Recognising that road safety is a development priority in South Africa, this research project aims to compare the efficacy of the Social Marketing development communication approach with that of the education approach favoured by the National Department of Transport in road safety development interventions. The research is also driven by the identified need to explore the role of new Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in development. To this end, road safety "action kits" were developed using Social Marketing principles and incorporating the use of interactive technology. Educational kits using information supplied by the National Department of Transport were also developed. The efficacy of the two interventions was compared by comparing the results of a road safety inventory across three groups of participants. These participants were learner drivers from Pietermaritzburg aged < 25 years and with access to the required technology. The first experimental group (N=36) received the action kits, the second experimental group (N=42) received the developed educational intervention and a third control group (N=40) received no intervention. The Social Marketing group was found to score higher than the education group across all items in the inventory (educational, attitudinal and behavioural). The research concludes that the Social Marketing approach needs to be considered as an alternative to the current approach in road safety communication interventions. It also provides the basis for further exploration of the uses of ICTs in development interventions.

Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2005.