Marketing In Social Enterprises Research Articles

Social Value of Marketing: A Bibliometric Analysis

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to analyze studies that researched the social value of marketing, identifying the main research and the understanding of the theme. We performed a systematic literature review using the Web of Science database to select and analyze articles that investigated the social value of marketing. After the initial search with filters and exclusion criteria, the final sample consisted of 142 articles submitted to bibliometric analysis. The analysis of the literature revealed advances in the understanding of the social value of marketing. We made the connection between the four groupings of keywords and the five themes of the bibliographic coupling. This result revealed the various nuances of how the social value of marketing is addressed in the literature. The study proposes an agenda for future research, with topics such as social enterprise marketing, social value and consumers’ perception, charity, cause-related marketing, ethical consumption. This study reveals the connections between marketing and social issues, indicating that the social value of marketing tends to be the result of a combination of resources, capabilities, and behaviors that link marketing and the market to social value and society.

Social enterprise marketing strategies' to achieving sustainable development goals in an emerging economy: lessons from emerging economies

Social enterprise marketing strategies' to achieving sustainable development goals in an emerging economy: lessons from emerging economies

Social enterprise marketing strategies to achieving sustainable development goals in an emerging economy: lessons from emerging economies

Social enterprise marketing strategies to achieving sustainable development goals in an emerging economy: lessons from emerging economies

An Empirical Investigation and Conceptual Model of Perceptions, Support, and Barriers to Marketing in Social Enterprises in Bangladesh

Existing studies on social enterprises offer conflicting and contrasting perspectives on the impact of social enterprises on developing countries. Although several studies focused on social enterprises in developing countries, an empirical study that examines how social enterprises develop marketing strategies in an increasingly interconnected digital marketing environment is lacking. The current study empirically investigated the effects of consumer perceptions on social enterprises’ marketing strategies in a developing country and, in particular, the perceptions of, and barriers to, social enterprises in Bangladesh. Drawing on the technology–organisation–environment framework and a social constructionist perspective, 22 in-depth interviews were conducted with individuals from social enterprises. The emergent data were analysed using thematic analysis. The current study proposed an enabler and impediment social enterprise conceptual framework. The present study suggests that social enterprise engenders self-reliance and community empowerment, however, technological imbalance and infrastructures are the key impediments to adoption of effective social enterprise. Our analysis contributes to the theory of social enterprises’ marketing strategies and barriers, and suggests practical lessons in managing social enterprises and the development of marketing strategies

Marketing Communications of Latvian Social Enterprises from a Consumer Perspective

The purpose of this study is twofold - to contribute to the further understanding of social enterprises’ marketing by providing a consumers’ perspective on the content that social enterprises generate in order for them be to be able to better understand their strengths and weaknesses and to establish a reference point with regards the current situation to be able to compare and measure improvement in with regards social enterprise marketing in the future and, if needed, provide fact-based evidence to assist social enterprises in their call for support from public authorities. Among tasks of research are 1) analysis of recent scientific publications associate with social enterprises, their challenges in Europe and in Latvia and specifically with regards social enterprise marketing 2) analysis of online survey, filled out by 329 respondents and conducted by Kristīne Casno in 2019. For data anlysis such quantitative research methods were used as analysis of descriptive statistics (indicators or central tendency or location (arithmetic mean, mode, median), indicators or variability (range, standard deviation and standard error or mean), testing of statistical hypothesis with t-test and analysis or variance - ANOVA. Authors highlight that social enterprise consumers are supportive of social enterprises and their cause and are also interested in the marketing content provided, however, the full potential of word-of-marketing is not used, suggesting that there is significant room for improvement. With regards marketing communication content, social enterprises are most appreciated by consumers for aesthetic and interesting content. On the drawback side – the greatest challenges for social enterprises are to provide content on a regular basis and achieve visibility. Since the comparatively lower evaluations for aforementioned characteristics may be directly associated with lack of financial resources and skills, Authors recommend greater support from Ministry of Welfare of Republic of Latvia for development of support programs with the aim of increasing the marketing skills of social enterprises as well as promoting close win-win cooperation between commercial outdoor, print and online media holders and social enterprises (e.g. in the form of subsidized advertisement spaces while they are not used by commercial clients in return for lower taxes) in order to help social enterprises reach higher visibility.

Social enterprise marketing: review of literature and future research agenda

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review existing literature on marketing in social enterprises (SEs). It identifies major trends and issues and highlights gaps in the existing knowledge base on social enterprise marketing (SEM).Design/methodology/approachRelevant articles on SEM were searched, following the PRISMA framework, in online databases using keywords and phrases like “marketing in social enterprises,” “marketing strategy/practice in social enterprises,” “social enterprise marketing” and “business practices in social enterprises.” After screening and checking for eligibility, 47 significant articles published in 21 peer-reviewed journals during 1995–2018 were selected for review.FindingsThe findings suggest that marketing in SEs has different issues and challenges when compared to marketing practices adopted by conventional business organizations. They are forced to address the varied expectations of the stakeholders in a resource-constrained situation, which creates problems for them. The review also highlights the fact that resource constraints, legacy mindset, and lack of marketing skills limit the impact of marketing practices in SEs. To address these issues, many social entrepreneurs survive through cost-effective marketing techniques.Originality/valueTo the authors’ knowledge, this is the first effort to identify and analyze extant literature in SEM. The resultant themes and research gaps highlight the current status of SEM literature. The paper can help SEs to understand and plan their marketing activities for better impact and profitability. Future research can draw on the findings of this review.

Entrepreneurial marketing: the missing link in social enterprise studies

In spite of the recurrent emphasis on the importance of social enterprise (SEs) in the entrepreneurship literature, there has never been a research conducted on the marketing approaches for a social enterprise. The focus of this article is on the entrepreneurial marketing (EM) aspects in social enterprises by reviewing more than 170 articles that had to do with SEs and marketing including marketing for non-profits, SE management, financing SEs, social marketing, services marketing, relationship marketing, and entrepreneurial marketing. The analysis of the review revealed that a social enterprise can enjoy the elements of entrepreneurial marketing in four areas: first, in competing in the market; second, in its endeavors to attract finance to its structure; third, in employing volunteers; and fourth, in presenting its services or product to its target audience. The relative domains are finally proposed in a model of entrepreneurial marketing in social enterprises which shows that EM in SEs is not a single-dimension phenomena but is rather a multipurpose tool in service of any social enterprise to be enjoyed in the four aforementioned areas.

The critical success factors of social entrepreneurship in India: an empirical study

The paper describes the social entrepreneurship (S-ENT) critical success factors (CSFs) identified from a survey study carried out in India. The ranking analysis of the survey results shows that 28 factors are rated as critical for determining the S-ENT success of a social enterprise. Further, the factor analysis revealed that the identified CSFs can be grouped into seven clusters, namely leadership, social enterprise planning, community engagement, innovative financing, human capital, legal support, and social enterprise marketing. The outcome of the thesis provides pioneering insights through a structured framework for investigating the individual CSFs and their different levels of contribution to S-ENT success. The inventive knowledge generated out of the thesis work, can be specifically fruitful for practitioners and other stakeholders in identifying the areas of their social enterprise functioning that demand their utmost priority and attention, in identifying the skills and resources required for their venture success, in assessing their competitive advantage and in helping to setup evaluation mechanism of their ventures etc. The pioneering insights can also be utilised by academicians for theory building and further analysis in the field.

Communicating a social agenda within HEIs: the role of the social enterprise mark

PurposeBy using the lens of the social enterprise mark (SEM) accreditation which enables social enterprises to “prove” that the interests of people and planet are put before shareholder gain, this study aims to enhance the knowledge of how effectively the social agenda is communicated by higher education institutions (HEIs).Design/methodology/approachBy using a qualitative research design, this exploratory study uses a combination of both a focus group and in-depth interviews with HEI holders of the SEM.FindingsWith a particular focus on University A, this study advances the knowledge around how social agendas and the role of the SEM in particular are used to communicate to HEI employees as a key stakeholder group.Research limitations/implicationsAt the time of this study, fewer SEM accredited HEIs existed, and therefore, the following conclusions are based upon a small select sample of HEIs that held the SEM. Further studies are needed to provide a more representative view of each university’s use of and commitment to the SEM/ Social Enterprise Gold Mark.Practical implicationsBuilding on Powell and Osborne’s (2015) observations regarding the role of marketing in social enterprises, the findings of this study offer practical insight into current and or prospective HEI SEM holders as to the role of “social” accreditations, stakeholder perceptions of such marketing initiatives and how they can be used as a vehicle to improve social communications in the future.Originality/valueThe area of social enterprise and social impact has been evolving in recent decades, but literature in relation to its promotion and communication in the higher education sector remains scant. This study responds to this gap in the literature by providing greater insight into how social agendas and engagement with the SEM, specifically, are communicated by HEIs.

Context and Consumers in Social Enterprise Marketing: Two Sides of the Same Coin?

The purpose of this article is to put forward the importance of a holistic approach and diverse skill-set in hybrid organizations like social enterprises. The arguments presented in the article are drawn from the experience of working with social organizations and impartial observations by the authors. Some key points in the article are backed up by the existing literature. The authors suggest that the knowledge of the physical, eco-socio-politico environment and culture is equally important as the business skills for a successful social enterprise. While it is crucial to maintaining a balance between social and business approach, SEs often give more importance to one aspect over other. This note suggests an accommodating attitude towards conflicting yet important facets of social enterprise. This article shows that for a social enterprise to be successful, both contextual and business understanding is necessary. The argument is presented through the 4P model of marketing. This note is expected to contribute equally to the ongoing academic discussion on social enterprise marketing and to propagate the need for an effective combination of social and business acumens.

Social Entrepreneurship and the Development Paradox of Prosocial Motivation: A Cautionary Tale

Research summary We provide an ethnographic account of how social entrepreneurs in the Safe Water for Africa program made sense of hybrid goods, as well as how and why those understandings affected both the social enterprise's marketing mix and stakeholders’ expectations of the enterprise's rights and responsibilities. We find that output maximizing-behavior enabled by prosocial motivation elicits a psychological feeling of entitlement to a socio-emotional return on investment in the form of beneficiary gratitude. When external stakeholders consider them justified, these feelings become moral norms that can induce or prevent the institutionalization of a suboptimal path of development, depending on the motivations of competitors. We show that social entrepreneurs’ emotional attachment can have consequences for development, challenging the functionalist conception of social enterprise as a temporary patch to institutional voids. Managerial summary We present a detailed account of the Safe Water for Africa program that examines: (a) how the program's stakeholders made sense of water as a “hybrid good;” and (b) how these understandings shaped the social entrepreneurs’ attitudes, the social enterprise's marketing mix, and stakeholder's expectations of the enterprise's rights and responsibilities. We find that the same motivation that prompted social entrepreneurs to act on behalf of those without safe water elicited a sense of entitlement to a “return on investment” in the form of beneficiary gratitude. If reciprocated, these feelings may become normalized and, depending on competitors' motives, hinder long-term development efforts by precluding their entry.

Creating Social Value Through Social Enterprise Marketing: Case Studies from Thailand's Food-Focused Social Entrepreneurs

ABSTRACTMarketing not only creates economic value for a social enterprise, it also must create social value. This paper adopts a case research to five Thailand's food social entrepreneurs to examine how a marketing strategy creates social value. The findings revealed that the majority of them addressed a social problem in a marketing strategy to benefit producers and society. Key contributions include proposing and validating a holistic set of propositions of social enterprise marketing with social value generation. Recommendations for social enterprise marketers and policy-makers are also provided so that they can improve a marketing strategy to address social problems.

Last mile farm inputs: farm shop delivers

Subject area The subject areas are social entrepreneurship and marketing in social enterprises. Study level/applicability This study is applicable to undergraduate or MBA-level courses; possibly executive programs as well. Case overview Farm Shop was established in 2012 as a not-for-profit trust, with an aim of developing a distribution platform for poor, rural communities across sub-Saharan Africa so that smallholder farmers could get the farm inputs and services needed to increase their productivity and income. Attempting to reach scale, this social enterprise is in the process of building a micro-franchise network. Unlike franchises in industrialized countries where the franchisor starts with a vetted and replicable turnkey business, Farm Shop was created from scratch. After prototyping the shop concept and validating the business model in Kiambu County of Kenya, Farm Shop has 10 fully operational shops and is keen to start its growth phase, aiming to have 120 shops in its network within the next 12-18 months. It is only at that point that break-even will be achieved. Recognizing the key role of marketing in Farm Shop’s growth efforts, the founders are now focused on finalizing their go-to-market (GTM) strategy. Having initiated and measured the results of a number of marketing activities over the past six months, it is now time to decide which of these activities should be incorporated into their micro-franchise system. The management team knows that to provide advice, training and quality products to farmers, they first needed to develop awareness, interest and desire for what Farm Shop has to offer, not to mention the need to gain the farmers’ trust. Fundamentally, farmers needed to be convinced that Farm Shop can help them improve their productivity and income. Expected learning outcomes The study enables to gain an overall understanding of the range of challenges and opportunities associated with establishing a micro-franchise in an emerging market context; to gain a better understanding of social marketing, including the four types of behavioral influence it attempts to achieve and the similarities and differences between social and commercial marketing; to introduce the “theory of change” concept, providing a framework for understanding how and why change will occur; to introduce the concept of business models and explore the differences between “traditional” and “social entrepreneurship” business models; to understand how a competitive advantage is created; to introduce basic marketing concepts and the GTM concept and its role and application in a business model for a new social enterprise and to understand how marketing contributes to the social enterprise’s strategic goals and sustainability, thereby gaining an understanding of how “social marketing” is differentiated from commercial marketing. Supplementary materials Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes. Subject code CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

Social marketing in social enterprises: how to deal with dualities

Purpose The purpose of the paper is to understand the tensions that marketing practitioners in social enterprises are subjected to. Design/methodology/approach The paper examines the case of 15 Canadian social enterprises. Findings The analysis reveals four dualities in social enterprises, and initial strategies to deal with them. Practical Implications The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations. Originality/value The paper reveals how dualities facing marketing practitioners in social enterprises influence marketing activities in these organizations.

A conceptual model of critical success factors for Indian social enterprises

Purpose There have been global upsurge in the social enterprise research & practice considering social enterprise as a rapidly growing thought worldwide. The renewed significance of social enterprises (SE’s) has arisen primarily on account of their assumed potential in solving a range of social problems. The evidences supporting the budding role of SE’s in fostering sustained socio-economic development of regions & communities across globe are evolving continuously. Even though, social entrepreneurship & SE’s have remained central thought provoking domain in the realm of scholarly investigation for a past couple of decades, the emerging literature on SE’s & their role in economic development is riddled with theoretical inconsistencies & definitional controversies. Thus, very little is known about functioning & management of SE’s. For the sake of advancing the field, the purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze the critical success factors (CSF’s) of SE’s operating in different social settings in India. Further, a conceptual model is developed incorporating different factors of social enterprise operation in an integrated framework. Design/methodology/approach Based on the review of the extant literature, three categories of success factors comprising a total of 38 success factors for SE’s were initially identified. Under each category, the success factors were then classified and reduced to appropriate numbers based upon their importance to SE’s and their repeated manifestations in the literature, making a total of 13 CSF’s under all 3 categories. Based on these 3 categories of CSF’s, a conceptual model was developed. Findings The study determines thirteen critical factors as contributing to the success of social enterprises: (1) Business planning skills (2) entrepreneurship orientation; (3) leadership; (4) networking; (5) Innovative financing (6) triple bottom line planning; (7) social enterprise marketing; (8) community engagement; (9) human capital; (10) organizational culture; (11) Social Impact Evaluation (12) Frugal innovation & (13) Government support. Originality/value The paper presents a theoretical research model incorporating factors and determinants of social enterprise success to direct a future research agenda. The paper can further be used by researchers to empirically test critical success factors of social enterprises. Moreover, practitioners can also gain benefits from the conceptual framework & promote social entrepreneurship.

Use of marketing in social enterprises

Social entrepreneurship is relatively a new concept within social sciences. Like the case with any newly emerging field, social entrepreneurship is confronting the challenges of justifying the use of new constructs and hence the challenge of generating new knowledge and insights. Till date, the field of social entrepreneurship has majorly been consented as a multidisciplinary approach to social problem solving. In this regard, researchers are attempting to take insights from different disciplines in an effort towards delimiting the scope and context of social entrepreneurship. However, social entrepreneurship is projected or seen as sharing much in common with business management and entrepreneurship. As such, the different approaches of management domain find high appropriateness for application, explanation and further expansion of this field. In light of the above and on the basis of a few qualitative case studies conducted in the western countries till date, the paper attempts to gain critical insights about the use of marketing concepts in social enterprises.