Transformative marketing: health and well-being of Special Olympic athletes

PurposeTransformative marketing provides a way to encourage positive behaviors. This approach can be applied to community intervention organizations, such as the Special Olympics. Such organizations bring services to provide activity, healthy eating, proper healthcare and caretaker education. This study examines one campaign of the 2018 Special Olympics USA Summer Games focusing on health and wellness.Design/methodology/approachThe authors surveyed caretakers about these campaigns including their attitudes toward health and wellness and other basic psychographics (i.e. needs/values) to inform a transformative marketing campaign directed to engaging the caretakers.FindingsThe hierarchical regression shows us is that all the variables combined explain 26.9% of intentions to help their athlete eat as healthily as possible, with needs/values explaining the most variance, even after all of the other variables are in the model. The authors discuss their results and the practical applications of their findings to improve transformative marketing campaigns to achieve desirable social outcomes through the Special Olympics.Originality/valueThe authors identified what variables uniquely contributed to the intention by caretakers of ID athletes to engage in health and wellness campaigns that benefit their athletes. Future research can apply the results to developing similar sustainability (environmental, social or economic) campaigns using transformative marketing perspectives that will more positively benefit target markets in and through sport.