What you’ll learn to do: explain how demonstrating corporate social responsibility can impact marketing

We have reviewed many ethical challenges and potential traps for marketers. How can a marketer win? Actually, in lots of ways. Increasingly, marketers are doing more than just trying to avoid doing harm; as you’ll see, they’re taking on important issues and are making a difference, actively doing good.

Earlier in this module we discussed what corporate social responsibility is and how social responsibility programs impact many different stakeholders in a business.  In this section we focus on the role of corporate social responsibility in marketing. We will look at the marketing mix—product, price, promotion, and distribution—and see how companies are changing their marketing strategies to visibly contribute to their communities.

Finally, we’ll talk about the results that companies achieve when social responsibility is part of the marketing strategy.

The specific things you’ll learn in this section include:

• Define social responsibility
• Identify examples of social responsibility that create value for customers
• Explain the impact of social responsibility on marketing results

Learning Activities

The learning activities for this section include the following:

• Reading: Social Responsibility in the Marketing Strategy
• Reading: Social Responsibility Initiatives
• Self Check: Social Responsibility Marketing Impact