Civic Awareness and Participation as a Product: A Case Study of Formosa Salon from the Perspective of Social Marketing

Social marketing aims to improve social welfare by changing individuals’ behaviours, and deepening democracy should not be an exception. We can use social marketing to enhance civic awareness and public engagement by turning citizens who do not care about these issues into active participants in our society. However, current research has not explored how we can apply social marketing to achieve this goal. This research examines Formosa Salon from the perspectives of exchange theory, the theory of hierarchy of effects, and the framework of the social marketing mix. By gathering and analysing data from archival data, semi-structured interviews, and researchers’ engagement, this study views increasing civic awareness and promoting public engagement in social issues as a product sold by Formosa Salon. The price of this product is the knowledge barrier. The organisers of Formosa Salon have marketed their product on the internet and through higher education institutions in London. Contributions of this study and key recommendations are also identified.