WHAT ARE THE BUSINESS ACTIONS TOWARD SOCIALLY
RESPONSIBLE MARKETING?
CHRISTINE NYANDAT
26 Oct, 2013
Definition: Socially responsible marketing is a marketing philosophy that states a
company should take into consideration what is in the best interest of society in the present
and long term
In other words: In recent years the number and variety of issues raised by the public has
increased. One reason for the increase is the growing perception that marketing
organizations are not just sellers of product but also have an inherent responsibility to be
more socially responsible, including being more responsible for its actions and more
responsive in addressing social concerns.
Why is it important? In addition to the economic implications, marketing exerts a
significant impact on the values of the society. The advocates of socially responsible
marketing argue that the current system creates false wants, i.e. encourage people to buy
more than they actually need, injects constant desire for material possession, and leads to
excessive spending. Too much obsession with material goods in the long run may cause
damage to the society as a whole. Corporate profit should not eclipse the collective benefit
of the society. Thus, socially responsible marketing draws attention to the “social costs
Lecture notes
Corporate Social Marketing, or CSM, usually refers to marketing efforts that have at least
one social related objective, such as charity founding, among its goals. Typical examples are
releasing a certain percentage of the final sale product to a charity related to the product,
or sponsoring events that encourage social well-being such as the Olympic Games.
Corporate Social Marketing benefits a company in many ways, but its main goal is to
improve the image the public has of the company. A company that appears committed to
improving the lives or others, the environment or other worthy causes is seen in a better
light than one who doesn't, and more and more business are hoping to benefit from that.
Since firms exist to make a profit, consumers may spend considerable energy in an attempt
to infer motives related to the profit-oriented goals. An example - consumer may be
suspicious of a tobacco company that undertakes a campaign to prevent underage smoking.
If this is successful, the company would be affected and the cigarette sales will be lowered.
So, in this situation, consumers’ suspicions may lead them to infer motives that would
actually protect the companies financial condition - as they are trying to improve their
image to sell more cigarettes to adults. However, if a tobacco company undertook a CSM
Campaign, that would sustain their business consumers may be able to infer profit motives
more easily and then have a more favorable attitude toward the partnership. So it can be
concluded that the attitude of the consumers could be better if they knew more about the
motives of the companies and they were more obvious.
Enlightened marketing refers to a company’s marketing effort supporting the best longrun performance of the marketing system and consists of five principles:
•
Consumer-oriented marketing means that a company should view and organize its
marketing activities from the consumer’s perspective
•
Customer-value marketing means that the company should put most of its
resources into customer-value-building marketing investments—long-term customer loyalty
and relationships—by continually improving the value consumers receive from the firm’s
market offerings
•
Innovative marketing requires the company to continually seek real product and
marketing improvements
Sense-of-mission marketing means the company should define its mission in broad social
terms rather than narrow product terms
Societal marketing means the company makes marketing decisions by considering
consumers’ wants and interests, the company’s requirements, and society’s long-run
interests
•
Views societal problems as opportunities
Business Administration > Introduction to Marketing > Marketing and Society
Page 1 of 2
WHAT ARE THE BUSINESS ACTIONS TOWARD SOCIALLY
RESPONSIBLE MARKETING?
CHRISTINE NYANDAT
26 Oct, 2013
•
Designs pleasing and beneficial products
Deficient products have neither immediate appeal nor long-term benefits
•
Bad-tasting and ineffective medicine
Pleasing products have high immediate satisfaction but may hurt consumers in the long run
•
Cigarettes and junk food
Salutary products have low appeal but may benefit consumers in the long run
•
Seat belts and airbags
Desirable products give both immediate satisfaction and high long-term benefits
•
Tasty and nutritious breakfast food
Marketing Ethics
•
Corporate marketing ethics are broad guidelines that everyone in the organization
must follow that cover distributor relations, advertising standards, customer service,
pricing, product development, and general ethical standards
Philosophies
•
Issues are decided by the free market and legal system
•
Responsibility is not on the system but in the hands of the individual company and
managers
Business Administration > Introduction to Marketing > Marketing and Society
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