Social Marketing Definition

If one understands the concept of social marketing as a way of influencing and changing human behavior, then one takes that the principles of social marketing have long been known, and that social marketing is not a completely new phenomenon. It was first introduced in literature in the 1970s when Philip Kotler and Gerald Zaltman realized that the same marketing principles which were being used to sell products to consumers could be used to market ideas, attitudes and behaviors. Social marketing seeks to influence and change harmful social behaviors into those which may benefit the individual and hence the general society as a whole. This technique has been used extensively in various health-awareness programs, e.g. contraceptives, healthy …show more content…
Social marketing uses commercial marketing principles for analysis, design, implementation and evaluation of programs designed to influence the behavior of target audiences in order to improve their personal well-being and the well-being of the general society, whereas the classical marketing concerns itself with the welfare of the organization. The two types of marketing differ mainly in the kind of product they ‘’sell’’; in classic marketing the entire marketing process revolves around the sale of goods and services, social marketers, on the other hand, concern themselves by changing the target audiences’ behavior. Furthermore, the concepts differ in their primary objectives; in the commercial sector, the primary objective is the financial profit whereas in the social marketing the primary objective is the individual or the social or societal profit. Hence, the competitors differ greatly between the two kinds; the profit sector is often times focused on the sale of products, goods and services, and its competitors come in the form of other organizations that offer similar products, goods and services to meet the customers’ needs. The fact that the social marketing is ‘’selling’’ a behavior …show more content…
Since the objective of social marketing is a behavioural change and since people’s behaviours and beliefs are often times resistent to change, it is extremely difficult to stimulate a change. People precieve the costs of changing as high and often times disregard the benefits of switching. Further the benefits may be seen as not being directed towards them as individuals but only towards the society in general, hence many people do not percieve the change as increasing their welfare and which makes them resistant to switching. Provided one decides to change one’s behaviour, the overall changes may only appear if many people go for the switch and may only be visible in the long run; for those who want instantanious change the benefits of switching may again be lower than the costs. Hence, the ‘’marketing’’ way of thinking must be present at all times; the marketers must show creativity and resourcefulness in order to be successful at acomplishing their