Purpose Despite the efforts to improve the usage of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) among pregnant women in endemic malaria countries like Ghana, its usage still remains low. Therefore, this study aims to assess the intention to use ITNs and actual usage behaviour among pregnant women in Ghana using the integrated model of behaviour prediction (IMBP) and explore factors preventing its usage. Design/methodology/approach A structured questionnaire was administered to 310 respondents using a convenience sampling technique, and the data were analysed using multiple regression. Exploratory data collected through an interview guide was analysed using Kvale and Brinkman’s (2015) five-step approach. Findings The findings indicate a significantly positive association between intention to use ITN and actual usage of ITN among pregnant women in Ghana. Attitude and normative beliefs were the most significant predictors of intention to use ITNs among pregnant women. The result further shows that despite the generally positive perception of the effectiveness of the ITN in malaria prevention and positive intention to use it, its actual usage remains low because of discomfort (primarily associated with heat, irritation, heat rashes, suffocation and vomiting, size and design, reactions to ITN’s chemicals and misconceptions about ITNs causing cancer. In this study, the implications are discussed. Originality/value This study applied the IMBP to ITNs usage intention among pregnant women in a developing market context and found the model to predict ITN usage intention effectively.

Background The misconceptions and conspiracy theories against the Covid-19 vaccines have been identified as potential factors that could negatively impact herd immunity for the Covid-19 vaccination. Focus of the article From the perspectives of the Health Belief Model and the Theory of Planned Behavior, the study sought to determine an effective social marketing intervention to address the misconceptions about the Covid-19 vaccines. Research Hypotheses The hypotheses stipulate that perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefit, and perceived barriers of the coronavirus will positively influence Covid-19 vaccination behavior. The study further hypothesized that subjective norms (important others) would significantly mediate the relationships. Methods Structured questionnaires were used to collect data from 821 individuals from three administrative regions, which constitutes 65% of the population of Ghana. The quota and convenience sampling technique was used in selecting the respondents due to the lack of a sampling frame. Results The study’s findings show that only perceived susceptibility and the perceived barrier directly influence the Covid-19 vaccination behavior. The result, however, shows a significant improvement when important others were introduced as a mediating variable. Thus, all four constructs had a positive and significant influence on Covid-19 vaccination behavior through subjective norm (important others) as an intervening variable. The study shows the value of using opinion leaders as a communication channel in addressing the misperceptions and conspiracy theories against the Covid-19 vaccines. Recommendation for Research/Practice To effectively address the misconceptions about the Covid-19 vaccines and improve herd immunity, social marketers should identify key influencers in various communities and cities and use them in promoting the vaccination program. The study examined and found subjective norms (perceived social pressure from important others in society on an individual to perform or not to perform a behavior) as a significant mediator for promoting the Covid-19 vaccination behavior. Limitations The current study examined the mediating role of subjective norm and the HBMs' constructs. Future studies could also consider integrating subjective norm as a mediator in other behavioral change theories to predict the target audience’s behavior.

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Background SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) has spread to almost every area globally, infecting millions and killing millions. Several measures have been instituted across the globe to reduce the spread of the pandemic. However, the traditional strategies employed by governments and other stakeholders to tackle COVIT-19 pandemic have not been effective in changing behaviour. Focus The study sought to investigate the influence of social marketing on eliciting voluntary adoption of Covid-19 safety behaviours during and beyond the coronavirus pandemic by integrating two behavioural change theories. Key Hypotheses the study tested the following key hypotheses: perceived susceptibility of the Covid-19 pandemic will have significant influence on motivation to engage in safety behaviour, perceived severity to the Covid-19 pandemic will have significant impact on motivation to perform the Covid-19 safety behaviours, perceived benefits for engaging in the Covid-19 safety behaviours will significantly influence motivation to engage in the safety behaviours, perceived efficacy of the safety measures to prevent Covid-19 will have positive and significant impact on motivation to engage in the safety behaviours, there is a positive association between confidence in ability to perform the safety behaviours (self-efficacy) and motivation to perform the safety behaviours, there is a positive connection between cues to action and motivation to perform the Covid-19 safety behaviours and there is a negative relationship between perceived barriers and motivation to engage in the Covid-19 safety behaviours and Motivation to perform the Covid-19 safety behaviours will result in the actual performance of behaviour to wash hand frequently, avoid handshaking, social distance, and wear a facemask. Methods The data was collected from 540 respondents in Ghana and the hypothesised relationships analysed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Results The study found a strong positive and significant relationship between motivation to engage in the safety behaviours and actual performance of the behaviour. The result further shows severity, perceived benefit, response efficacy, perceived barriers, cues to action, and self-efficacy as antecedents for motivation to engage in the safety behaviours during and after the pandemic. There was however, an insignificant relationship between perceived susceptibility and motivation to engage in the safety behaviours. Importance to Social Marketing Field The contribution of this research among others to the field of social marketing constitutes an extension of previous theories that will expand generalisations or fine-tune the theoretical propositions. It is worth mentioning that although the health belief model has been empirically proven for its predictive ability to explain a significant amount of variance in health-related behaviours, integrating response efficacy and motivation from the protection-motivation theory in our model provides a high explanatory power of the model. The study, thus, contributes to the theory-building effort in social marketing. Limitations Since this study only concentrated on residents in Accra, we do not assume that the findings reflect the views of the general Ghanaian population. This may limit the generalisability of the results. Future research may consider collecting data from the general Ghanaian population.

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