Social Marketing: Current Issues and Future Challenges

Abstract

ince Kotler and Zaltman (1971) first defined social marketing 42 years ago, there have been considerable advancements and developments in the field of social marketing. As outlined by Rundle-Thiele (2012), recent growth in the social marketing discipline has led to the formation of dedicated social marketing associations. Examples include (but are not necessarily restricted to) the Australian Association of Social Marketing (www.aasm.org.au), the International Social Marketing Association (http://i-socialmarketing.org) and the European Social Marketing Association (http://www.europeansocialmarketing.org). The growing prominence of social marketing as a change agent has driven demand for training as people working in the sector seek to understand the principles underpinning social marketing with a view to improving their own practice. New training programmes are being launched across the globe, all of which will serve to grow the discipline even further. With new journals, university courses and programmes, and dedicated conferences emerging, contemporary social marketing can be viewed as a discipline in its own right (Rundle-Thiele, 2012). Many researchers and practitioners claiming to be social marketers may not be employing social marketing to its full extent. Within social marketing, it is well known that social marketing is more than advertising (Hastings & Angus, 2011). However, many outside of the social marketing discipline consider that social marketing is social media or social advertising, both of which are arguably social marketing’s most visible functions. This confusion between social marketing and social advertising is a concern for social marketers who are seeking to build an evidence base for social marketing’s effectiveness. Marketing starts by understanding the current situation and determines how to create and deliver an exchange offering that is superior to the competition. In terms of reducing smoking, social marketers may create sub-cultures of non-smokers (see Chapter 11). A degree of consensus is needed to ensure the consistent use of social marketing principles over time by practitioners who wish to ensure that social marketing is viewed as far more than social advertising. Further, despite repeated calls for theory use in social marketing, recent reviews (e.g. Luca & Suggs, 2012) indicate that too many in the social marketing field have failed to heed this call. While social marketing has enjoyed considerable success in both research and practice and is increasingly gaining favour with governments in many countries as a behavioural change technique, social marketing is not without its critics. Critical reflection on the last 40 years of social marketing provides an ideal platform for consolidation of valuable principles and practices. Social marketing researchers and practitioners must heed long-standing calls to ensure best practice that can assist with driving the social marketing brand over the next 40 years and beyond. This chapter repeats known priorities such as the need for consensus, methodological rigour, multidimensional interventions, theory, cooperation, longevity and further consideration of social good, providing examples as outlined in this book. It is important to note that the six priorities focused upon in this chapter are largely focused on downstream marketing. For further discussion on issues such as politics, regulation and upstream social marketing, please see Hoek and Jones (2011), Wood (2012) and Wymer (2011).