Institute for Social Marketing and Health
The Institute for Social Marketing and Health is a world-leading institute delivering research and postgraduate teaching on public health. Our research and teaching is grounded in over 45 years of experience of generating improvements in population health and wellbeing.
ISMH conducts research in main three areas, leading on ‘Determinants of Living Well’ research at the University of Stirling, through our work on commercial marketing and public policy. Our work on behaviour change interventions also supports the wider University of Stirling focus on ‘Supporting Living Well’ in a wide variety of populations and settings (prisons, homes, fathers, homeless populations etc.).
Our three main areas of focus are:
- analysis of the impact of commercial marketing (pricing, availability, promotion, products), and consumption, of unhealthy commodities on the health and behaviour of people, families, communities and wider society;
- evaluating the impact (or potential impact) of public policy on health and wellbeing, public services and inequalities;
- the development and evaluation of culturally-sensitised behaviour change interventions to improve health and wellbeing informed by social marketing and other relevant evidence.
ISMH was founded in 1980 and its reputation has grown nationally and internationally since then. We were awarded the prestigious Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher Education in 2014 in recognition of our research to inform measures to protect children from unhealthy product marketing.
In March 2025, ISMH was designated as a Collaborating Centre on Alcohol Policy and Public Health Research by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Study and research social marketing
Research degrees and PhDs
We welcome enquiries from prospective PhD candidates. Please review the research interests of our team and get in touch directly or use our ‘Find a supervisor’ facility. You can also find out all about our research degrees.
Postgraduate study
ISMH supports teaching on Stirling’s MPH Master of Public Health (Online) course. Our Public Health Policy module can also be taken as a standalone module. We also support teaching on Stirling’s award-winning Masters in Health Research (MRes).
ISMH latest
Hastings internships
As part of our on-campus MPH programme, students have the opportunity to apply to be linked to ISMH for the duration of their Masters. This prestigious opportunity includes:
- support to develop your research proposal and supervision from an ISMH expert;
- a Spring placement to gain research experience with ISMH.
Each Hastings Internship will focus on a specific topic area and the exact research or placement work taken forward will be shaped by the student with support. Other benefits include:
- Informal peer support from ISMH’s welcoming and diverse team including PhD students, early and mid-career researchers and globally recognised professors.
- Access to research hot-desks in SPHS (subject to demand).
- Early insights into opportunities to apply for PhD studentships, casual part-time paid research roles and/or follow on employment.
These internships will be offered to a limited number of students on merit, subject to a competitive process.
Research collaborations
Whilst the majority of ISMH’s research is led by us at Stirling, we are also a partner in two major research collaborations:
Public Health Policy Research Unit
Associate Professor, Allison Ford, is Co-investigator and member of the Strategic Oversight Group of the Public Health Policy Research Unit (2019-2028) funded by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). The NIHR Public Health PRU (PH-PRU) was established with the aim of meeting DHSC needs for timely, relevant and robust public health evidence.
Its research is delivered within four broad themes: Understanding what determines people’s physical and mental health, and health behaviours; identifying, developing and evaluating effective and cost effective PH interventions; generating evidence to inform strategies to reduce inequalities in health; and developing new theory and methods, and new ways to apply them to public health challenges.
SPECTRUM Consortium
ISMH Director, Professor Niamh Fitzgerald, was a Deputy Director of the SPECTRUM Consortium (Shaping public health policies to reduce inequalities and harm) funded from 2019-2025 by the UK Prevention Research Partnership. Led by the University of Edinburgh, SPECTRUM generated new evidence to inform the prevention of NCDs caused by unhealthy commodities and transformed policy and practice to encourage the adoption of healthy environments and behaviours.
SPECTRUM brought together 11 Universities in the UK and one in Australia, leading alliances that improved health and reduce inequalities in the UK and further afield, along with Public Health England, Public Health Scotland and Public Health Wales, and others. SPECTRUM built on previous consortia in which Stirling also played a leading role including the UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies.
Prevention Research Network
ISMH hosts the Prevention Research Network which is a forum to share ideas, opportunities and challenges amongst those interested in or doing prevention research. By exploring our experiences, we can learn from one another, and together, to improve our ways of working. The PRN is jointly led by the Universities of Stirling and Glasgow and runs several interest groups and a regular Prevention Research UK conference.