Essay on the Marketing of Social Causes the First 10 Years

In the article the marketing of social causes: the first 10 years, social marketing is defined as the plan, application, and control of agendas intended to influence the suitability of social ideas. Social marketing also involves linking thoughts of product design, pricing, communications, and marketing researching study (Kortler, and Zaltman 1971). However, social marketing has been given unlike gist by other authors. For instance, Laczniak, Lusch, and Murphy (1979), obscure social marketing with charitable organization marketing of political applicants as instances of social marketing. Social marketing must be distinguished from charitable organization marketing. On the other hand, Lazer, and Kelly (1973) take account of articles on marketings social shops, social influences, and the marketing of social ideas, under the term social marketing.

From the article the marketing of social causes: the first 10 years, social marketing can be understood better by looking at it in correlation to the main broad methods to creating social change that is the legal, economic, technological, and informational approaches. The origins of social marketing lie in the informational method called social advertising. Of late, social marketing has started to substitute social communication as a better model for influencing social change. Social marketing enhances some basics that are absent from a pure social communication method. One of the element is marketing research which helps to learn about the market, and the likely productivity of other marketing approaches. Other features added by social marketing include product development, the use of incentives, and facilitation. The discussion on social marketing may be shortened by saying that social marketing includes coordination, price, and place, product, and promotion factors to really stimulate, and enable anticipated forms of conduct.

Social marketing can be practical on various problems. These problems include when counter marketing is required, when activation is required, and when different evidence, and practices need to be discrete. Social marketing has accomplished a lot in its application. Some of the fields where it has succeeded are on family planning which has been the key emphasis of social marketing, replicated in a mounting literature. A report published by Johns Hopkins University describes the fundamental goals such as providing contraceptives effectively, economically, and conveniently to the people who will use them (p. J-395). The efficiency of social marketing on family planning is evaluated by looking at the delivery systems, sales data, approaches, change in knowledge, and practices of customers, cost-effectiveness, and at the international level, changes in fertility, and birth rates. Another area social marketing has been successful is on heart disease prevention. Stanford Heart Disease Prevention Program carried out an interdisciplinary interpolation to define ways to moderate threat of coronary disease through a cigarette, long-term cholesterol ingesting, and cumulative workout levels between 1972 and 1975. A social marketer may contemplate means of prolonging the efficacy of Stanford Heart Program. For instance, members might be given exact inducements or support for conforming to decent health habits.

In the cumulative application of social marketing, it has faced criticism about its legitimacy, and possible negative impacts. These critics have been categorized in different classes. One of the critics is that social marketing is not actual marketing. Some marketers trust that marketing is legal only where there are transactions, prices, and markets. Laczniak, and Michie (1979) state marketers ought to take adequate pride in the choice of old-style marketing. Another critic is that social marketing is manipulative. For instance, Laczniak, Lusch, and Murphy (1979) argue that social marketing is possibly immoral in giving power to a group to effect public view on such disputed issues as pornography, and abortion. The third critic is that social marketing is self-serving. Some critics might be distraught that some social marketers who are encouraging a reason are also making a return in the course. Profitable enterprises will progressively support social marketing programs as they get monetary benefits accumulating to their businesses while they also indorse supportive social change. Finally, social marketing will mutilate the repute of marketing. Some marketers are worried that applications of social marketing may stimulate undesirable public feeling towards marketing. As a result of this marketing may acquire a bad name in two diverse ways. First, marketing might be slated for encouraging shunned causes, and secondly, it might encourage people to take a new conduct that may not be their paramount concern.

Social marketing has been faced by major hurdles which have been revised, and summarized by William Novelli, and Bloom (Bloom, and Novelli 1979) as follows. The market is typically stiffer to analyze, target market choice is more challenging, and expressing product strategy is more difficult. In this case social marketers have less chances to use pricing, must depend more on other methods that would upsurge or cut the cost to customers of certain conduct, channels of distribution may be rigid to utilize, and control. Additionally, communication approaches may be harder to implement since organizations are repeatedly backward in their management, and marketing complexity, and finally, the results of social marketing efforts are frequently challenging to assess.

The viewpoint of social marketing is one of the constant growth, and application to an ever-widening variety of matters. Social marketers should study social science disciplines such as sociology, anthropology, and psychology because they are involved in trying to alter attitude, and behavior rather than just meeting current needs. Several people will come to social marketing only by going through the phases of social communication, and social advertising.

In conclusion, as explained in the article the marketing of social causes: the first ten years, social marketing application has been encouraging since the first decade. Various government supports, and various cause organizations are turning to social marketing. Uses of social marketing have attained remarkable results, and provide perceptions into the challenges challenging social marketers.

REFERENCES:

Karen F.A. Fox & Philip Kotler. (1980). the Marketing of Social Causes: The First Ten Years.