Social marketing harnesses marketing principles and techniques to influence behavior in ways that are beneficial to both individuals and their communities. A unique feature of social marketing is its use of consumer research to inform interventions. By understanding consumers—their dreams, desires, fears and needs—marketers can select specific behaviors to promote, divide large populations into distinct subgroups or segments, and prioritize target audiences to maximize the opportunities for change. Research plays a key role in helping marketers to make target behaviors more attractive than the competition, and to develop integrated marketing plans that serves as blueprints for all strategic marketing decisions. 

Social marketing has been used to plan and implement many successful social change initiatives, including interventions that have dramatically increased energy conservation, recycling, and reduced risk behaviors such as smoking and drunk driving. Social marketing has also been used to change community perceptions of socially beneficial programs and increase service utilization.

To learn more about USF’s social marketing programs and initiatives, please visit the following pages:

• USF Center for Social Marketing
• Community Based Prevention Marketing (CBPM)
• Social Marketing Certificate Program
• Social Marketing Conference and Training Academy

Learn More about the history of Social Marketing.