Socially responsible marketing is a marketing philosophy that encourages companies to consider the long-term interests of society when developing and implementing marketing strategies. The concept is closely tied to sustainable marketing that focuses on creating and delivering value to consumers while also preserving natural and human resources. Scholars note that sustainability marketing has evolved to address environmental, social, and ethical concerns through marketing practices. Socially responsible marketing is critical of excessive consumerism and environmental damages caused by corporations. It is based on the idea that market offerings must not be only profit-driven, but they must also reinforce social and ethical values for the benefit of citizens.
Overview
The idea of socially responsible marketing is sometimes viewed as an extension of the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). CSR is promoted as a business model to help companies self-regulate, recognizing that their activities impact an assortment of stakeholders, including the general public.Ferrell, O. C., and Michael D. Hartline. Marketing strategy. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning, 2011. CSR is sometimes described in terms of a pyramid, starting with economic as its base, then legal, ethical and philanthropic actions at the top. It is in the last two layers of the CSR pyramid, ethical and philanthropic, that socially responsible marketing opportunities appear the greatest. Meeting the first two layers, economic and legal, are necessary for a business to thrive in order to engage in the later two.
Ethics
Social responsibility in marketing is often discussed with a focus on ethics. According to Jung and Kim (2023), stakeholder theory holds that firms should consider the interests of all stakeholders, including customers, employees, investors, society, and government. Within this framework, companies are expected to be transparent while pursuing profit. This approach positions ethical principles as central to marketing practices, particularly in addressing the needs and concerns of the consumers, including environmentally conscious or “green” consumers. Ethical marketing principles have also been associated with increased credibility and consumer trust.
Scholars have also distinguished between ethics and social responsibility in marketing. What is considered ethical may vary across business, societal, and individual perspectives, and not all ethical business practices are necessarily socially responsible. Some interpretations of socially responsible suggest that it involves not only keeping the established ethical standards but also exceeding them.Grewal, Dhruv and Michael Levy (2008). Marketing. McGraw-Hill 2012
Regulatory bodies have also addressed the ethical dimensions of marketing. For instance, The Advertising Standards Authority in the UK has laid down rules which requires all marketing communication to be socially responsible.(Updated citation information needed) Content that is deemed irresponsible or that promotes harmful behavior may be subject to review. Areas of concern include the portrayal of alcohol, violence, body image, objectification, drugs, and tobacco fall under the socially irresponsible category when used inappropriately by the marketer.
As a response to mainstream marketing
Socially responsible marketing has been described as a response to concerns from conventional marketing. Scholars have identified several criticisms of traditional marketing systems, particularly in relation to economic and societal effects. One area of criticism concern pricing structures. Mainstream marketing strategies generally lead to high prices.
Another commonly discussed issue is product differentiation. While differentiation is a widely used marketing strategy, critics argue that it may create perceived value differences that are not always based on substantive product distinctions. This has also been linked to environmental concerns, particularly in relation to packaging and resource use. In this context, socially responsible marketing is often presented as an approach that seeks to avoid misleading or deceptive practices in pricing, promotion, and packaging, including those that may be legally permissible.Armstrong, Gary, and Philip Kotler. Principles of Marketing. 12th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc., 2008
Beyond economic considerations, marketing also has an impact on the values of the society. The advocates of socially responsible marketing argue that the current system can encourage people to buy more than they actually need, inject constant desire for material possession, and lead to excessive spending. This perspective suggests that such practices may promote materialism and increased consumer spending, with potential negative consequences for societal well-being. Thus, socially responsible marketing draws attention to the "social costs" that are embedded in the marketing, selling and consumption of private commodities. It calls for a marketing system that contributes to social and environmental sustainability, while producing profits for businesses.
Historical Background Sustainability marketing has evolved step by step. The evolution of this field has a history, witnessing multiple stages such as ecological, environmental and sustainable.
Ecological Marketing (late 1960s–1970s) Ecological Marketing refers to an early phase in the development of environmentally oriented marketing thought, emerging in the late 1960s and continuing through the 1970s. During this period, ecological marketing primarily focused on addressing urgent environmental issues of the time, including air pollution, the adverse ecological effects of chemicals and pesticides, and concerns over declining oil reserves.
This stage was especially influenced by the publication of Silent Spring by Rachel Carson in 1962. The book highlighted the harmful environmental impacts of chemical substances, particularly pesticides, and is widely credited with contributing to the rise of modern environmental consciousness. The raised public concern resulted in the creation of some regulatory laws in the US, such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1970). This then also resulted in another interesting phenomenon: the researchers in the marketing field began to study environmentally concerned consumer behavior. Key events include the American Marketing Association workshop (1975) and their study on the practice of repairing long-lasting products instead of replacing them.
Environmental/Green Marketing (1980s–1990s) Starting from the 1980s Environmental or Green Marketing emerged until the 1990s. The focus of green marketing was satisfying the environmentally conscious consumers. Academic studies observed that there was a rapid increase in green consumers (same as environmentally conscious consumers) and this received its response from the business sector. During this time businesses paid more attention to meet the needs and requirements of their consumers and hence green marketing became a competitive advantage for them. The broader influence of all this is the spread of green marketing across different industries, not just one field of business, unlike the earlier ecological marketing period.
Sustainable Marketing (2000s onward) The development of the sustainable marketing period started from the 2000s and still continues. In contrast to the previous period, where sustainable marketing in the business was considered an advantage, this period aimed at full integration of sustainable practices into the business and consideration of such costs as well. However, market limitations were also acknowledged, specifically the fact that traditional marketing does not fully address the social and environmental problems. For this, multiple practices were encouraged; specifically: focus on long-term sustainable value, insitituational and system level change as well as macro-marketing perspective.
Focus on long-term sustainable value - this practice prioritized creating long-term and valuable relationships with the business consumers and customers. Institutional and system-level change - this practice encourages businesses to make it a must to achieve the sustainable development goals in their business activities. Macro-marketing perspective - this practice suggests collaboration between the business and the government. Such a collaboration should address important global issues such as air pollution, climate change, socioeconomic inequality, resource scarcity, etc.
Types
There are several related marketing concepts that fall under the umbrella of socially responsible marketing, these include: social marketing, cause-related marketing, environmental or green marketing, "enviropreneurial" marketing, quality of life, and socially responsible buying.Vaaland, T. I., Heide, M., & Kjell Grønhaug. (2008). Corporate social responsibility: Investigating theory and research in the marketing context. European Journal of Marketing, 42(9), 927-953.
Enlightened marketing
The philosophy of enlightened marketing is a concept that falls under the umbrella of socially responsible marketing. Enlightened marketing states that "a company's marketing should support the best long-run performance of the marketing system. This concept contains the five principles: consumer-oriented marketing, innovative marketing, value marketing, sense-of-mission marketing and societal marketing.
Consumer-oriented Marketing In consumer-oriented marketing, the company "organizes its marketing activities from the consumer's point of view." Marketing activities focus on the needs of a defined user set.
Innovative Marketing Innovative marketing states that a company must continue to improve its products and marketing efforts, recognizing that if it does not, it risks losing business to a competitor that does.
Value Marketing The principle of value marketing contends that a company "should put most of its resources into value-building marketing investments." One criticism of marketing its short term focus in the sense of promotions and minor improvements. Value marketing seeks to create long term customer loyalty by adding significant value to the consumer offer.
Sense-of-mission marketing Sense-of-mission marketing suggests a company mission be defined in "broad social terms" as opposed to "narrow product terms." This technique frames the business goal in a way that the organization can rally behind a deeper sense of purpose. Millennials have become cautious of their brand choices as they are getting affected by socially responsible marketing. They prefer associating with brands that are honest, environmentally conscious, ethical, and working towards the betterment of the society. The rise of TOMS to a $400 million company is a case in point.
The principle of societal marketing asks company's to consider the "consumers' wants and long-run interests, the company's requirements and society's long-run interests."
Green marketing The term green marketing refers to the marketing of products and services that are designed to minimize environmental harm, as well as broader efforts to reduce the negative environmental impact of production and consumption. The interest in green marketing has grown significantly over time. Academic research in this field has expanded, with a growing number of publications and literature reviews examining its development. For example, some studies report that citations in the fields related to green marketing have increased by 200% from 2011 to 2021. The mention of such statistics from the scientists also leads them to think that the public interest in green marketing has helped the growth of the significance of the field. Research output has been concentrated in countries such as the United States, India, and China, which are among the leading contributors to the field.