Social marketing

Social marketing is an approach to marketing that seeks to influence behaviors in ways that benefit individuals and society. It applies principles and techniques from commercial marketing such as audience segmentation, behavioral research, and strategic communication to encourage socially beneficial actions rather than to maximize financial profit.

While derived from traditional marketing theory, social marketing is distinguished by its focus on voluntary behavior change in areas including public health, environmental sustainability, safety, and social well-being. The field has developed from early mass-media awareness campaigns into research-driven, multi-level interventions operating across individual, community, organizational, and policy contexts.

Traditional commercial marketing aims are primarily financial, though they can have positive social effects as well. In the context of public health, social marketing would promote general health, raise awareness and induce changes in behavior.

Social marketing is described as having "two parents". The "social parent" uses social science and social policy approaches. The "marketing parent" uses commercial and public sector marketing approaches. Social marketing has started to encompass a broader range of focus in recent years and now goes beyond influencing individual behavior. It promotes socio-cultural and structural change relevant to social issues. Consequently, social marketing scholars are beginning to advocate for a broader definition of social marketing: "Social marketing is the application of marketing principles to enable individual and collective ideas and actions in the pursuit of effective, efficient, equitable, fair and sustained social transformation". The new emphasis gives equal weight to the effects (efficiency and effectiveness) and the process (equity, fairness and sustainability) of social marketing programs. Together with a new social marketing definition that focuses on social transformation, there is also an argument that "a systems approach is needed if social marketing is to address the increasingly complex and dynamic social issues facing contemporary societies"