Along with the development of modern marketing concept, several vital problems have been developed in the world, which has influenced the long run social welfare. These problems include environmental deterioration, resource shortage, population explosion, worldwide inflation, neglected social services, etc. Therefore, the societal Marketing concept assumes that along with the consumers' wants and interests, social interest too should be considered or fulfilled so that long-run social welfare could be maintained.
According to Kortler and Armstrong, "The organization should determine the needs, wants, and interests of target markets. It should deliver superior value to customers in a way that it maintains or improves the customer's and society's well-being. Company should aware on pollution control, equal employment opportunity, after sales service, public awareness, return on investment, and so on."
Features of Societal Marketing
- Social responsibility: Organization bears social responsibility by improving the quality of the environment, generating employment opportunities, providing service after sales, supporting social well-being activities, and meeting social needs. Marketers took social responsibility as an important issue of the organization.
- Integrated marketing: Integrated marketing efforts is essential to enhance the interest of customers, society, and organization. Thus, the societal concept focuses on integrated marketing activities.
- Customer needs satisfaction: This concept gives higher priority to customer needs satisfaction. In this concept, marketers focus on delivering quality products or services at a reasonable price as compared to the competitors.
- Profit through customer and social well-being: The societal concept considers the profit as the return of customer satisfaction. Marketers sell wants satisfying products or services at a reasonable price. They give emphasis on customer and social well-being. This concept considers the interest of customers, organization, and society.
Difficulties of Implementation of Societal marketing concept
- Considerable planning: Societal marketing cannot be implemented without planning. For example, hospitals, universities, nursing homes, transport and communication sectors, banks, insurance companies, etc, requires considerable planning before they are created and implemented. It requires long-term planning regarding how and when to implement and so on.
- Considerable persuasion: Societal marketing is not easily accepted by the target consumers or target group; the marketer needs to persuade people properly. For example, the contraceptives the family planning tools cannot be used by the people without confidence. The marketers must be able to convince the people about their positive impact on health. In order to bring their life in a normal situation, it requires a lot of efforts and convinces.
- Considerable education: In order to implement a concept of marketing, people must be educated to some extent on the concern subject matter. Undereducated people do not understand the facts so they do not try to adopt the concept. Therefore, marketers need to provide adequate knowledge about the subject matter through launching orientation programs, training programs, publicity, etc.
- Considerable reorganization: The plans and programs once formulated and implemented successfully cannot work for always, it requires reorganization over time. This is because environmental forces are dynamic in nature and go on changing over time. The perception and habits of the people go on changing over time, their requirements go on changing over time, and problems go on changing over time, and so on. Therefore, from time to time, the marketing organizations must rethink about the situation and reorganize the activities to match the products with the changing needs of the people.
- Heavy Investments: Implementation of Societal marketing concept requires a heavy financial investment. For example, hospitals, universities, banks, insurance companies, transport and communication companies, etc, cannot be operated with small or limited investment; but their output appears only after a long time. Most marketers prefer low-investment business which can yield desired output in the short time period.
In conclusion, the societal marketing concept is the broad concept of marketing that marketers not only meet and satisfy the needs of the individual and society but also bear social responsibility too. Marketers should be aware of pollution control, equal employment opportunity, after-sales service, public awareness, return on investment, and so on to meet social well-being to maintain the long-term interests of the society.
