According
to Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz, "Consumers now commonly engage in a
cultural audit of [product and service] providers. People want to know your
value and ethics demonstrated by how you treat employees, the community in
which you operate." Discuss the concept of social responsibility marketing
and how it impacts both companies and consumers.
Marketing
is a social process. Its activities are designed and deal with identifying and
meeting the human needs and expectation of the society. The marketing
activities are directed at creating, communicating and delivering value which
benefit organization as well as its customers, suppliers channel members and
the larger public. The marketing effect is extended beyond the company and the
whole larger public. The values and culture of the society is affected by the
market so one must be cautious in preventing or preserving the social norms and
values. The societal marketing concept helps in understanding the socially
responsible marketing by taking seriously the ethnical, legal, environment and
social concern of people and society. The societal marketing concept holds that
the organization's task is to determine the needs, wants and interest of the
target market and to deliver the desired satisfaction more efficiently and
effectively than competitors in a way that enhance the consumers and society's
well being. It explains how the marketers carefully consider the role that they
are playing could play in terms of social welfare and how well they are able to
establish market of their product and services. Marketing becomes inefficient
and ineffective if their activities are against the social norms and belief and
if they do not benefit the society. The societal marketing concepts must
balance between the company's profit, peoples want and satisfaction and their
policy working under the rules and regulation in a changing environment.
In
the present context, we find many companies active involvement towards the
corporate social responsibility programs in order to attract the large number
of customers as well as to motivate the employees. Due to the increasing
competition most of the companies are focus on adding social responsibility to
differentiate themselves from large competitors. Also the consumers are
becoming more socially conscious. The companies are showing their concern in
the society by involving in different activities. The consumers are interested
in using and demanding those companies' product or services who are more
involved for the society's betterment. This has made the marketers or the
company feels the people will be more attached to them and become the long term
customers if they are more concern towards people and the society. This as a
result helps in differentiating the company from the larger competitor raising
brand awareness, increase reputation, increase customer loyalty and achieve
company's goals. They believe that customer will increasingly look for signs of
good corporate citizenship that go beyond supplying rational and emotional
benefits.
Reference:
Kotler,
P., & Keller, K. (2012). Marketing Management. Pearson Prentice Hall: Upper
Saddle River, New Jersey 07458
Piercy,
F.N., (2008).Market Led Strategic Change: Transforming the Process of Going to
Market.Butterworth-Heinemann, Burlington, USA.
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