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Conceptualizing Involvement The plethora of consumer behavior and social psychological literature on involvement suggests considerable interest in this construct. There has not, however, been a common conceptual or methodological framework to its examination in either literature (Laaksonen, 1994; Jain and Srinivasen, 1990; Rothschild, 1984; Zaichkowsky, 1985; Traylor and Joseph, 1984). Three main perspectives of involvement are evident in extant literature; product-centered, subject-centered and response centered orientations (Finn, 1983). The product-centered perspective defines involvement as the perceived importance of the product to the consumer, i.e. whether the product is trivial and, therefore, unimportant, or serious and thus important. The subject-centered view maintains that consumers differ in terms of involvement-type variables. Three sub-groupings of subject-centered definitions have been postulated. They include interest/importance, relevancy (goals/consequences) and commitment (ego involvement). In this perspective, involvement has been defined as either the level of interest the consumer has in a product category or how important it is to her; the level a consumer is involved with a product in so far as it is related to some achievable end or concerns information that will directly impact on them; and, the level of commitment the consumer exhibits with respect to her position on an issue (Greenwald and Leavitt, 1984; Rothschild, 1984; Simon, 1967). The final alternative perspective views involvement as response-centered. This view holds that involvement is the active participation in information processing (Engel and Blackwell, 1982; Bettman, 1979). Despite the many and varied definitions of consumer involvement that have emerged in the literature, two common ideas emerge: first, involvement is a multi-dimensional construct (McQuarrie and Munson, 1986; Laurent and Kapferer, 1985), and, second, it is a motivational force which can help explain various behavioral outcomes, (for example, number and type of choice criteria, extensiveness of information search, length of decision-making process, variety seeking, and brand switching). The multi-dimensional aspect of involvement has been demonstrated by various researchers who suggest that the dimensions include: normative involvement - the importance of product class to values, emotions, and ... ...rable groups to take control of their reproductive health. To improve public health, social marketing focuses on changing prevailing attitudes and behaviors at all levels. In order to do this, people must believe that they are at risk. They must feel confident they have the power to change their own behavior, and new behavior must be compatible with prevailing cultural norms. In addition, health providers and retailers must often be convinced that the products and services being promoted are needed, safe and socially acceptable. Increased health impact. Social marketing is considered one of the most effective types of public health interventions because it offers measurable results. The ultimate goal of social marketing is social impact. In the area of public health, this translates into reduced risky or unhealthy behaviors that can in turn have an impact on the spread of diseases, chronic malnutrition or uncontrolled birth rates. Social marketing impact is often measured in terms of CYP (contraceptive years of protection), reduced prevalence of diseases such as sexually transmitted infections, malaria and food-borne diarrhea, or increased number of patients at network clinics.