Just collecting more stories, or case studies, about social marketing needs to end; we need a stronger focus on research with better descriptions of methods, collection and analysis of relevant data - not convenient ones, and the use of experimental designs. The other paper in this section by Wilhelm-Reichmann et al is a market analysis using a social marketing framework to assess how conservation plans can be integrated into land-use planning in South Africa. MORE

Just collecting more stories, or case studies, about social marketing needs to end; we need a stronger focus on research with better descriptions of methods, collection and analysis of relevant data - not convenient ones, and the use of experimental designs. The other paper in this section by Wilhelm-Reichmann et al is a market analysis using a social marketing framework to assess how conservation plans can be integrated into land-use planning in South Africa. MORE

The authors reviewed 44 articles; 16 (36%) reported evaluation data from mHealth interventions, mostly in Africa and Asia. Increasing physical activity with mobile devices: A meta-analysis. Their meta-analysis of outcomes, duration of moderate to vigorous physical activity and/or pedometer steps, provide some preliminary support for mobile technology (SMS) interventions to increase physical activity behavior. Analysis: 75 FDA-cleared mobile medical apps. MORE

Asia holds half of the world’s internet users, however, Africa has the fastest growth rate. While Asia continues to grow its dominant share of overall internet users, Africa’s users are growing at the fastest rate. This makes it very useful for monitoring and various advanced forms of social network analysis using big data. MORE

The Gates Foundation has been criticized in recent years for both their overseas seed distribution to impoverished farmers programs (in both parts of Africa and southeast Asia) and also in their education programs, here at home, in the United States (and by this blog's author on both fronts), to name two. The first attempt to "monetize" food production took place a generation ago in Southeast Asia and India. The method of evaluation does not insure the analysis or interpretation. MORE

It tends to be concentrated in rural areas, especially in Asia. The approach has much in common with the current BOP market analysis activities, and the market-based approach to poverty reduction. I was asked to contribute an article to a special issue of Effective Executive on BOP Markets and Strategies. The issue explores different perspectives on the ideas popularized by CK Prahalad in The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid. MORE

We don’t work with charities unless they supply their data for analysis at the beginning. Interestingly, in Southeast Asia 90% of individual fundraising growth comes from monthly giving. That’s the single biggest driver of growth in Asia, Australia and Europe. Looking at 45 charities who recently pooled their data for analysis, 150,000 of the 240,000 new appeals donors they acquired in 2011 were through direct mail. MORE

This is a visual representation of the “nationality&# of traffic on the internet, created by California’s Co-operative Association for Internet Data Analysis. Asia: 825 million internet users (42% of world total). Asia: 22% penetration with 622% growth over last decade. Take a look at the image below I found in the September 4th-10th edition of the Economist (p.g. MORE

The fund seeks to support efforts to promote effective diplomacy and engagement grounded in well-informed and strategic analysis. Funding will be provided to support fact-finding missions, on-the-ground analysis, high-level dialogue, confidence-building measures, policy advocacy, and media outreach to advance the transformation of conflicts in South and Southwest Asia. From The Foundation Center. [As MORE