Tendency to Addiction from the Viewpoints of the Youth and Their Parents Based on the Marketing Model (Com-B), in 2020, Yazd

The present research was conducted with the aim of explaining the views of teenagers-the adults and their parents regarding the prevention of drug addiction based on the mixed elements of the marketing model (audience needs, access to services, cost, and communication).

This research was conducted based on a qualitative research method using an exploratory method. 14 teenagers-adults and 10 parents, 24 participants were selected through targeted sampling, from the marginal neighborhoods of Yazd in 2019; the neighborhoods included Maryam Abad, Hassan Abad, and Skan. In  total, 2 semi-structured in-depth interviews with parents and 3 focused group discussions were conducted with the presence of teenagers and young people in the neighborhood. In this study, the information, including demographic characteristics, and the results of market analysis were obtained with elements of Communication for Behavioral Impact (COMBI) social marketing model; they were investigated using focus group discussions (FGD) and semi-structured face-to-face interviews. Data were analyzed based on the content analysis method.

The qualitative study resulted in 63 codes, 26 subcategories, 4 categories, product, location, cost, and promotion according to the COMBI model structures. Product category or behavioral characteristics, having peace of mind, and seeking independence were mentioned by both groups of parents and the youth as the factors of addiction tendency. But, regarding the cost of addiction, while teenagers and the young people considered the social side effects of drug use, such as losing friends, more important, parents were more concerned about the physical side effects of drugs. Location or environmental and social conditions were important for both groups of parents and the youth.

The results showed that although both groups of teenagers-the youth and their parents pointed to the social, environmental, and individual factors of addiction, their intended examples were different in many areas. Parents considered the most important factor in the tendency to drugs addiction to be the structure of the audience's need, having peace of mind, compensating for the sense of deficiencies and the need for independence, and the youth suggested the use of virtual space and creating motivation and awareness campaign to prevent addiction as a suitable method. Perceived costs according to the young people were loss of friends, feeling of rejection, loss of self-confidence, and negative view of others towards addiction. One of the reasons for the tendency towards addiction was mentioned by the young people as the location and easy access to drugs, and the parents said that the suitable place for the tendency towards addiction was having a risky and inappropriate family.