The emergence of the International Social Marketing Association (iSMA) and its affiliated regional associations is a key indicator that social marketing is maturing, both as a community of practice and as a profession. Through these associations, the international social marketing community has developed a consensus definition of the discipline and a consensus list of basic competencies for social marketing certificate programs. The associations are currently working on certification programs and a code of ethics. Continued movement toward professionalization can help social marketers be recognized and valued more highly for their relevant skills, knowledge, expertise, trustworthiness and altruism. At the same time, the discipline must address a number of key challenges and opportunities, to stay relevant and thrive.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is synthesise social marketing literature over the past fifty years and deliver a set of guiding tenets to propel social marketing’s agenda forward.
Design/methodology/approach
Across three strands, this paper amalgamates theoretical and practitioner evidence from social marketing. This synthesis commences with a review, summary and critical discussion of five decades of social marketing research. Across Strands 2 and 3, the authors review 412 social marketing interventions reported across 10 evidence reviews and 238 case studies.
Findings
This paper demonstrates social marketing’s use of fundamental marketing principles and capability to achieve behaviour change outcomes. Social marketers have built frameworks and processes that non-profit organisations, government agencies and policymakers seeking to enact change can use. This paper delivers five tenets that summarise the findings of the three strands and delivers research priorities for the next 50 years of social marketing research to drive the field forward.
Research limitations/implications
Drawing on five decades of learning, this paper proposes research priorities that can be applied to refine, recalibrate and future-proof social marketing’s success in making the world a better place.
Practical implications
This paper demonstrates the value of social marketing science and helps bridge gaps between theory and practice, and further strengthens social marketing’s value proposition. This paper provides confidence that money invested in social marketing programs is well spent.
Originality/value
This paper delivers a forward-looking perspective and provides social marketing academics and practitioners with confidence that it can assist in overcoming society’s most pressing issues. The paper encompasses key social marketing literature since it was founded 50 years ago. Five tenets will guide social marketing forward: evidencing marketing principles, operationalisation of processes, principles and activities, implementing systems thinking, creating and testing marketing theory and guiding a new social marketing era.
BC Hydro provides electricity to 1.7 million residential customers throughout British Columbia, on the west coast of Canada. Despite consumer indifference toward energy conservation, its Team Power Smart behavior-change program actively engaged 91,539 households and reduced electricity consumption by 25.6 gigawatt hours over its first 4½ years. The program connects with participants through things they care about, builds engagement incrementally, and helps overcome common barriers. It is designed to increase participants’ engagement levels on three dimensions: enjoyment (“I like this”), affiliation (“This is who I am”), and resonance (“This is right for me”). A similar approach could be used with a wide range of low-priority, ongoing behaviors.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.