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Effectiveness of social marketing in preventing unwanted pregnancies in low-income countries: A review of evidence

Ana Lopez Medina & Windi Lameck Marwa

Social Marketing Quarterly2025https://doi.org/10.1177/15245004251347328review
AJG 1ABDC B
Weight
0.37

What the paper says

Unwanted pregnancy is a major public health concern with biological, psychological, and social consequences. While high-income countries mitigate its impact through government support, low-income countries (LICs) require cost-effective interventions to drive sustainable behavioral change. Social Marketing (SM) has emerged as a promising strategy to modify behaviors and reduce healthcare costs linked to unintended pregnancies. However, most research focuses on high-income settings, leaving a gap in understanding its effectiveness in LICs. This review examines the role of SM interventions in reducing unwanted pregnancies in LICs and provides evidence to inform more effective reproductive health policies. Methods The review includes articles searched on mass behavioural interventions in all reproductive age aiming to prevent unwanted pregnancies in LIC published in English, Portuguese, and Spanish between 2007 and 2022. Results The analysis showed various interventions with multiple outcomes in sexual abstention, reduction of unwanted pregnancies, increased contraception knowledge, use of emergency pill in the last intercourse, and standard day method used in physical and electronic media. In LICs, concise and high-quality educational programs transmitted by radio commenced at early ages, achieved higher exposition, and had a better recall in populations. Mass contraception community-based distribution model is effective and pharmacies are key part of family planning and sexual health education in societies. Conclusion Social marketing is a cost-effective strategy for reducing unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) while promoting positive sexual behaviors, especially in underserved populations. By driving sustainable behavioral change and improving access to reproductive health resources, it can alleviate healthcare costs and enhance public health outcomes.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/15245004251347328

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@article{ana2025,
  title        = {{Effectiveness of social marketing in preventing unwanted pregnancies in low-income countries: A review of evidence}},
  author       = {Ana Lopez Medina & Windi Lameck Marwa},
  journal      = {Social Marketing Quarterly},
  year         = {2025},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/15245004251347328},
}

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Effectiveness of social marketing in preventing unwanted pregnancies in low-income countries: A review of evidence

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Evidence weight

0.37

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.16 × 0.4 = 0.06
M · momentum0.53 × 0.15 = 0.08
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.