Importance of Social Marketing

Social marketing is objective to influence the social behaviors but not to benefit the marketer, but to benefit the target market and the society (Weinreich, 2006). While demarketing is an efforts aimed at discouraging the consumer to demand the product which a firm cannot produce in available product, or does not want to provide in a certain places where the cost of distribution is high and allow only a too little profit (Business dictionary.com, 2014). Therefore, in the following section, it will discuss the importance of social marketing and demarketing to tis current environment.

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Therefore, the first importance of the social marketing to its current environment is health care. This is due to the public health is going to globalization as a popular issues to the whole world as long as not only concern to local communities. For example, “36 million deaths each year are caused by non-communicable diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and chronic lung diseases and 6.7 million people of infectious diseases alone, far more than the number killed in the natural or man-made catastrophes that make headlines in 2008 ” (Shah, 2014).. Therefore, it is importance to the social marketing to solve the problem of health care to influence consumers toward health behaviour. This is because of the strengths of social marketing for health are aimed to achieving and maintaining behavioural objectives, by understanding consumers and implement more simple way to ensure them to adopt the behaviour that the life are improving (Griffiths, Stevens &Thorpe et al, 2008). Hence, the strategies of the social marketers to influence the health behaviour can through the social media, mediated through a health care consultant and other ways of communication (Evans, 2006). Firstly, social marketers use the communication channels to influence the health behaviour by giving the information of health through the one-way distribution of information. It has given way to a multimodal transactional model of communication. It is the most effective way to reach people about health issues by sending the messages to peoples. This group of people usually based on social demographic, cultural and behaviour characteristics that may be combined with the behaviour change. For example, the National Cancer Institute’s “five a day for better health” campaign developed a specific messages aimed at Hispanic people, due to national report that they consume less fruit and vegetables and may have cultural reasons that discourage them from eating locally available produce (Evans, 2006). Next, the second strategy of the social marketing uses to influence the health behaviour by health promotion. It will increase the community commitment to develop social wealth through a successful health promotion programmes to encourage the communities to develop stronger networks and long-term creativities that are self-supporting to have a long term effect (Griffiths, Stevens &Thorpe et al, 2008). Besides that, health promotion is concerned on health and wellbeing outcomes, which improved society health and reducing the inequalities of health and social. It aims to allow people and communities to maintain their own health and wellbeing by attainment control over the underlying factors that influence health and well-being (Griffiths, Stevens &Thorpe et al, 2008). In conclusion, as concluded different authors based on above statement, it shows that the effectiveness of social marketing on the health issues and the importance of social marketing to raise the awareness of health behaviour to reduce the amount of people death on health problem.
Furthermore, the next importance of social marketing to its current environment is environmental protection. This is due to the individual behaviour is the cause of a major number of environmental problems, lack of control of individual behaviour from environmental legislation, which normally focus on industrial sources of environmental harm. Besides that, it shows also people contributed around 32% of the United States ‘’annual greenhouse gas emissions, totalling approximately 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions’’ (Kennedy, 2010). After that, the overuse of agrochemical and pesticides and improper farming are one of the main cause to the pollution and degradation to several land zones national. In addition, there is the problem of some land areas polluted with Agent Orange or dioxin as war consequences (Hanoi, 2003). Hence, to reduce the gas emissions, some strategies are used it, such as incentives. It are a useful tool to encourage individual behaviour change, obviously shown on increasing in recycling, with the group provided with incentives increasing its recycling by 54% (Kennedy, 2010). Moreover, implementation a new Environmental Protection Act in 2004 which aimed to control and reduce of environmental emission also is one of the strategies use to protect the environment (Republic of Slovenia, 2010). In other sides, the social marketing activities designed to address for those specific recycling opportunities with the State Solid Waste Management Plan provides a point of reference, such as selecting target group and objective. As a result, the “Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Recycling & Litter Prevention has adopted social marketing methods to assist SWMDs and local governments meet and exceed the State Plan recycling goals”, for example, a research show how the overall moving and local communities successful achieved the meeting goal in the 2004 Progress Report of the State Plan, non-subscription curb side recycling programs reported by SWMDs had increased from 233 to 352 (Landis, 2005). In conclusion, it also shows how the effectiveness the social marketing toward to the environment as the global warming is increased by year to year. In conclusion, it shows the importance of social marketing toward to the environment and aimed by different strategies.
Moreover, the demarketing also is an importance tool that use to discourage people purchase from certain product, such as alcohol and cigarette. Therefore, the importance of demarketing to its current environment is tobacco consumption. This is due to the tobacco would kill one person in every ten second and continue increasing to 3 seconds over the next 40 years ( Udupa, 2007). Therefore, it is necessary to implement the demarketing strategies to solve the problem. The strategies of demarketing implement to the tobacco consumption is raised cigarette taxes, restricted smoking in the public area, offered smoking cessation services diversity to smokers and conducted an aggressive paid advertising campaign on the dangers of ETS and second-hand smoking (Gupta, 2014). The purposes of government of raise up the tax on cigarette to force the company to increase the price which discourage the consumer buy the cigarette. Tobacco taxation which passed on to consumers in the higher cigarette prices has been recognized as one of the most effective strategies for decreasing smoking and its opposed health consequences (Bader, Boisclair, &Ferrence, 2011). For example, in Texas and Iowa, which each increased their cigarette taxes by $1.00 in 2007 and shown the effect of smoker quit from it has improved compared to the 2006. It is also showing that these efforts to reduce the smokers after tax increases have significantly improvement (Boonn, 2012). In addition, warning labels also one of the strategies that discouraging the people to smoke. This is due to the warning labels is aimed to inform smokers about the health hazards of smoking, encourage smokers to quit, and prevent non-smokers to smoke. Furthermore, warning labels on tobacco products are a way of communicating with smokers. As a result, a 2007 study in Nicotine & Tobacco Research found that most of smokers in the United States strongly supported, a detailed warning labels similar to those used in Canada, and appreciated the information they provide. Therefore, it shows in the 2009 New York State Adult Tobacco Survey most 80% of non-smokers and 58% of smokers in New York support the strategy of warning label with full information on cigarette packs and the of New Yorkers has increased significantly over time( Campaign for tobacco free kid). For example, one of the demarketing efforts for tobacco control in India was implemented regulation in 2001 which included the outlawing smoking in public places, forbidding sale of tobacco to minor, more prominent health warning labels and ban advertising at sport and culture events. Besides that, Indian parliament introduced Tobacco Control Bill 2001 which prohibition of advertisement and regulation of trade and business, production, supply (Cumminge, 2002). In conclusion, it shows the importance of demarketing to discourage the people from buying the cigarette by imposed the legislation.
In addition, the next importance of the demarketing to its current environment is limited the use of car. This is due to as a rapid growth of the population, the number of using cars is increasing and caused to traffic congestion. For example, as Liu (2014) stated that around 185,000 vehicles drive through to the city of London in Britain every day and traffic was worse as the average speed just 15 kph in 1999. Therefore, it is necessary to reduce the use of car to overcome the traffic congestion. Hence, there are strategies of demarketing to reduce the use of car, such as congestion charge. It is an economic way of regulating traffic by imposing fees on vehicle users that drive through a city’s more crowded roads. After proposed this strategy, the responded of the congestion charge has helped solving the traffic problem, increase the capital to build public transport and protect environment by reducing emissions (Liu, 2014). Next, the strategy of demarketing that use to limit the use of car is auto-free zones. It is designed to any area where traffic is prohibited in some area, which complete closure of streets, such as pedestrian malls, parking controls, neighbourhood parking permits. These are implemented in downtown areas or centre city areas from a complete ban of transportation from an area, to the restriction of movements of certain types of vehicles within an area. Next, parking controls refer to the exclusion of parking from streets in the area. The purpose of parking restrictions is to discourage people from driving to the area in private vehicles, and to enable movement throughout the area by removing on-street parking. Besides that, auto restricted zones most regularly implemented in downtown areas which needed renewal and effective in reduce congestion on the freeways. These strategies also would result in increased traffic capability on the highways, resulted from reduced in delays due to accidents. (Vehicle Use Limitations / Restrictions). In conclusion, as there were occurred the problem of traffic congestion, the limiting use of cars should implement and reduce the car use to overcome the problem that occur by several strategies of demarketing.
As a conclusion, since there often different problem that might need some strategies used to solute the problem toward to the society, social marketing and demarketing are the most effective tool in solving the problem. Although the social marketing is used to influence the behaviour change with benefit to the society, while demarketing is used to reduce the demand of the product, but, both of this two are bring out the benefit to the society.