Can social marketing deliver behaviour change? Meet Associate Professor Sameer Deshpande

This month’s Researcher Profile highlights the work of Associate Professor Sameer Deshpande from the Griffith Business School. Sameer is Director of Social Marketing @ Griffith and a member of the Climate Action Beacon and the Disrupting Violence Beacon. We asked Sameer about his path to becoming a researcher, what research projects he is currently working on and what advice he has for researchers just starting out.  

What path led you to becoming a researcher?    

Two reasons led me to become a researcher. The first one was driven by industry experience in the commercial advertising industry in India and the US. The advertising industry has consistently been dogged by the question of the effectiveness of marketing techniques in influencing sales, both in general and specifically in advertising. Despite the sector’s century-old experience, this question persists. We still cannot confidently claim whether marketing works. There is an adage in the advertising industry: 50% of the advertising works, but we don’t know which 50%. Another question begging for an answer is when we should apply marketing (as opposed to other technologies) to influence behaviours. I was excited to answer these questions when I joined the field of marketing and communication research. Not surprisingly, I continue to pursue these research questions to this day, although more in the social change marketing sector. 

This led me to enrol in a masters degree in communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where I conducted my thesis, marking the first time I engaged in extensive research, and I loved every minute of it. The thesis was eventually published in a good journal. This experience, combined with the department’s offer to pursue a PhD, led me down the path to becoming a researcher.  

 

What sparked your passion for your research area? 

I have always been interested in marketing, advertising and communication, on the one hand, and social change, on the other.

I didn’t realise the twain could meet. An old article (Wiebe, 1952), [which explores the idea of] “Can we sell brotherhood like soap”, sums up my research focus. The passion for social change and marketing emerged squarely due to my dad, who has been running a nonprofit organisation on science communication in Mumbai for 60 years. I grew up in an environment where the discussion primarily centred on nonprofit management topics to achieve its mission of propagating scientific thinking in Indian society. 

These two areas intersected with my passion for research during my masters and PhD studies, and I have continued to focus on research in this area for the past 22 years of my full-time academic life. 

 

Can you tell us a bit about the projects you are currently working on? 

The research questions mentioned above (whether social marketing is effective in delivering behaviour change and under what conditions) continue to drive my research agenda. They are designed with my fundamental pursuit to help behaviour change managers deliver effective outcomes and achieve their organisational goals. An experience based on this pursuit not only supports my research studies but also allows me to provide valuable insights to students in undergraduate and masters programs who appreciate the practical aspects. In that regard, I have published several research studies and am currently involved in studies applied in various contexts. For example, our 2016 paper on physical activity promotion and our 2025 study on lower back pain management revealed the importance of having access to a training aid, along with understanding the audience, and persuasive communication helped deliver stronger outcomes of an active lifestyle. 

Currently, I am applying these questions to understand how to:  

• promote peace among warring communities  
• promote helmet use among bicycle riders  
• reduce domestic violence among communities affected by climate change 
• use social media tools to promote positive behaviours. 

Do you have any advice for researchers just starting out? 

Strong researchers are not just driven by the topic of the day and focus on utilitarian output, such as publishing in high-ranked journals, but tie these goals to their primary research pathway.

I may sound like a broken record, but I earnestly advise researchers (whether young or experienced) to have clarity on their overall purpose in life and translate it into their research agenda. Such an aligned approach brings focus and harmony, ensures the longevity of the research focus, and brings authenticity. Strong researchers are not just driven by the topic of the day and focus on utilitarian output, such as publishing in high-ranked journals, but tie these goals to their primary research pathway. Without a purpose-driven research focus, researchers are exposed as opportunistic. The unfocused research agenda becomes evident to reviewers when seeking funding from Category 1 sources or promotion within the university. 

Secondly, I strongly believe in delivering research for stakeholders beyond fellow academicians. We in publicly funded institutions owe ‘service through research’ to policymakers, organisations and the broader community. We are privileged to create new knowledge and insights. We’d better use these skills and thinking to help society beyond just publishing technical details in an academic journal, which very few understand and read. This should drive the research agenda and outreach to multiple stakeholders by promoting our outputs on popular platforms and transferring our knowledge through training activities. 

Griffith University is proud to produce world-class research contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals. 

 

 

 

 

Find out more about the Sustainable Development Goals. 

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