A Brief History of Social Marketing

Learning from the past can help increase our chances for success in the future. Savitt (Journal of Marketing 44:52–85, 1980) believes that marketing scholars have not paid sufficient attention to our history, and this is important for social marketing. There are many benefits to be gained from examining our history. In this chapter, we provide a brief history of social marketing, to help us understand where we have been, how we got here, and to orient our social marketing practice for the future. There are several specific benefits of reviewing our history. First, understanding the history of social marketing helps delimit the concept and scope of the enterprise. Historical analysis illuminates the use of technical terms and identifies the boundaries of its application. Therefore, a review of history strengthens our general understanding of the field. Second, the study of our history facilitates informed discussions, critical reflections, and analytical thought that the development of any discipline needs (Domegan in Journal of Historical Research in Marketing 2:457–466, 2010). That is, history is a vehicle for diagnosing the current context and understanding changes with the aim of imbuing our potential praxis with meaning. Third, as long as we learn from experience, the past can provide a source of wisdom and good sense. As a result, this can help us improve social marketing tools’ efficacy and efficiency in future endeavors. Though our history may not progress linearly, advances are unlikely if they are not based on a firm knowledge of where we have been. An understanding of our history allows us to of bridge the past, present, and future (Domegan in Journal of Historical Research in Marketing 2:457–466, 2010).