The Societal Marketing Concept

Some have questioned whether the marketing concept is an appropriate philosophy in an age of environmental deterioration, resource shortages, explosive population growth, world hunger and poverty, and neglected social services. Are companies that do an excellent job of satisfying consumer wants necessarily acting in the best long-run interests of consumers and society? The marketing concept sidesteps the potential conflicts among consumer wants, consumer interests, and long-run societal welfare.

Consider the following criticism:

The fast-food hamburger industry offers tasty but unhealthy food. The hamburgers have a high fat content, and the restaurants promote fries and pies, two products high in starch fat. The products are wrapped in convenient packaging, which leads to much waste. In satisfying consumer wants, these restaurants may be hurting consumer health and causing environmental problems.

Situations like this one call for a new term that enlarges the marketing concept. Among those suggested are “humanistic marketing” and “ecological marketing.” We propose calling it the societal marketing concept.

The societal marketing concept holds that the organization’s task is to determine the needs, wants, and interests of target markets and to deliver the desired satisfactions more effectively and efficiently than competitors in a way that preserves or enhances the consumer’s and the society’s well-being.

The societal marketing concept calls upon marketers to build social and ethical considerations into their marketing practices. They must balance and juggle the often conflicting criteria of company profits, consumer wan satisfaction, and public interest. Yet a number of companies have achieved notable sales and profit gains by adopting and practicing the societal marketing concept. Two pioneers of the societal marketing concept are Ben &Jerry’s and The Body Shop. But, as recent events show, even they encounter difficulties.

These companies are practicing a form of the social marketing concept called cause-related marketing, Pringle and Thompson define this as “activity by which a company with an image, product, or service to market builds a relationship or partnership with a ‘cause,’ or a number of ‘causes,’ for mutual benefit.” They see it as affording an opportunity for companies to enhance their corporate reputation, raise brand awareness, increase customer loyalty, build sales, and increase press coverage. They believe that costumers will increasingly look for demonstrations of good corporate citizenship. Smart companies will respond by adding “higher order” image attributes than simply rational and emotional benefits. Some critics, however, complain that cause-related marketing might make consumers feel they have fulfilled their philanthropic duties by buying products instead of donating directly to chosen causes.