Salutogenic Marketing in the Elderly: Leveraging Digital Transformation in Geriatric Dentistry - Creating Positive and Meaningful Experiences for Older Adults

Concepts And Principles

Salutogenic marketing is an approach that focuses on promoting the factors that support health and well-being, rather than on preventing or treating disease. This concept is based on the salutogenic model of health, which was developed by Aaron Antonovsky, a professor of medical sociology (Salutogenic Approach to Wellness, n.d.). The salutogenic model posits that life experiences help shape one's sense of coherence—an orientation towards life as more or less comprehensible, manageable and meaningful. A strong sense of coherence enables people to cope with stress and maintain or improve their health (Admin, 2020; Eltringham, 2020; Salutogenesis: An Introduction, 2020; The Handbook of Salutogenesis, n.d.).

Salutogenic marketing differs from traditional marketing approaches that focus on disease prevention or treatment in several ways. First, salutogenic marketing adopts a holistic and positive view of health, rather than a negative and reductionist one. It recognizes that health is not merely the absence of disease, but a dynamic state of physical, mental, social, and spiritual well-being. It also acknowledges that health is influenced by multiple factors, such as genetics, environment, lifestyle, culture, and personal choices. Therefore, salutogenic marketing does not target specific diseases or symptoms, but rather aims to enhance the overall quality of life and well-being of consumers (Google Books, n.d.-a;Google Books, n.d.-b; Marketing Public Health, n.d.; Northwestern Health Sciences University, 2023).

Second, salutogenic marketing emphasizes the role of consumers as active and empowered agents of their own health, rather than passive and dependent recipients of healthcare services. It respects the autonomy, preferences, values, and goals of consumers, and seeks to engage them in meaningful and collaborative relationships with healthcare providers. It also encourages consumers to take charge of their own health by providing them with information, education, tools, and support to make informed and healthy decisions. Salutogenic marketing does not use fear, guilt, or shame as motivators, but rather appeals to positive emotions, such as hope, joy, and gratitude. Salutogenic marketing represents a paradigm shift in how we think about health and wellbeing. Traditional healthcare marketing has tended to focus on identifying and treating disease, with consumers viewed as passive recipients of expert care. However, there is growing recognition that health is more than just the absence of disease. The World Health Organization defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” Salutogenesis focuses on the factors that create and support human health and wellbeing, rather than on factors that cause disease. Developed by medical sociologist Aaron Antonovsky in the 1970s, salutogenesis examines how people manage stress and stay well. Antonovsky identified generalized resistance resources (GRRs) that help people cope with challenges and move toward the healthy end of the health ease/dis-ease continuum. GRRs can be found within people, their immediate social relationships, their cultures and living conditions. By strengthening GRRs, individuals and communities can enhance health and quality of life. Salutogenic marketing applies this orientation to how we communicate with healthcare consumers. It recognizes that humans have an innate capacity to self-regulate, adapt and grow. Consumers have a range of physical, emotional, mental, social, spiritual and environmental resources they can draw upon to maintain or improve their health. The goal of salutogenic marketing is to activate and amplify these resources.

Some key principles of salutogenic marketing include: