%0 Journal Article
%T Promoting functional foods as acceptable alternatives to doping: potential for information-based social marketing approach
%A Ricky James
%A Declan P Naughton
%A Andrea Petr¨®czi
%J Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition
%D 2010
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1550-2783-7-37
%X In a repeated measure design, 115 male recreational gym users were recruited and provided with a brief information pamphlet on nitrite/nitrate and erythropoietin as a comparison. Measures of knowledge, beliefs and automatic associations were taken before and after the intervention with at least 24 hours between the two assessments. The psychological tests included explicit measures of beliefs and cognitive attitudes toward FF and PED using a self-reported questionnaire and computerised assessments of automatic associations using the modified and shortened version of the Implicit Association Test.The information based intervention significantly increased knowledge (p < 0.001), changed explicit beliefs in specific FF (p < 0.001) and shifted the automatic association of FF with health to performance (p < 0.001). Explicitly expressed beliefs and automatic associations appear to be independent.Evidence was found that even a single exposure to a persuasive positive message can lead to belief change and can create new or alter existing associations - but only in the specific domain. Interventions to change outcome expectations in a positive way could be a rewarding avenue for anti-doping. Effective social marketing campaigns for drug free sport should follow appropriate market segmentation and use targeted messages via promoting the natural form as opposed to the purified form of the main active ingredient.Following almost three decades of research, doping has now raised the attention of health professionals beyond the sporting arena, voicing concerns about doping use on the grounds of protecting physical and psychological well-being of athletes and non-athletes alike [1]. This view is mirrored in publications on doping in sport emphasizing the growing need for effective prevention [2], making a much needed shift from moral reasoning to general health concerns [3,4], or, at least, implementing harm reduction strategies [4-7] as realistic and sustainable solutions, with a s
%U http://www.jissn.com/content/7/1/37