Social change marketing in the age of direct benefit marketing – where to from here?

Social change marketing is at the crossroads. With the American Marketing Association's decision to revise the definition of marketing to include direct benefit to the organisation, one of the central tenets of social marketing is in conflict with the very nature of commercial marketing. The introduction of direct benefit to the organisation as a core tenet of the marketing concept is the antithesis of the social marketing principle of indirect benefit. The previously immutable boundary between societal marketing (social causes for commercial gain) and social marketing (social causes for societal benefit) has been erased, at least, if social marketing wishes to remain within the marketing field. Is it time for social marketing to cease being a subset of marketing and branch out as an alternative disciplinary field? This paper examines the conceptual and ideological problems associated with social marketing adjusting to the new commercial marketing definition, and outlines the gaps between the commercial definition, and the social marketing field. With the development of a new focus in commercial marketing, social marketing's ability to adapt, adjust and use commercial marketing may need to be forgone in favour of striking out on a new path of social change theory.