Exploring the Social and Business Returns of a Corporate Oral Health Initiative Aimed at Disadvantaged Hispanic Families

Journal of Consumer Research

This research investigates the impact of a corporate oral health initiative aimed at disadvantaged Hispanic families, especially the children. We find that the initiative promotes oral health behaviors only among less acculturated families. Moreover, it does so by both enhancing participant children's beliefs about the physical and psychosocial benefits of oral health behaviors and strengthening the link between the psychosocial beliefs and behaviors. We also find that when parents of the participant children believe that the program has been beneficial to them, they are willing to engage in reciprocal behaviors, such as purchasing and supporting the corporate sponsor's products.