Socially responsible marketing

Abstract

Socially Responsible Marketing(SRM) is being used by many corporates to form a distinct brand image of the company in the minds of the consumers. The changing trend has also become significant due to shift of focus of companies to fulfill the legal mandate of corporate social responsibility. Socially responsible marketing is a marketing philosophy that says a business should take into consideration what is in the best interest of society in the present and long term (DeWitt & Dahlin, Laurie A., 2009). These are the practices adopted by the company to acknowledge the ethical, environmental, legal, public, social and cultural aspect of their products and services. SRM had started out as a response by companies to defend themselves against allegations that companies were only guided by the objective of Wealth maximization for their shareholders and marketing was just a tool to lure the consumers to buy their products. Companies wanted to demonstrate that they were prudent and ethical in their marketing practices and that they cared for the consumers. Over time, the scope for SRM expanded beyond companies being responsible for just their products to being responsible for the long term welfare of the other stakeholders including their employees and the overall society and for the environment. But as companies got more creative in their approach towards marketing and integrated social causes into their campaigns, people started to question the genuineness of such practices. Were companies genuinely acknowledging their role to contribute towards the society or were they using the initiatives to create a false positive image in the minds of the consumers? Existing literature is divided in terms of what constitutes SRM. A need was felt to clarify the meaning and scope of SRM. This paper aims to develop an understanding of SRM based on existing literature and integrating it with consumer perceptions. It seeks to validate the theoretical principles of SRM with consumer understanding and expectations of the subject. Further, based on the responses of consumers to contemporary Indian advertisements, an attempt has been made to identify best and worst practices for socially responsible marketing. These finding are then summarized into a coherent framework that can be used by managers as basis for designing future campaigns.