There is a need to increase access to HIV prevention services such as PrEP and PEP, professional support, and substance abuse treatment for drug-using MSM. A more open and friendly environment towards drug-using MSM may help them access and engage with the health services.

Background: This paper addresses the key factors that cause social marketing programs (typically consisting of discrete programs or interventions, but also including broader-scale initiatives) to fail. It argues that understanding these failures offers greater insight to researchers and practitioners than publications solely focused on successes. Focus: Our paper discusses the causes of the failure of social marketing programs, an area that has largely been ignored in extant research. Research Question: What causes social marketing programs to fail? Importance: As the majority of practitioner-oriented social marketing research focuses on how to develop a successful program, we identify a tendency to ignore failed programs. We suggest that both researchers and practitioners can arguably learn more useful lessons from failures rather than successes. Thus, this paper contributes to social marketing literature by exploring the key causes of social marketing failures. Methods: We conducted ten semi-structured interviews with social marketing practitioners recruited using a purposive sampling technique. Results: We identify four elements responsible for the failure of social marketing programs, each centered on the planning and implementation stage. Firstly, formative research at the earliest stages of program planning is often neglected, resulting in a limited understanding of the target audience. Relatedly, extant research is frequently overlooked during this early planning stage, and this failure to use available social marketing theory and frameworks can result in program performing poorly. Thirdly, for a program to be successful, it must be congruent with the goals of the wider environment and infrastructure within which it is situated; adopting too narrow a focus can also result in a limited impact or program failure. Lastly, we found a common issue relating of stakeholder mismanagement, specifically around issues of power imbalance and mismanaged expectations resulting in social marketing program failing to launch. Researchers and practitioners must acknowledge that social marketing programs do indeed fail but recognize that in these failings lies insight into how to enhance future practice. Recommendations: We suggest that more attention is required from social marketing practitioners during the early design stage into understanding the target audience in detail. We suggest drawing upon extant social marketing frameworks and research to inform the planning and development of social marketing programs. We demonstrate how implementing these changes in the earliest stages of program designs would reduce the chance of program failure. Further, we suggest that adopting a more systems-level approach or critical approach would additionally benefit program outcomes. Limitations: A relatively small sample size could be considered a limitation of the study. Similarly, our focus on practitioner insights may limit the scope of the findings. Future research could advance the current findings by incorporating the views of a broader range of stakeholders, including the target audience themselves. We also suggest future research consider integrating the analysis of failure into the social marketing process to encourage practitioner reflection and inform and improve future practice.

This study aimed to examine the barriers and facilitators to HIV testing and treatment among Malaysian MSM. Between June 2014 and December 2015, in-depth interviews were conducted in 20 HIV-positive MSM recruited from a teaching hospital and NGO in Kuala Lumpur. Thematic analysis was used to identify, analyze, and report themes. Most participants investigated their HIV status after long period of sickness. Others sought testing upon partner's diagnosis and some were diagnosed via blood donation. Barriers to testing include personal (perceived good health, fear of positive result, denial); social and structural factors (stigmatization by health providers and family, lack of information about free HIV testing and long wait time). Barriers to treatment comprise personal factors (perceived HIV as incurable and treatment as complicated), social factors (HIV and homosexual stigma), and cost. Promoting benefits of regular testing and early treatment is needed to improve HIV care continuum among MSM in Malaysia.

This paper contributes to emerging discourse about the ongoing challenges and opportunities of social marketing as a discipline. The paper presents a qualitative perspective on existing challenges faced by social marketing and offers suggestions for addressing these challenges. Nine semi-structured interviews with social marketing academics and practitioners from six different countries were conducted. Thematic analysis was used to analyse and interpret the qualitative data. The study provides insight into existing challenges for social marketing, classified into three key themes according to their position within or outside of the discipline: 1) poor branding of the discipline as an internal challenge, 2) competing disciplines as an external challenge, and 3) overall reach of the discipline, seen as both an internal and external challenge. The findings suggest that social marketing needs to overcome poor branding issues to sufficiently address external challenges. We conclude by arguing for a more robust marketing of the discipline. While scholars have identified the challenges and opportunities for social marketing as a discipline, they have paid little attention to examining these challenges from the viewpoint of expert practitioners and academics. This paper presents a nuanced contextual understanding of the identified challenges through a qualitative perspective and explores how social marketing can overcome these challenges.

Purpose<br/> This paper presents the first attempt to map and critically review existing social marketing planning approaches.<br/> Approach<br/> Critical literature review.<br/> Findings<br/> The discussion highlights that existing social marketing planning approaches have moved on from older product-driven models towards a more customer/ citizen-oriented, stakeholder engagement and value creation narrative. There is also a growing connection between social marketing planning approaches and theories from other disciplines. This recognises that a simple push marketing strategy, which was the working principle of many early social marketingplanning approaches, is not often effective for contemporary social marketing practice. Effective social marketing planning requires a greater emphasis on new social marketing principles derived from the new global consensus social marketing definition, such as more citizen focus, sustainable outcomes, and ethical practice, thus highlighting a need for more comprehensive social marketing planning approaches with a better understanding of recent theory development of social marketing as a field in order to be relatable and efficient.<br/> Implications<br/> The review sets out some original thinking about how planning in the field of social marketing can be strengthened through a more inclusive adoption of both system thinking analysis and integration with other fields of theory and practice that are seeking to influence behaviour for social good.<br/> Limitations<br/> This review is exploratory in nature and evaluates only 14 social marketing planning approaches; more social marketing approaches exist and could be considered in further reviews.

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Purpose This paper aims to develop and present a new planning framework of social marketing, known as consumer research, segmentation, design of the social programme, implementation, evaluation and sustainability (CSD-IES). Design/methodology/approach The proposed framework is based on recent theoretical developments in social marketing and is informed by the key strengths of existing social marketing planning approaches. Findings The CSD-IES planning framework incorporates emerging principles of social marketing. For example, sustainability in changed behaviour, ethical considerations in designing social marketing programmes, the need for continuous research to understand the changing needs of the priority audience during the programme and the need for explicit feedback mechanisms. Research limitations/implications The CSD-IES framework is a dynamic and flexible framework that guides social marketers, other practitioners and researchers to develop, implement and evaluate effective and sustainable social marketing programmes to influence or change specific behaviours based on available resources. Originality/value This paper makes an important contribution to social marketing theory and practice by integrating elements of behaviour maintenance, consideration of ethical perspectives and continuous feedback mechanisms in developing the CSD-IES framework, bringing it in line with the global consensus definition of social marketing.

In Malaysia, the HIV epidemic is concentrated in a highly stigmatized population, men who have sex with men (MSM). The relationship of multiple psychosocial health conditions and HIV risks have not been investigated. This study aims to assess the association of multiple psychosocial factors with risky sexual behaviour and HIV infection among MSM. Data on demographic characteristics, psychosocial health conditions, condomless anal intercourse (CAI), HIV testing and HIV status were collected via an anonymous online survey. Multivariable logistic regression model was used to determine whether psychosocial health conditions among MSM have a syndemic association with HIV status. Between July 2017 and February 2018, 622 MSM completed the online survey. Overall, 54.3% of participants reported engaging in CAI in the past three months and 46.0% were found to have two or more psychosocial health conditions. Increasing numbers of psychosocial health conditions (1, 2, 3, 4 or more) were significantly associated with HIV infection compared to those without psychosocial health condition (odds ratio [OR] 3.39, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.41–8.14; OR 3.51, 95% CI: 1.43–8.61; OR 4.22, 95% CI: 1.68–10.96, and OR 7.58, 95% CI: 2.44–23.55, respectively). Comprehensive HIV prevention programs addressing mental health and substance use are needed for MSM in Malaysia.