SOCIETAL MARKETING CONCEPT:

The societal marketing is a marketing concept that holds that a company should make marketing decisions by considering consumers' wants, the company's requirements, and society's long-term interests. The societal marketing concept holds that the organizations task is to determine the needs, wants, and interests of a target market and to deliver the desired satisfactions more effectively and efficiently than competitors in a way that preserves or enhances the consumers and the societys well-being. Therefore, marketers must endeavor to satisfy the needs and wants of their target markets in ways that preserve and enhance the wellbeing of consumers and society as a whole. t is closely linked with the principles of corporate social responsibility and of sustainable development.

HISTORY:
The concept of !ocietal "arketing emerged in #$%&, promoting a more socially responsible, moral and ethical model of marketing, countering the consumerism way of thinking that had been promoted by then. t was introduced in an article by 'hilip (otler, )*hat consumerism means for marketers+ in the ,arvard -usiness .eview /ournal. The social and societal concerns had e0isted by then, but it was not that they became incorporated e0plicitly in the marketing literature. (otler introduced in that period both the concept of !ocial marketing 1e0tending marketing technologies into non-business areas2 and societal marketing, arguing that the marketing concept and its technologies must be tempered and ultimately revised by adopting a more e0plicit social orientation.345 (otlers novelty to the marketing concept was the idea of )long-run consumer welfare+, emphasizing that the short-term desires might not support the consumers long term interests or be good for the society as a whole.

Kotlers concept:
(otlers concept of societal marketing suggested that for the well-being of society, the deficient products should be eliminated from the market, pleasing and salutary products should go through a product modification process to reach the fourth category, by incorporating missing short term benefits into salutary products and long term benefits into pleasing products, and the companies ultimate goal should be to develop desirable products. Examples o soc!etal mar"et!n#: "ost companies recognize that socially responsible activities improve their image among customers, stockholders, the financial community, and other relevant publics.

6thical and socially responsible practices are simply good business, resulting not only in favorable image, but ultimately in increased sales. The Body Shop7 The -ody !hop nternational plc is the original, natural and ethical beauty brand. The company uses only plant based materials for its products. t is against 8nimal testing, supports community trade, activate !elf 6steem, 9efend ,uman .ights, and overall protection of the planet. They have also their own charity, The -ody !hop :oundation, to assist those working to achieve progress in the areas of human and civil rights, environmental and animal protection. Thus -ody shop is really following the concept of !ocietal "arketing. 3;5 AVON Product inc. has started an initiative known as 8von breast cancer awareness crusade in #$$< in partnership with =ational 8lliance of breast cancer :oundation 1=8->?2.They started selling pink ribbon pins which depicts the international symbol for breast cancer for@ & and donates @# to =8->?. Through the crusade 8von sale representatives have raised billion of dollars for breast cancer education and access to early detection services for underserved woman. n addition, 8vons 4;AAAAAA B! sales people have been trained to discuss breast cancer and importance of early detection with their customers and distributed CA million flyers on breast cancer detection.

o$one free deodorants, they are environmental friendly and are produced keeping in
view that how the environmental hazards can be minimized. >ustomer may not know the environmental benefit of the product but organization has done it for the well fare of the whole society. %ran&!n# !n Soc!etal Mar"et!n#: >orporations are the one who are striving during the whole time for improvements. They are turning to all kind of forms of corporate societal marketing programs to help build and repair their brand images. >orporate !ocial "arketing, or >!", usually refers to marketing efforts that have at least one social related obDective, such as charity founding, among its goals. Typical e0amples are releasing a certain percentage of the final sale product to a charity related to the product, or sponsoring events that encourage social well-being such as the ?lympic Eames. >orporate !ocial "arketing benefits a company in many ways, but its main goal is to improve the image the public has of the company. 8 company that appears committed to improving the lives or others, the environment or other worthy causes is seen in a better light than one who doesn't, and more and more business are hoping to benefit from that. !o, it can be so, that >!" programs are becoming e0tremely popular because the leaders believe that it is a good business to be viewed as a socially responsible company 3#<5. ,owever, even though past research suggests that >!" may be effective in improving brand equity and increasing market share, there are limits to the effectiveness of these initiatives.

8n e0ample of his is how corporate social initiatives adversely affected purchase intentions if consumers perceived that the company would forgo product quality in order to be socially responsible3#45 . 9epending on the nature of the >!" program, the intent of the corporation may not be as obvious to the consumers. This happens if the benefits to the corporation are not apparent or conflicts with what the consumer already believes about a specific firm or industry. !ince firms e0ist to make a profit, consumers may spend considerable energy in an attempt to infer motives related to the profit-oriented goals. 8n e0ample - consumer may be suspicious of a tobacco company that undertakes a campaign to prevent underage smoking. f this is successful, the company would be affected and the cigarette sales will be lowered. !o, in this situation, consumers suspicions may lead them to infer motives that would actually protect the companies financial condition - as they are trying to improve their image to sell more cigarettes to adults. ,owever, if a tobacco company undertook a >!" >ampaign, that would sustain their business consumers may be able to infer profit motives more easily and then have a more favorable attitude toward the partnership. !o it can be concluded that the attitude of the consumers could be better if they knew more about the motives of the companies and they were more obvious. 8nother aspect that may cause suspicion with consumers is the amount of harm that a company has already done, either because of unsafe products or harmful production practices. t is logical that consumers are more suspicious to companies that sell harmful products. 8gain e0amples are the tobacco companies and alcohol companies as well. They will meet resistance from consumers when they undertake socially-oriented campaigns aimed at mitigating the effects of their products 3#;5. That is why when different industries are separated, two very general dimensions are used- the harmful nature of the products and the harmful nature of the production methods. This classification can briefly show how consumer are influenced by the various >!" efforts. >ompanies that work in this FdangerousF industries are not that successful always, because the consumers may be suspicious of any societal efforts the company attempts to undertake. >onsumers will infer less society-serving motives and more selfserving motives for corporate societal marketing programs undertaken by firms that operate in mi0ed or sin industries. -ased on how easily consumers could infer profit-driven motives, are classified the types of >!" campaigns7 'ositively tied to product sales, positively tied to product sales, not directly tied to sales but aimed at sustaining the company's business, completely unrelated.

HERE IS SOME 'SE('L MATERIAL)

so t*ats +*, +e c*oose t*at concept

The societal marketing concept is an enlightened marketing that holds that a company should make good marketing decisions by considering consumers' wants, the company's requirements and society's long run interests. t is closely linked with the principles of >orporate !ocial .esponsibility and of !ustainable 9evelopment. The concept has an emphasis on social responsibility and suggests that it is not sufficient for a company to only focus on e0change relationship with customers might not be in order to sustain long term success. "arketing strategy rather should deliver value to customers in a way that maintains or improves both the consumer's and the society's well-being. "ost companies recognize that socially responsible activities improve their image among customers, stockholders, the financial community, and other relevant publics. 6thical and socially responsible practices are simply good business, resulting not only in favorable image, but ultimately in increased sales. !ocietal marketing should not be confused with social marketing GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG (or example = !?> 6T8H "8.(6T =E.

IProctor & Gamble Pakistan has introduced the brand of fat free oil to prevent the growing ratio of heart disease. GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG IVarious automobile manufacturers are focusing more on producing >=E cars that is not only environmental friendly but it is also very economical. !o this trend is getting popular very quickly. ?ne can verify it by observing the increasing number of >=E stations. GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG IThere are various companies that are favoring the use of recycled paper to aid more life to trees. GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG JMcDonald s 6nvironmentalism Throughout the late #$CAs, "c9onald's instituted and publicized a number of environmentally positive steps in its domestic operations. t reduced consumption, for instance, by using lighter weight paper in straws, paper bags and other items and recycled paper and cardboard packaging. n #$C%, it switched from polystyrene 1used for

the clamshells2 blown with >:>s, the family of chemicals which destroy the ozone layer, to plastic foam that used hydrocarbon blowing agents 18nnual .eport, #$C$, pp. #A-#;2. n #$C$, the company instituted a pilot program in 4;A =ew 6ngland stores to recycle its plastic clamshells 1Hivesey, #$$<, pp. #&-#42. n 8pril, #$$A, it committed @#AA million, or one quarter of the company's annual building and remodeling budget, to buy recycled materials for restaurant construction, remodeling, and operations under a program called F"c.ecycleF 1Hivesey, #$$<, pp. #<-#42. n #$C$ and #$$A, "c9onald's bolstered its environmental management practices with a proactive public relations campaign. The centerpiece was the #$C$ 8nnual .eport, which highlighted the issue of the natural environment. "c9onald's also offered in-store flyers to educate customers about the company's environmental management practices, policies, philosophies, and positions on particular issues such as rainforest beef and the ozone problem. -rochures on environmental topics, including packaging, were available from its public relations department. n addition, "c9onald's worked with several different environmental and nonprofit groups 1e.g., the *orld *ildlife :und and the !mithsonian nstitution2 to coproduce elementary school materials on the environment. "c9onald's #$C$ annual report represents an aggressive attempt by the company to manage the public discourse around the company's role as an environmentally responsible corporate citizen and construct itself as green. The report belongs to the category of epideictic advocacy, the discourse of praise and blame that is commonly used to establish or consolidate value premises, especially in corporate issue management campaignsK such discourse often serves as a basis for later persuasive efforts 1>heney L Mibbert, #$C%, p. #C<2. 6pideictic rhetoric works by building on shared premises and borrowing from values and beliefs embedded in the common culture. n this case, given the new ecological awareness of the public, "c9onald's positions itself as having concerns ecological and practical, social as well as economic. GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG JAD!DAS has embarked on a number of proDects , all community based. -better pay for local workers in the under-developed countries. -avoiding under-age employees. -support for local community sports. -offer of free sports gears for talents. -sports events sponsorship. -supporting the construction of sports grounds. -cheaper brands for selected countries etc etc.

GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG J>?>8 >?H8 has programs for -local water supply -community developments like sports etc etc etc GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG J"c9?=8H9! have programs for

-local school sports support -scholarships for talents etc etc GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

*hile societal marketing is an area of increasing interest to marketers, a scarcity of research still e0ists in this area, particularly investigating questions with respect to the impact of societal marketing on consumer attitudes to corporate image, product image and purchase intention or brand choice. This paper attempts to address this gap by developing a conceptual model of the impact of societal marketing on consumers attitude toward corporate image. The resulting model identifies three key constructs thought to influence consumer attitudes7 corporate marketing communications, societal marketing program implementation, and consumer demographic characteristics including gender, age, education level, income level and marital status. The findings, as well as providing a foundation for further empirical testing, have implications for corporate marketers, policy makers responsible for

promoting corporate social responsibility and non-profit organisations searching for private partnerships, as well as providing future research directions in the field of societal marketing.

(eywords7 societal marketing, corporate image, corporate social responsibility

ntroduction *hile some businesses view corporate social responsibilty 1>!.2 as an image enhancement tool with no tangible benefits, many organisations are increasingly concerned about managing social issues to benefit stakeholder interests.

n todays increasingly competitive and changing marketplace >!. can become a competitive advantage.

!pecifically, consumers perceptions of a firms corporate social responsibility have been shown to influence their attitudes toward a company , particularly when committing to a purchase.

>!. is reflected in practice by businesses adopting a societal marketing focus.

!ocietal marketing has been shown to have a positive impact on consumer attitudes and behaviour in various countries . ndeed many companies attribute societal marketing as a maDor success "actor #

!ocietal marketing as a business philosophy can be implemented in many ways including concern for the environment, employee schemes and involvment in specific social causes or cause related marketing.

9espite the increasing support for >!. and societal marketing, a scarcity of research still e0ists in this field, particularly in relation to corporate image .

>orporate !ocial .esponsibility and !ocietal "arketing

*hile there is no widely accepted definition of corporate social responsibility 1>!.2, the *orld -usiness >ouncil for !ustainable 9evelopment 1*->!92 defines >!. as Nthe commitment of business to contribute to sustainable economic development, working with employees, their families, the local community and society at large to improve quality of life 1*-!>9, &AAA2. ,ence, >!. is the voluntary adoption by companies of responsibilities beyond purely economic or legal responsibilities . The societal marketing concept introduces corporate social responsibility 1>!.2 into marketing practices. !ocietal marketing incorporates a focus on the consumers and societys well-being . .esearch e0ecuted in many countries has consistently shown that consumers e0press a more positive attitude toward a company that practices societal marketing, and additionally prefer to purchase the products of these companies . ,owever, little research has considered how and why this relationship between societal marketing

and consumer attitudes occurs, or to uncover the conditions favoring or hindering the development of this relationship.

$orporate !ma%e

Marious definitions of corporate image e0ist. >orporate image is sometimes seen as synonymous with corporate reputation or as different to corporate reputation but interrelated. 'art of the confusion results from the various uses of the term Ncorporate image by both practitioners and academics to the e0tent that corporate image and corporate identity are often used interchangeably and imprecisely .

>orporate image is the net result of the interaction of a persons beliefs, ideas, feelings and impressions about a company and e0ists in the mind of that person . >orporate image is the totality of a stakeholders perceptions of the way an organisation presents itself, either deliberately by controllable sources or accidentally by uncontrollable sources. ?ver the last three decades, several models of corporate image formation have been developed by various authors . These models propose various factors effecting corporate image formatiot. The results of these studies provide the foundation for model development.

The Model

This model proposes that consumers attitudes towards corporate image is influenced by three key factors7 corporate marketing communications in general, the specific features of the societal marketing program implemented by the company, and consumer demographics.

There are three types of corporate marketing communications7 primary, secondary and tertiary.

'rimary communication refers to communication directly to or with a consumer or initiated by a consumer including direct interaction with a staff member, attendance at corporate seminars or events and visiting a compnaies website.

!econdary communication is identified as a system for visual identification and formal corporate communications, for e0ample through advertising, public relations, graphic design and sales promotion. Typically secondary communication is mass communication.

Tertiary communication refers to word-of-mouth and !ocietal marketing program 'rogram symbolism -ehaviour 'rogram communications

9emographic characteristics Eender 8ge 6ducation level ncome level "arital status

>onsumers attitude towards corporate image

>orporate marketing communications 1general2 'rimary communications !econdary communications Tertiary communications GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

$onclusions and implications

8s societal marketing is more widely adopted globally, more research will be required to understand how a societal marketing program can influence consumer attitudes towards an organisation and in particular how different consumer segments 1and indeed other stakeholder groups2 respond to such societal marketing campaigns.

!ome of the key factors influencing consumers attitudes toward corporate image including key demographic variables. !everal avenues for

future research are suggested by the conceptual development including7

I qualitative research of both consumers and practitioners involved in societal marketing programs to further develop and refine the model and assist in operationalising the constructs identifiedK

I quantitative testing of the model across a variety of cultural conte0tsK

I investigation of the impact of societal marketing on the attitudes of other stakeholder groups toward corporate imageK and

I investigation of the influence of additional consumer segmentation variables, for e0ample psychographics on corporate image. :or different groups of practitioners this papers suggests7

I that corporate marketers need to investigate further the use of societal marketing programs to stimulate positive attitudes toward corporate image and create competitive advantageK

I that policy makers in relevant government departments should investigate encouraging corporations to behave as good corporate citizens by implementing societal marketingK and

I that management of non profit organisations also investigate the impact of societal marketing, in particular cause-related marketing, to encourage private companies to form

an alliance for the promotion of their causes.