Pechmann, C. and M.D. Slater (2005), "Social marketing messages that may motivate irresponsible consumption behavior," in Inside Consumption, S. Ratneshwar and D.G. Mick, eds., London and New York: Routledge, 185-207.

article abstract:

This chapter examines theories about, and empirical research on, whether social marketing messages might inadvertently boomerang. Instead of motivating consumers to behave as advocated, such as exercise or not litter, might these messages sometimes motivate consumers to do just the opposite? Over the past several years, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of paid, government sponsored social marketing campaigns used in the U.S. It is widely assumed that these campaigns will be effective and certainly not counterproductive. In fact, it is typically argued that the campaigns will pay for themselves in terms of lowering the costs of government-funded services and remedies. Skeptics, though, are concerned that these campaigns may be ineffective or even counterproductive. Several reasons for boomerang effects have been advanced, including that the ads might elicit reactance or resistance, convey that the problem behaviors are prevalent, or encourage even more problematic substitute behaviors. In most cases, the ads in these campaigns are not quantitatively pretested to ensure they are producing the expected effects and no boomerang effects, and long-term campaign effects are very difficult to assess due to the lack of true control groups. How risky is this rather liaise faire approach to creating social marketing messages? We try to answer this important question.

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© 2005 by Routledge of the Taylor and Francis Group. Reproduced by permission of Taylor & Francis, Inc., http://www.taylorandfrancis.com.