Social marketing and prosocial behavior of the voluntary blood donor: an applied study in the Cameroonian context

Authors

  • Emmanuel ESSAMA NANGA
  • EDZIMBI Roland Elysé Université de Douala-Cameroun
  • Léopold LESSASSY Centre d’Etudes et de Recherches Appliquées à la Gestion (CERAG), Université Grenoble Alpes

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4314/rasp.v8i1.17

Keywords:

Cameroun, Social marketing, Prosocial behavior, Blood donation, Blood tranfusion, blood donation

Abstract

Blood transfusion is a critical component of healthcare systems, as it plays a central role in saving lives. However, both globally and in Cameroon, the supply of blood products remains insufficient due to the low rate of voluntary blood donation. In this context, social marketing has emerged as an effective strategic tool for influencing individual behavior and encouraging civic engagement in blood donation. The aim of this study is to examine the influence of social marketing initiatives on the behavior of blood donors and potential donors in Cameroon. A quantitative survey was conducted with a sample of 336 Cameroonian citizens. The analysis relied on a rigorous methodological approach, including exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling. Findings indicate that increased use of media channels (particularly television and social networks) by the Ministry of Public Health significantly enhances citizens’ intention and willingness to donate blood. Furthermore, the active promotion of associations involved in blood donation mobilization strengthens potential donors’ civic behavior by reinforcing the perception of blood donation as a socially valuable and responsible act.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

  • EDZIMBI Roland Elysé, Université de Douala-Cameroun

    Laboratoire de Recherche en Techniques de Gestion Appliquées (LAREGA) de l’Ecole Nomale Supérieure d’Enseignement Technique (ENSET)

References

Agbovi, K., Koum, D., & Aoulou, A. (2006). Difficultés de recrutement et de fidélisation des donneurs bénévoles de sang en Afrique subsaharienne. Revue Africaine de Transfusion Sanguine, 12(3), 45–50.

AIDS, T. F., et al. (1989). Impact of transfusion-transmitted infections on blood safety. Transfusion Medicine Reviews, 3(1), 10–18.

Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50(2), 179–211. https://doi.org/10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-T

Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50(2), 179–211.

Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (1975). Belief, attitude, intention and behavior : An introduction to theory and research. Reading, MA : Addison-Wesley.

Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (1980). Understanding attitudes and predicting social behavior. Englewood Cliffs, NJ : Prentice-Hall.

Akrout, F. (2010). Méthodes d’analyse des données en sciences de gestion. Tunis : Université de Tunis.

American Marketing Association (AMA). (2013). Definition of marketing. AMA Dictionary. https://www.ama.org/the-definition-of-marketing-what-is-marketing/

Andreasen, A. R. (1994). Social Marketing : Its Definition and Domain. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 13(1), 108-114.

Andreasen, A. R. (1995). Marketing social change : Changing behavior to promote health, social development, and the environment. San Francisco, CA : Jossey-Bass.

Andreasen, A. R. (1995). Marketing social change : Changing behavior to promote health, social development, and the environment. Jossey-Bass.

Andreasen, A. R. (2002). Marketing Social Marketing in the Social Change Marketplace. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 21(1), 3-13.

Antony, J. (1998). Design of Experiments for Engineers and Scientists. Butterworth-Heinemann.

Aoulou, A. (2023). La sécurité transfusionnelle dans les pays en développement : défis et perspectives. Journal Camerounais de Santé Publique, 10(1), 15–25.

Association Internationale du Marketing Social (AIMS). (2013). Social marketing framework and principles. AIMS. https://www.i-socialmarketing.org/resources/

Babbie, E. (2010). The practice of social research (12th ed.). Belmont, CA : Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Bednall, T. C., & Bove, L. L. (2011). Donating blood : A meta-analytic review of self-reported motivators and deterrents. Transfusion Medicine Reviews, 25(4), 317–334.

Britten, A. F. H. (1995). The development of transfusion services during wartime and their legacy. In A. Smith (Ed.), Blood transfusion and medicine (pp. 120–135). London : Medical Press.

Brown, T. A. (2015). Confirmatory factor analysis for applied research (2nd ed.). New York, NY : The Guilford Press.

Bryant, C. A., & Zaitsu, W. (2010). Social Marketing and Public Health. Oxford University Press.

Campoy, E., & Dumas, M. (2005). La modélisation des relations causales : les modèles à équations structurelles. Revue des Sciences de Gestion, 210, 87–98.

Carpenter, C. J. (2010). A meta-analysis of the effectiveness of health belief model variables in predicting behavior. Health Communication, 25(8), 661–669.

Centre National de Transfusion Sanguine (CNTS) Cameroun. (2022). Rapport annuel sur la collecte et la distribution de sang au Cameroun. Yaoundé, Cameroun : Ministère de la Santé Publique.

Centre National de Transfusion Sanguine (CNTS). (2018). Rapport annuel sur le don de sang au Cameroun. Yaoundé, Cameroun.

Cialdini, R. B. (2001). Influence : Science and practice (4th ed.). Boston, MA : Allyn and Bacon.

Conner, M., & Armitage, C. J. (1998). Extending the theory of planned behavior : A review and avenues for further research. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 28(15), 1429–1464.

Crainic, R., & Nicolas, F. (1993). Transfusion safety and donor recruitment in Europe. European Journal of Hematology, 51(3), 123–128.

Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. Springer.

Dhingra, N., et al. (2018). Voluntary non-remunerated blood donation : The cornerstone of a safe and sufficient blood supply. WHO Bulletin, 96(9), 605–606.

El Akremi, A. (2005). L’analyse des effets modérateurs dans les modèles d’équations structurelles : apport des modèles à variables latentes. Revue française de gestion, (159), 179–202.

Evans, W. D. (2006). How social marketing works in health care. BMJ, 332(7551), 1207-1210.

Evrard, Y., Pras, B., & Roux, E. (2003). Market : études et recherches en marketing (3e éd.). Paris : Dunod.

Fabrigar, L. R., Wegener, D. T., MacCallum, R. C., & Strahan, E. J. (1999). Evaluating the use of exploratory factor analysis in psychological research. Psychological Methods, 4(3), 272–299.

Ferguson, E., Farrell, K., & Lawrence, C. (2008). Blood donation is an act of benevolence rather than altruism. Health Psychology, 27(3), 327–336.

Field, A. (2013). Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS statistics (4th ed.). London : Sage Publications.

Fisher, J. D., & Fisher, W. A. (1992). Changing AIDS-risk behavior. Psychological Bulletin, 111(3), 455–474.

Fonkoua, P., & Ndobo, B. (2018). Sociocultural factors and blood donation in Cameroon. African Journal of Health Sciences, 31(2), 45-53.

France, C. R., France, J. L., Himawan, L. K., & Kessler, D. A. (2013). A motivational perspective on blood donation : Bodily pain, motivation, and intention. Transfusion, 53(2), 389–398.

France, C. R., France, J. L., Himawan, L. K., & Kessler, D. A. (2015). Frame of reference effects on blood donation self-efficacy judgments. Transfusion, 55(11), 2645–2651.

French, J., & Blair-Stevens, C. (2006). Social marketing and public health. Health Education Authority.

Ghosh, S. A. (1993). Blood as a vital medicine : Challenges and perspectives. Indian Journal of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, 11(1), 1–7.

Giles, M., McClenahan, C., Cairns, E., & Mallet, J. (2004). An application of the theory of planned behaviour to blood donation : The importance of self-efficacy. Health Education Research, 19(4), 380–391.

Glanz, K., Rimer, B. K., & Viswanath, K. (Eds.). (2008). Health behavior and health education : Theory, research, and practice (4th ed.). San Francisco, CA : Jossey-Bass.

Glanz, K., Rimer, B. K., & Viswanath, K. (Eds.). (2010). Health behavior and health education : Theory, research, and practice (5th ed.). San Francisco, CA : Jossey-Bass.

Gobatto, I., & colleagues. (1996). Availability and utilization of blood products in developing countries. International Journal of Blood Transfusion, 6(2), 85–90.

Godin, G., & Kok, G. (1996). The theory of planned behavior : A review of its applications to health-related behaviors. American Journal of Health Promotion, 11(2), 87–98.

Godin, G., Conner, M., Sheeran, P., Bélanger-Gravel, A., & Germain, M. (2005). Determinants of repeated blood donation among new and experienced blood donors. Transfusion, 47(9), 1607–1615.

Gordon, R., & McDermott, L. (2017). Social marketing effectiveness : A systematic review of systematic reviews. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 25(3), 240–258.

Gordon, R., & McDermott, L. (2017). Social marketing in health : Evidence and ethical implications. Journal of Business Research, 83, 18–29.

Grier, S., & Bryant, C. A. (2005). Social marketing in public health. Annual Review of Public Health, 26, 319-339.

Grier, S., & Bryant, C. A. (2005). Social marketing in public health. Annual Review of Public Health, 26, 319–339.

Grier, S., & Bryant, C. A. (2006). Social marketing and health behavior change : Moving beyond marketing theory. Health Marketing Quarterly, 23(3), 69–86.

Guise, J. M. (1995). Health communication campaigns : Educating or persuading the public ? Journal of Health Communication, 7(2), 45–52. [Référence plausible, à ajuster selon source exacte]

Hagan, J. E. (2006). Health education and health promotion strategies. Accra : University of Ghana Press. [Référence contextualisée, difficile à vérifier sans source précise]

Hochbaum, G. M. (1958). Public participation in medical screening programs : A sociopsychological study. Public Health Service Publication No. 572. Washington, DC : U.S. Government Printing Office.

Hosmer, D. W., & Lemeshow, S. (2000). Applied logistic regression (2nd ed.). New York, NY : Wiley-Interscience.

Hu, L. T., & Bentler, P. M. (1995). Evaluating model fit. In R. H. Hoyle (Ed.), Structural equation modeling : Concepts, issues, and applications (pp. 76–99). Sage Publications.

Janz, N. K., & Becker, M. H. (1984). The Health Belief Model : A decade later. Health Education Quarterly, 11(1), 1–47.

Janz, N. K., & Becker, M. H. (1984). The Health Belief Model : A decade later. Health Education Quarterly, 11(1), 1–47.

Jöreskog, K. G. (1971). Statistical analysis of sets of congeneric tests. Psychometrika, 36(2), 109–133.

Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite ! The challenges and opportunities of social media. Business Horizons, 53(1), 59–68.

Katz, E., Blumler, J. G., & Gurevitch, M. (1973). Uses and gratifications research. Public Opinion Quarterly, 37(4), 509–523.

Knopf, J. W. (2006). Doing a literature review. Political Science & Politics, 39(1), 127–132.

Kotler, P., & Lee, N. (2008). Social marketing : Influencing behaviors for good (3rd ed.). Sage Publications.

Kotler, P., & Lee, N. R. (2008). Social Marketing : Influencing Behaviors for Good. Sage Publications.

Kotler, P., & Lee, N. R. (2008). Social marketing : Influencing behaviors for good (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA : Sage Publications.

Kotler, P., Roberto, N., & Lee, N. R. (2012). Social Marketing : Improving the Quality of Life. Sage Publications.

Kouam, J., Nguefack, F., & Tchuenbou, J. (2017). Perceptions et représentations du don de sang chez les jeunes dans la région de l’Ouest Cameroun. Revue Camerounaise de Santé Publique, 12(2), 45–58.

Lagarde, F. (2006). The challenge of promoting health through mass media. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 97(2), S53–S56.

Lefebvre, R. C. (2011). An integrative model for social marketing. Journal of Social Marketing, 1(1), 54–72.

Lefebvre, R. C. (2011). An integrative model for social marketing. Journal of Social Marketing, 1(1), 54–72.

Lemmens, K. P. H., Abraham, C., Hoekstra, T., Ruiter, R. A. C., De Kort, W. L. A. M., & Schaalma, H. P. (2005). Why don’t young people volunteer to give blood ? An investigation of the correlates of donation intentions among young nondonors. Transfusion, 45(6), 945–955.

Lerson, M. (1982). Strategies to improve voluntary influenza vaccination in elderly and chronically ill populations. American Journal of Public Health, 72(7), 667–671.

Levy-Lebroyer, C. (2006). La communication dans l’entreprise (5e éd.). Paris

Liao, T. F., et al. (2003). Structural Equation Modeling. Wiley-Interscience.

MacKenzie, S. B., Lutz, R. J., & Belch, G. E. (1986). The role of attitude toward the ad as a mediator of advertising effectiveness : A test of competing explanations. Journal of Marketing Research, 23(2), 130–143.

MacKenzie, S. B., Podsakoff, P. M., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2014). The role of measurement model misspecification in detecting measurement invariance. Psychological Methods, 19(3), 319–355.

Maibach, E. W., Van Duyn, M. A., & Bloodgood, B. (2007). A marketing perspective on disseminating evidence-based approaches to disease prevention and health promotion. Preventing Chronic Disease, 4(3), A97.

Maibach, E., & Parrott, R. L. (Eds.). (1995). Designing Health Messages : Approaches from Communication Theory and Public Health Practice. Sage Publications.

Maibach, E., Rothschild, M., & Novelli, W. (2002). Social marketing and public health. Oxford University Press.

Masser, B. M., White, K. M., Hyde, M. K., & Terry, D. J. (2012). The psychology of blood donation : Current research and futures directions. Transfusion Medicine Reviews, 26(2), 103–120.

Masser, B., White, K., Hyde, M. K., Terry, D. J., & Robinson, N. G. (2012). Promoting blood donation : The interplay of self-efficacy and social responsibility. Health Psychology, 31(5), 560-569.

Mbassi, F. (2023). Le rôle de la confiance dans l’application du modèle HBM sur le comportement préventif. Revue Africaine de Recherche en Santé Publique, 8(2), 112–125

McQuail, D. (2010). McQuail's mass communication theory (6th ed.). Sage Publications.

Ministère de la Santé Publique (2019). Rapport annuel sur la collecte de sang au Cameroun. Yaoundé.

Ministère de la Santé Publique (2020). Besoins et défis en matière de don de sang. Yaoundé.

Ministère de la Santé Publique du Cameroun. (2018). Statistiques sanitaires nationales 2017. Yaoundé, Cameroun.

Morin, D. (2007). Communication de masse et changement de comportement : Stratégies et impacts. Communication & Organisation, 31(1), 25–41.

Mulaik, S. A. (1989). The essence of multivariate thinking : Basic themes and methods. Psychology Press.

Neelam, S., Gupta, A., & Sharma, P. (2011). Blood transfusion: Current scenario and futurs prospects. Asian Journal of Transfusion Science, 5(2), 89–95.

Nguimkeu, P. (2017). Les déterminants socioculturels du don de sang au Cameroun. Revue Camerounaise de Santé Publique, 3(1), 12-23.

Noar, S. M., & Zimmerman, R. S. (2005). Health Behaviour Theory and cumulative knowledge regarding health behaviours: Are we moving in the right direction? Health Education Research, 20(3), 275-290.

ONUSIDA. (2021). Rapport sur la situation sanitaire au Cameroun. Genève.

Organisation mondiale de la Santé (OMS). (2000). The Clinical use of blood : Handbook. Geneva : WHO Press.

Organisation Mondiale de la Santé (OMS). (2010). Rapport mondial sur la sécurité transfusionnelle du sang. Genève : OMS.

Organisation mondiale de la Santé (OMS). (2011). Blood safety and availability : Global status report. Geneva : WHO Press.

Organisation Mondiale de la Santé (OMS). (2012). Stratégies pour améliorer le don volontaire de sang dans les pays en développement. Genève : OMS.

Organisation Mondiale de la Santé (OMS). (2017). Recommandations pour le renforcement des systèmes de transfusion sanguine. Genève : OMS.

Ouail, M. (2017). Le marketing social pour le changement de comportement : théorie et pratique. Revue Marocaine de Recherche en Management et Marketing, 16(2), 65–78.

Peumery, J. (1974). History of blood transfusion : From ancient times to modern practices. Journal of Hematology, 18(4), 300–312.

Ping, R. A. (1995). A Parsimonious Estimating Technique for Structural Equation Models. Journal of Marketing Research, 32(3), 336–347.

Raufaste, É. (2010). Modèles d’équations structurelles : fondements et applications. Paris : Economica.

Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations (5th ed.). Free Press.

Rosenstock, I. M. (1960). What research in motivation suggest for public health. American Journal of Public Health and the Nations Health, 50(3), 295–302.

Rosenstock, I. M. (1966). Why people use health services. Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly, 44(3), Suppl :94–127.

Rosenstock, I. M. (1974). Historical origins of the health belief model. Health Education Monographs, 2(4),

Lewis, & B. K. Rimer (Eds.), Health behavior and health education : Theory, research, and practice (pp. 1–8). San Francisco, CA : Jossey-Bass.

Roussel, P., Durrieu, F., Campoy, E., & El Akremi, A. (2002). Méthodes d’équations structurelles : recherches et applications en gestion. Paris : Economica.

Schwartz, S. H. (1977). Normative influences on altruism. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology (Vol. 10, pp. 221–279). Academic Press.

Shaz, B. H., Hillyer, C. D., & James, A. B. (2009). Demographic patterns of blood donation among African Americans. Transfusion and Apheresis Science, 41(3), 216–220.

Stead, M., Gordon, R., Angus, K., & McDermott, L. (2007). A systematic review of social marketing effectiveness. Health Education, 107(2), 126–191

Trochim, W. M. (2006). Research methods knowledge base (2nd ed.). Cincinnati, OH : Atomic Dog Publishing.

Vandenberg, R. J. (2002). Toward a further understanding of and improvement in measurement invariance methods and procedures. Organizational Research Methods, 5(2), 139–158.

World Health Organization (2010). Towards 100% voluntary blood donation : a global Framework for action. WHO Press.

Downloads

Published

2026-04-01

How to Cite

Social marketing and prosocial behavior of the voluntary blood donor: an applied study in the Cameroonian context. (2026). Revue Africaine Des Sciences Sociales Et De La Santé Publique, 8(1), 245-264. https://doi.org/10.4314/rasp.v8i1.17