Page 12 - The Handbook of Persuasion and Social Marketing

Introduction 5

It also provides a description of a wide array of theoretical and manage-
ment perspectives, ranging from information processing to behavioral
economics to social control. Finally, the set provides descriptions of an
eclectic collection of applications designed to provide exposure to the
breadth of social marketing and its uses.

Organization of the Set

The contributions to this set are organized in three volumes. Each volume
has a somewhat different purpose and offers a different perspective on
social marketing. Volume 1 places social marketing within a historical and
social context. It is intended to describe the roots of social marketing in
marketing, social psychology, and political science. It also provides a sum-
mary of empirical research on the effects of social marketing. Volume 1
also addresses the significant ethical, philosophical, and legal issues that
arise in any value-laden enterprise, and especially one that involves per-
suasion and social control. Many of these issues arise in the context of
commercial marketing as well, but some are unique to social marketing,
where judgments of what is “good” for some individual or group are re-
quired in the absence of the self-correction that occurs in competitive
markets.
Volume 2 focuses on theories and conceptual approaches that form
the underpinnings of social marketing as a discipline and that provide
guidance with respect to the practice of social marketing. This volume
begins with a history of social marketing, at least as an identified disci-
pline, and then describes an array of theories that differ greatly in their
focus, scope, and approach. This volume also includes a chapter on the
planning of social marketing campaigns and a chapter on the measure-
ment of outcomes. The volume concludes with two chapters that link so-
cial marketing to the corporation through discussions of corporate social
responsibility. This latter discussion explores the role of the firm and raises
the question of whether the firm might be an instrument for social change
even as it meets its obligations to shareholders. This discussion represents
a return to the origins of the marketing discipline and its early concerns
with social welfare.
Volume 3 provides examples of applications of social marketing. While
the contexts of these applications are quite different, there are two related
themes that tie all of the applications together: health and economic well-
being. The examples include efforts to influence individual health care
decisions, individual eating habits, substance abuse, family planning, and
even participation in the U.S. Decennial Census. In addition, examples