. The private sector, through the NGOs, has not been left behind in the struggle to combat the pandemic. It is against this backdrop that this study was formulated to try and identify the marketing promotion techniques used by NGOs in their social campaigns against HIV/Aids in Kenya. The study sought to achieve the following objectives; establish the marketing promotion techniques used by NGOs in Kenya, determine the extent of use of the promotional techniques, determine whether the NGOs measure the effectiveness of these techniques and the methods used thereof The study targeted a sample of 50 NGOs out of which 35 (70%) of them responded to the questionnaires submitted to them. The findings indicated that various marketing promotional technique were used by the NGOs to fight HIV/Aids in Kenya, including advertising, personal communication, publicity, sales promotion, mass communication, and selective communication. Advertising, in its various forms, was not widely used by the NGOs in their social campaigns. Personal communication was widely used by the organizations in their social campaigns against HIV/Aids in Kenya. Likewise to publicity, mass communication, and selective communication. Sales promotion was the least used marketing promotion technique. The overall objectives that these promotional campaigns sought to achieve included awareness creation, behavior change, positive attitude, and recall, among others. The study also found out that the NGOs measured the effectiveness of these techniques through various methods, like aided recall, attitude and inquiry tests, awareness levels, adoption, professionals, counselors, and community organizations. However further research should be conducted to determine how various techniques should be applied in specific NGO's settings, given the diversity of these institutions in the way they operate