Social marketing as an autonomous discipline was born in the 1970's. At that time, Philip Kotler 

and Gerald Zaltman realized that the same principles and rules that are used to sell products and 

services can also be used to "sell" ideas, attitudes and behaviors. Kotler and Andreasen describe 

social marketing as "different from other areas of marketing only by marketer’s goals and the 

goals of his-her organization. Social marketing seeks to influence social behavior for the benefit 

of the target groups and society as a whole." These techniques are often used in fields as 

diverse as drug addiction, cardiovascular diseases, organ donation, road safety, and more.

 

By combining marketing techniques and social science theories, social marketing is a proven tool 

for making long term changes in behavior at the most efficient costs. 

As in commercial marketing, attention is focused on the "customer". Social marketing seeks to 

find out what people want and need, rather than trying to convince them to buy what only suits 

us. Studying the customer helps to better determine:

 

● what people focus on

● what exactly to influence

● how to do it

● how to measure program effectiveness

 

It is essential to include the customer and his or her wants and needs to the marketing mix, i.e. in 

decisions relating to the product (e.g. condoms, medical examinations, healthy eating, 

breastfeeding or environmental protection), price/value (money, time, effort), distribution 

(physical distribution, distribution of information) and communication.