Purpose
This paper aims to use systems thinking, systems theory and Camillus’ framework for responding to wicked problems to provide social marketers with a theoretically based framework for approaching strategy formation for wicked problems. The paper treats fast fashion as an illustrative case and takes a step back from implementation to provide a framework for analysing and gaining understanding of wicked problem system structure for social marketers to then plan more effective interventions. The proposed approach is intended as a theory-based tool for social marketing practitioners to uncover system structure and analyse the wicked problems they face.
Design/methodology/approach
Following Layton, this work provides theoretically based guidelines for analysing the black box of how to develop and refine strategy as first proposed in Camillus’ (2008) framework for responding to wicked issues.
Findings
The prescription thus developed for approaching wicked problems’ system structure revolves around identifying the individuals, groups or entities that make up the system involved in the wicked problem, and then determining which social mechanisms most clearly drive each entity and which outcomes motivate these social mechanisms, before determining which role the entities play as either incumbent, challenger or governance and which social narratives drive each role’s participation in the wicked problem.
Originality/value
This paper shows that using systems thinking can help social marketers to gain big picture thinking and develop strategy for responding to complex issues, while considering the consequences of interventions.
Consumers are participating in alternative consumption channels in increasing numbers, but increasingly they are becoming creators as well as consumers. The triggers and motivations that lead to consumers becoming creators have been explored in this paper, as we examine the motivations for consumers to become initiators of Collaborative or Alternative Consumption platforms. In-depth interviews examined initiators’ experiences and found that unmet needs from existing retail providers triggered the move to creation. However, the impetus to move from unmet needs to creation included specific intentions. The findings uncover six motivations to create Collaborative or Alternative platforms, with most creators noting two or more motivating elements. This research demonstrates that consumers can be initiators, and creators of alternative consumption platforms and provides an original perspective to understand the consumers in this context.
The consumer landscape is changing, with traditional behaviours, channels and models of commerce evolving rapidly. This has resulted in an increasingly disruptive landscape for businesses. One example is the growth of communities of consumers who collaborate through diverse and non‐conventional channels (often focused on specific needs or interests) to engage in information seeking and giving, socialisation, resource sharing and trade. This emerging field of research presents challenges due to the diverse and fragmented theory base available to explore, explain and analyse the phenomena we position in alternative consumption literature. In this paper, we address this challenge in the form of a Communities of Benefit Exchange (CoBE) taxonomy of exchange dimensions detailing purpose, nature of gain and benefit, channel and level of interaction and entity structure evident for consumers who participate in this practice.
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