Journal of Public Policy & Marketing Vol. 30 (1) Spring 2011, 14–22 © 2011, American Marketing Association ISSN: 0743-9156 (print), 1547-7207 (electronic) 14 Transforming Consumer Health Debra L. Scammon, Punam A. Keller, Pia A. Albinsson, Shalini Bahl, Jesse R. Catlin, Kelly L. Haws, Jeremy Kees, Tracey King, Elizabeth Gelfand Miller, Ann M. Mirabito, Paula C. Peter, and Robert M. Schindler The 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is intended to transform the U.S. health care system. Its success will require the transformation of consumers’ views about health and their willingness to participate in healthful behaviors. Focusing on three barriers to consumers’ engagement in healthful behaviors, the authors review the research literature and suggest opportunities for further research. Using a social marketing perspective, they suggest actions for health care providers, marketers, and policy makers to help overcome these barriers. Keywords: understanding, decision making, health maintenance, engagement, activation Debra L. Scammon is Emma Eccles Jones Professor of Marketing, University of Utah (e-mail: Debra. Scammon@business.utah.edu). Punam A. Keller is Professor of Marketing, Dartmouth College (e-mail: Punam.Keller@tuck.dartmouth.edu). Pia A. Albinsson is Assistant Professor of Marketing, Appalachian State University (e-mail: albinssonpa@ appstate.edu). Shalini Bahl is Principal Consultant, iAM Business Consulting (e-mail: shalini@iam-bc.com). Jesse R. Catlin is a doctoral student, University of California, Irvine (e-mail: jcatlin@uci.edu). Kelly L. Haws is Assistant Professor of Marketing, Texas A&M University (e-mail: khaws@mays.tamu.edu). Jeremy Kees is Assistant Professor of Marketing, Villanova University (e-mail: jkees@ villanova.edu). Tracey King is Assistant Professor of Marketing, Ameri- can University (e-mail: traceyk@ american.edu). Elizabeth Gelfand Miller is Assistant Professor of Marketing, Boston College (e-mail: milleliz@ bc.edu). Ann M. Mirabito is Assistant Professor of Marketing, Baylor University (e-mail: Ann_Mirabito@baylor.edu). Paula C. Peter is Assistant Professor of Marketing, San Diego State University (e-mail: ppeter@ mail.sdsu.edu). Robert M. Schindler is Professor of Market- ing, Rutgers University–Camden (e-mail: rschindl@ camden. rutgers. edu). Debra Scammon and Punam Keller cochaired the General Health track at the 2009 Transformative Consumer Research Con- ference at Villanova University and led the development of this essay. The other authors, listed alphabetically, all participated in the conference and contributed equally to the essay. T he Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010), signed into law March 2010, brings the United States closer to universal health coverage than ever before. Implicit in the new law is the assumption that consumers will willingly participate in a variety of health care initia- tives, from choosing health care providers on the basis of the quality of care they provide to participating in preven- tive care to stay healthy. The success of this new law will require innovative public policies and initiatives aimed at changing consumers’ views about health and enhancing their motivation and ability to participate in healthful behaviors. We believe that existing and new research on consumer health behavior will be a valuable aid in this endeavor. We focus on three barriers that undermine consumer health: (1) understanding health information, (2) making healthful decision , and (3) maintaining healthful behaviors. For each barrier, we note relevant literature and suggest opportuni- ties for further transformative research. We also provide suggestions for health care providers and marketers to help support transformed consumer behaviors and recommenda- tions for public policy that could help overcome the barriers (Table 1). Transformative consumer researchers apply marketing techniques and tools to enhance individual and collective well-being (Mick 2006). We advocate a social marketing approach for segmenting consumers and identifying the challenges that each segment faces (Andreasen 2006). As the Health Belief Model (Becker 1974) outlines, identifying consumer barriers is a key determinant for changing health behavior. In the current article, we use our combined research knowledge and the research literature on consumer health behaviors to identify three key barriers. The primary focus in on individual consumer barriers, but we also iden- tify needed changes in health care provider (hereinafter, provider) behavior in addition to social and policy initia- tives that support individual behavior change. Barrier 1: Consumer Understanding of Health Information and Actions For consumers to become more engaged in managing their own health, they must have the knowledge, skills, and con- fidence to understand health information and the impact of their behaviors on their health and well-being. Consumers may not recognize, and may even deny, the relationship