Minnesota Institute of Public Health

In the world of marketing, there is a concept known as The Exchange.

Marketers and communicators know there is a deal on the table when we ask an audience to consider engaging in our program, our message or product or service. Put selfishly, the question is "what's in it for me (or my community, my family etc...) if I engage in your offer?" In the marketing world, there is a point where the consumer audience assesses the comparative value of what is received, for what they are asked to give - a certain amount of money, or time, attention, or commitment for a specific product/service. The consumer audience is in control: they decide if  the deal is worth it. If it is in their judgment they engage us, if not, they don't.

Malcolm Gladwell took the exchange to a deeper and more thoughtful level in his book The Tipping Point. In terms of community change and a broad level of engagement, there is an aggregate moment when a large part of the population engages in a new or different direction on some social change issue.

In our prevention work, I believe it is essential to think about the Exchange. When we ask people to come to our program or event, to use our curriculum or materials, to give their gift of previous time and commitment to help make a positive change, it's critical that we think in advance about the Exchange: from their vantage point, what are we asking of them, and what exactly is the benefit they can expect from accepting our offer of engagement?

Often in our important prevention work, the ‘enemy' is not so much opposition as it is a quiet moment when the audience decides our invitation is relevant or not, worth it or not. They are assessing the value of The Exchange.

Good to remember when we do outreach, recruiting, inviting in our prevention work.

- JJ