Social marketing 699
More recent definitions have begun to discuss
the key role of long-term relationships in social
marketing (e.g. Hastings et al., 1998b).
Pulling these threads together, for a social
change campaign or programme to be defined
as social marketing it must contain the follow-
ing elements: a consumer orientation (Lefebvre
and Flora, 1988; Lefebvre, 1992; Andreasen,
1995), an exchange (Lefebvre and Flora, 1988;
Lefebvre, 1996; Leathar and Hastings, 1987;
Smith, 1997b) and a long-term planning out-
look (Andreasen, 1995). Social marketing is
often perceived to be concerned only with
individual behaviour, but as noted earlier it can
also be used to change the behaviour of groups
and organizations, and to target broader envi-
ronmental influences on behaviour (Lefebvre,
1996; Goldberg, 1995). Each of these essential
elements of social marketing is now discussed
in turn.
A consumer orientation
Consumer orientation is probably the key
element of all forms of marketing, distinguish-
ing it from selling, product- and other expert-
driven approaches (Kotler et al., 1996). In
social marketing, the consumer is assumed to
be an active participant in the change process.
The social marketer seeks to build a relation-
ship with target consumers over time, and
their input is sought at all stages in the
development of a programme through forma-
tive, process and evaluative research. Case 1
illustrates how the consumer influenced the
purpose, context and very existence of a safer
sex initiative.
In short, the consumer-centred approach of
social marketing asks not ‘What is wrong with
these people, why won’t they understand?’, but
‘What is wrong with us? What don’t we
understand about our target audience?’An exchange
Social marketing not only shares generic mar-
keting’s underlying philosophy of consumer
orientation, but also its key mechanism,
exchange (Kotler and Zaltman, 1971). While
marketing principles can be applied to a new
and diverse range of issues – services, educa-
tion, high technology, political parties, social
change – each with their own definitions and
theories, the basic principle of exchange is at
the core of each (Bagozzi, 1975). Kotler and
Zaltman (1971) argue that:Case 1 A consumer-driven approach to safer sex
Leading AIDS charity London Lighthouse wanted to produce a consumer-driven guide on safer sex for
people with HIV/AIDS, but research with the target audience revealed that they had no need for sex
education. After all, most of the respondents had acquired HIV through unsafe sex and were perfectly
capable of learning from their own mistakes.
However, at a more subtle level the prospect of a leaflet was welcomed for three reasons. First, it
could provide reassurance that people with HIV/AIDS were not alone, that other people were struggling
with the same problems. Second, it would bring formal recognition and legitimacy: if you have a leaflet
written for you, you at least exist; you are a significant subgroup of society. Third, it would acknowledge
that it is acceptable for positive people to think about having sex – a particularly important point, given
that most other AIDS messages imply that acquiring HIV is the end of the world.
These perceptions fundamentally changed how Lighthouse viewed the leaflet, and in this way the
target audience influenced its context, purpose and very existence.
Source: Hastings (1994).