**1. Introduction**

The concern for environmental degradation affected the development of the sustainability concept in the 1960s [1]. In that period, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) was established with the purpose to increase employment and achieve sustainable economic growth among member countries. In addition, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) made the declaration, which indicates the possibility of economic growth, without harming the environment [2]. Later, in the 1980s, in the report of the United Nations Commission on Environment and Development (UNCED), sustainable development was defined as "a development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" [1] (p. 2). From its beginning till today, the concept of sustainability has evolved, relying on at least three main dimensions: economic, environmental and social [2]. Therefore, besides the concern for economic development and environmental protection, sustainability refers to people's ways of living, which should be healthy and satisfying for communities [3].

Social sustainability can be defined as "a positive condition within communities, and a process within communities that can achieve that condition" [1] (p. 23). In this regard, behaviors that lead to poor health, conflicts and emotional distress should be avoided, while all values (such as cultural, family, and knowledge) that contribute to the progress of community, should be protected and nursed [3]. Put differently, "social sustainability means meeting the needs for human well-being" [3] (p. 63).

Although the term wellbeing is rather complex and not easy to define, it is usually related to the fulfilment of human needs [4], which include the physical as well as the emotional and social elements [3]. Among them is exercise [3], i.e., physical activity, which can improve physical and psychological wellbeing [5]. Hereby, relations between physical activity and wellbeing can be explained through its positive effect on health.

Engaging in physical activity can be considered as "one of the primary factors in maintaining sound health in modern society" [6] (p. 116). Its benefits are reflected not only in improving physical health by decreasing risks of diabetes, cardiovascular problems, and various types of cancer, but also in improving mental health by decreasing stress and depression [7].

However, although most of those positive effects are well known, physical inactivity is still one of the biggest health problems worldwide, representing a serious cause of premature death [8]. Contemporary conditions, in which people live and work, have decreased the demand for physical activity, whereby the majority of adults do not perform its sufficient amount required for maintaining good health [6]. In Europe, more than 45% of inhabitants do not engage in exercise or any sport, while only 7% exercise on a regular basis at least five-times weekly [7].

The problem of physical inactivity is of a special importance for young adulthood, especially bearing in mind that this maturation period, often followed by starting college and engaging in academic activities, can be very stressful [9]. Hence, several studies pointed to this issue among the student population. The results of the research in the United States, China, and Canada, showed that half or more of university students did not perform sufficient levels of physical activity [10]. According to the same author, this percentage in Australia was 40%, while in Europe, more than two-thirds of students were inactive. The research which included university students from 23 countries [11], also pointed that physical activity was below the recommended levels in a significant portion of respondents. In the research from the Republic of Serbia, the analysis showed that students did not meet the minimum level of moderate physical activity, which is the most productive for a healthy lifestyle [12].

In order to increase students' physical activity levels and thus improve their physical and mental health, it is necessary to change their behavior. Bearing in mind that change in behavior represents the final goal of social marketing [13], the application of its tools is of a special importance in resolving this issue. Analogously to marketing activities in the private sector, social marketing also involves the development of proper strategy, including "considerations of product planning, pricing, communication, distribution, and marketing research" [14] (p. 5). Hence, within social marketing, after studying the target audience, a social idea needs to be "packaged" in accordance to their desires and wants, and special attention should be dedicated to the analysis of buyers' costs (money costs, energy costs, opportunity costs, and psychic costs), the development of communication-persuasion strategy and tactics (advertising, personal selling, publicity, and sales promotion), and the provision of compatible distribution and response channel [14]. The adequate adoption of social marketing can bring many significant benefits, which refer to the following [15]:


There are a number of studies about increasing physical activity [16–27], some of them focusing on the student population and the possibilities of social marketing in that process. Some of the social marketing programs for improving physical activity, such as VERB, are marked as successful [22]. Hereby, the already mentioned focus on the target audience in social marketing requires performing market segmentation. The market segmentation presents preconditions for providing recommendations from the aspect of social marketing. The application of market segmentation improves the effectiveness of social marketing's positive influence of physical activity [20]. Market segmentation belongs to social marketing benchmark criteria, whereas the increase of the numbers of those criteria used within the intervention increases the possibility of accomplishing desired behavioral outcomes regarding physical activity [20,21].

Generally, market segmentation can be understood as the identification of individuals or organizations with similar characteristics, with significant implications for determining marketing strategy [28]. In addition, the criteria used for performing market segmentation can be grouped into geographic, demographic, psychographic, and behavioral [29]. Hereby, in previous physical activity determinants researches, it is the social-demographic characteristics that are proven as significant [19,30–38]. Therefore, those characteristics will be used as market segmentation criteria in this research.

Having all previously listed in mind, the following objectives of the research are formulated:


The obtained results can be significant from several aspects. Firstly, they can contribute to social sustainability issues. Secondly, they can support future similar researches not only in the domestic context, where similar researches are relatively scarce, but in the wider context as well.
