Question

Question: Compare and Contrast social marketing and commercial marketing.

Answer 1

Commercial marketing and social marketing are two fundamental related but different entities in their applications and purposes. Commercial marketing focuses on its ability to influence the purchase decisions of the people for primarily the financial gains. On the other hand the social make ting focus on behavior modification towards mostly in favor of the betterment of the community and the society. The following are the comparative and contrasting approaches of social marketing and commercial marketing:

1. Primary objectives: The primary objective of commercial marketing is to influence people in order to sell a service or a product and earn profit or financial gain from the marketing efforts.Whereas in case of social marketing the primary objective is on behavioral modification for the societal gain and benefit

2. Focus areas: The focus of commercial marketing is on the products and services to be offered, while for social marketing the focus area is chnage in behavior and the community audience they are subjected towards.

3. Product: The products of commercial marketing are tangible goods and services like cars and entertainment movies while in case of social marketing the product are selling the desired behavior for example the smoking or alcohol cessation services by counseling

4. Satisfying requirement: The commercial marketing satisfies the individual customer by selling products and services while in case of social marketing the marketers satisfies the society and has a bigger impact on the same.

5. Examples: The example of commercial marketing can be marketing of tangible items such as cars, food products, beauty products, etc. While in case of social marketing the campaigns initiated by the community focused organizations like World health organization, Center for disease control, NGO's, etc

As there are difference involved between commercial marketing and social there also exists similarities in both. Similarity can be seen in terms of customer orientation in both is critical. Marketing results and community interactions is essential in both the types of marketing. In both marketing the target audience is determined first and exchange theory is used to design the specific marketing strategies. Other similarity can be described as commercial marketing being the child of social marketing which has larger impact on the individuals and communities involved.