Social marketing means the use of commercial marketing concepts and tools in programs designed to influence individuals’ behavior to improve their well-being and that of society. Ideas can also be marketed. In one sense, all marketing is the marketing of an idea, whether it is the general idea of brushing your teeth or the specific idea that Crest tooth-pasted create “healthy, beautiful smiles for life.” Here, however, we narrow our focus to the marketing of social ideas. This area has been called social marketing, defined by eh Social Marketing Institute (SMI) as the use of commercial marketing concepts and tools in programs designed to bring about social change.
Social marketing programs include public health campaigns to reduce smoking, drug abuse, and obesity. Other social marketing efforts include environmental campaigns to promote wilderness protection, clean air, and conservation. Still others address issues such as family planning, human rights, and racial equality.
Definition 2.
Social marketing— marketing done by a nonprofit or government organization to further a cause, such as “say no to drugs” or “exercise more and eat better.” Social marketing campaigns may try to change people’s cognitions, values, actions, or behaviors. Different kinds of organizations conduct social marketing, such as government departments, autonomous institutions, foundations created by political parties, corporations, religious groups, and other non-government organizations (NGOs).