"Most social marketing programs occur within a micromarketing environment. That is most, if not all, attention is given to understanding and influencing people through the actions of producers - the organizations that fund, create, and implement social change programs. The micromarketing approach uncovers needs or wants that consumers may or may not be aware of, problems we and they have identified that require solutions, and aspirations they have for both themselves and others. Producers have the responsibility of sensing these needs or demands, identifying unmet needs or unresolved problems, and using the marketing mix to develop offerings that provide personal, organizational, and social benefits. The dynamic interplay between the needs, wants, problems, and aspirations voiced by consumers and the ways producers sense and respond to them is the transactional or co-creation process. Some key aspects of the transactional process to consider are the push-pull dynamics (are marketers pushing behaviors, products, and services onto people, or are consumers pulling, or demanding, behaviors, products, and services from organizations and producers?), the value creation opportunities for both parties, and the mediators of this transaction, whether they be other people, organizations, or digital media…
In contrast to the micro, or individual, view of social marketing, the macromarketing view provides a substantive base for moving social marketing to a new level of relevance for social change. Macromarketing is concerned with marketing systems and the effects of markets and marketing systems on society, rather than on organizations or individual customers (Mittelstaedt, Kilbourne & Mittelstaedt, 2006). Layton (2011, p.259) defines a marketing system as:
- “A network of individuals, groups and/or entities;
- embedded in a social matrix;
- linked directly or indirectly through sequential or shared participation in economic exchange;
- which jointly and/or collectively create value with and for customers, through the use of;
- assortments of products, services, experiences and ideas; and
- that emerge in response to or anticipation of customer demand.”
… Among social marketers in the developing world, the analysis of markets is a core competency, especially the structure and dynamics of the distribution system for products and services. Hanson, Kumaranayake, and Thomas (2001), for example, highlight the need to assess and harness local markets in order to expand and sustain access to contraceptive products in developing countries. This market-based approach has both supporters and critics (Curtis et al., 2003; Easterly, 2006). In developed countries, social marketers have shown little explicit interest in marketing systems. It is time for us to evolve our understanding of social marketing systems, a step that is consistent with the movement toward network and systems level thinking in many other disciplines and enterprises (cf. Diez Roux, 2007; Oltvai & Barabasi, 2002; Sallis et al., 2006; Watts, 2004). Mittelstaedt et al. (2006) conclude that when we can examine a transaction, including antecedents and consequences, in the context of the entire system of the marketplace, we greatly improve our ability to understand the role of markets in society. I suggest that adopting a macromarketing perspective will enhance the strategies and tools that social marketers can apply to social change."
From: Lefebvre, R.C (in press). Social marketing and social change: Strategies and tools for improving health, well-being and the environment (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, expected 2013).
Additional Reading: I recommend Gerard Hastings' new book The Marketing Matrix: How the Corporation Gets Its Power - And How We Can Reclaim It.
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Diez Roux, A. V. (2007). Integrating social and biologic factors in health research: A systems view. Annals of Epidemiology; 17:569–574.
Easterly, W. (2006). The white man’s burden: Why the West’s efforts to aid the rest have done so much ill and so little good. New York: Penguin Books.
Hanson, K., Kumaranayake, L., & Thomas, I. (2001). Ends versus means: The role of markets in expanding access to contraceptives. Health Policy and Planning; 16:125–136.
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Mittelstaedt, J. D., Kilbourne, W. E., & Mittelstaedt, R. A. (2006). Macromarketing theory and the study of the agora. Journal of Macromarketing; 26:131–142.
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Sallis J. F., Cervero, R. B., Ascher, W., Henderson, K. A., Kraft, M. K., & Kerr, J. (2006). An ecological approach to creating active living communities. Annual Review of Public Health; 27:297–322.
Watts, D. (2011). Everything is obvious: Once you know the answer. New York: Crown Business.