Conservation Entrepreneurship/Annotated Bibliography/Social Marketing Annotated bibliography posted by Ana Lima

Andrearsen, Alan R. (1994). Social Marketing: Its Definition and Domain. Article published in the Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, vol 13, pages 108-114.

This article is a good start for anybody interested in understanding social marketing. It was written in 1994 and could not be more relevant today, since the term can assume a number of meanings in different contexts. For instance, a simple search on the internet brings up social marketing as a synonymous of social media or virtual communication. However, the term has also gained credibility and cohesiveness since the 90's and I believe this article contributed for it.

The main point argued by Andrearsen was the necessity of a robust definition for the term social marketing, a definition derived from its goal to change behavior for good, so it would be seen and used in the academic realm, government and private sectors as a structured and effective strategy and not as another buzzword. He points out the importance of defining the term and criticizes earlier definitions, coming to the conclusion that for a program to be recognized as social marketing, from his point of view, it would have to contain at least the following characteristics: 1) use commercial marketing technologies; 2) focus on influencing voluntary behavior; and 3) seek to benefit target consumers and society.

Kotler, Philip and Nancy R. Lee (2008). Social Marketing: Influencing Behaviors for Good. Book published by Sage Publications - 3rd edition, 443 pages.

This is a very recent publication about social marketing and it could be considered as a comprehensive guide for starting a social marketing program. It defines the concept and conducts the reader in every single step for putting together a robust program to promote behavior change, in detail and with a number of practical examples, specially related to health and environment, also drawing useful lessons from them. It is a valuable source for practitioners in the field of social marketing or anyone interested in behavior change, it describes effective techniques and tools, from the preliminary stages of analyzing the environment and choosing the target audience to developing a market strategy, budgeting, and monitoring and evaluating this strategy. The book also has an appendix with step by step planning worksheets.