Increasing Students’ Physical Activity in Function of Social Sustainability: Recommendations from a Social Marketing Perspective

Ines Djokic, Aleksandar Grubor, Nikola Milicevic and Nenad Djokic
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Ines Djokic: Department of Trade, Marketing and Logistics, Faculty of Economics in Subotica, University of Novi Sad, Subotica 24000, Serbia
Aleksandar Grubor: Department of Trade, Marketing and Logistics, Faculty of Economics in Subotica, University of Novi Sad, Subotica 24000, Serbia
Nikola Milicevic: Department of Trade, Marketing and Logistics, Faculty of Economics in Subotica, University of Novi Sad, Subotica 24000, Serbia
Nenad Djokic: Department of Trade, Marketing and Logistics, Faculty of Economics in Subotica, University of Novi Sad, Subotica 24000, Serbia

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 8, 1-14

Abstract: The role of physical activity for social sustainability, as well as potential for social marketing to contribute to increasing the level of physical activity, are already documented in previous literature. Those considerations may gain additional importance in the context of student population, often confronted with the decrease of the level of physical activity, and in a country with scarce similar researches. The purpose of this study is to identify socio-demographic determinants of Serbian students’ physical activity. Physical activity was examined as an ordinal dependent variable (inactive, low-frequency activity, and recommended frequency activity) and an ordered logit model was implemented for examining its relations with students’ gender, age, household size, emotional status, accommodation, year of study, and living standard. The results show that 15.7% of students are inactive, 22.9% have low-frequency activity, while 61.3% met the recommended level of physical activity. The average probability of physical activity is larger for male students in comparison to female students. Students with better living standards are also more physically active. Finally, the average probability of physical activity decreases starting from students who live with their families, followed by those who live in a private accommodation, to students who live in a dormitory. Considering the obtained results, recommendations from a social marketing perspective are provided.

Keywords: social sustainability; physical activity; social marketing; student population; socio-demographic characteristics; Republic of Serbia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:8:p:3303-:d:347365

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