Informal sector shops and AIDS prevention. An exploratory social marketing investigation

Shopkeepers at 88 informal sector shops in the black township of Khayelitsha were interviewed to explore whether such shops should be considered as venues for the dissemination of AIDS prevention information and condoms through social marketing programmes. The existence of a variety of media and interpersonal information sources on the premises, the presence of opinion leadership and the willingness of several owners to distribute posters and pamphlets and sell condoms suggests that such shops should be further investigated as avenues for AIDS prevention efforts. A relationship was found between the degree to which a shop exhibited aspects of social influence and the degree to which it was established in terms of infrastructure, income and experience of personnel. It was concluded that shopkeepers might be an important group to target early in a programme, because they might then influence others' reaction to it. Finally, it would be important for shop personnel and other township residents to be part of the design, planning and implementation of AIDS prevention programmes.