De la marketingul social la responsabilitatea social a companiei

Autori:
Alin Stancu, Academia de Studii Economice, Facultatea de Marketing,
alinstancu@mk.ase.ro
Mihai Ioan Roca, Academia de Studii Economice, Facultatea de Marketing,
mirosca@ase.ro
Domeniul de specializare: Responsabilitate social, etic i protecia consumatorului

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Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=994207

De la marketingul social la responsabilitatea social a companiei

From social marketing towards corporate social responsibility

Abstract

Within the international literature there are presented various examples, of good
practices in terms of the implication of the companies in the community as well as several
negative examples such as the ENRON, NIKE case and others. The most recent negative case
in Romania is that of the company Ernst & Young.
Although in its declaration related to social responsibility the company Ernst &
Young stated that its main aim is the responsibility towards its employees through their
development in a flexible and friendly environment at the beginning of 2007 the company
was the subject of a public discreditation campaign, being accused of overloading the
personal, with job tasks that would have represented the cause out of which one of the
employee died.
The following paper is about the social responsibility of the company from a
marketing perspective, aiming at a conceptual delimitation of this field.
Keywords: social responsibility of a company, company social initiatives, societal marketing,
social marketing
JEL: M14, M31

2
Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=994207

De la marketingul social la responsabilitatea social a companiei

From social marketing towards corporate social responsibility

Abstract
Within the international literature there are presented various examples, of good
practices in terms of the implication of the companies in the community as well as several
negative examples such as the ENRON, NIKE case and others. The most recent negative case
in Romania is that of the company Ernst & Young.
Although in its declaration related to social responsibility the company Ernst &
Young stated that its main aim is the responsibility towards its employees through their
development in a flexible and friendly environment at the beginning of 2007 the company
was the subject of a public discreditation campaign, being accused of overloading the
personal, with job tasks that would have represented the cause out of which one of the
employee died.
The following paper is about the social responsibility of the company from a
marketing perspective, aiming at a conceptual delimitation of this field.
Keywords: social responsibility of a company, company social initiatives, societal marketing,
social marketing
JEL: M14, M31
American Association of marketing defines marketing as Marketing is an organizational
function and a set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to
customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and
its stakeholders. Whereas in the definition from 1985 the stress was put on the elements
through which the science of marketing was manifested (goods, ideas and services) and

having as objectives both the satisfaction of the needs of the consumers and the organization,
the last definition of AMA puts forward a new orientation of marketing.
This definition completes the old ones not only by bringing the perspective related to
the customer relationship management, but also by putting forward the concept of
stakeholder. In this way the company is responsible not only towards its clients but also
towards the other interested persons.
The concept of societal marketing was introduced for the first time by Kotler in 1972
in the prestigious publication Harvard Business Review. The initial definition of societal
marketing put forward by Kotler (1972) mentioned a new element for the marketing
specialists namely that the companies should have taken into account, besides the satisfaction
of the consumers needs and the maximization of profit also long-run consumer welfare.
In the 2000 millennium edition of his book Marketing Management, Kotler reworks
the definition put forward in 1972 by shifting from the long-run consumer welfare to society
welfare. Therefore societal marketing presupposes that the marketing specialists to build
social and ethical values in the practice of marketing (Kotler, 2000). (Thus, "the societal
marketing concept calls upon marketers to build social and ethical considerations into their
marketing practices" (Kotler, 2000, p. 25).
Abratt andSacks (1989) state the fact that the notion of societal marketing is not yet
widespread in the business language. There were other concepts that had a greater impact in
the business medium such as: social responsibility, ethic in business, corporate citizenship.
Even other terms from marketing like social marketing, green marketing, ethic marketing and
cause related marketing have received greater attention than societal marketing.
In Romania the term societal had problems in entering the academic and business
mediums. In the first edition, translated in 1997 in Romanian of the book, Marketing

Management written by Kotler, the term societal was translated social keeping therefore
the confusion.
Social marketing as a specific field of applying marketing, was defined in 1971 by Kotler and
Zaltman as it represents the design, implementation,
and control of programs calculated to influence the acceptability of social ideas and involving
considerations of product planning, pricing, communication, distribution, and marketing
research.(Kotler, Zaltman; 1971).
Kotler pays again attention to this definition(Stancu, 2007) and succeeds to clarify it adding
that social marketing is made by nonprofit or guvernamental organisations in order to
promote a social cause (Kotler, 2006).
All in all (Zaharia, 2002) it could be said, that social marketing is realized by social
organizations that desire the achievement of some social objectives.
According to Carroll (1983) corporate social responsibility involves the conduct of a
business so that it is economically profitable, law abiding, ethical and socially supportive. To
be socially responsible then means that profitability and obedience to the law are foremost
conditions when discussing the firms ethics and the extent to which it supports the society in
which it exists with contributions of money, time and talent.
The economic responsibilities of a company is to produce goods and services of value for
society so as that the company reward its creditors and stakeholders.
Legal responsibilities are those defined by the government through the legislation that
should be respected by the management of a company.
Ethical responsibilities of a company are elements that should be followed by the
management and are related to a certain mode of behavior in society

Philanthropic responsibilities are strictly volunteer elements that a company assumes. The
pyramid put forward by Carroll could be considered an adaptation of the Maslow pyramid
related to the business medium. In this case it has only four layers.

Philanthropic responsibilities
To be a good corporate citizen.
To contribute with resources in
communities, to increase the
quality of life.

Ethical responsibilities
To be ethical.
The obligation to do whats
good.
Legal responsibilities
To respect the law.

Economica responsibilities
To be profitable. It represents the base
of all those other components.

Carolls pyramid of social responsibility

Sursa: Carroll, A. B. 1991. The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility: Toward the
Moral Management of Organizational Stakeholders. Business Horizons, 34: 39-48.
In 1999, Caroll stated that the corporate social responsibility concept will remain as
an essential part of the language and practice of businesses. The author puts forward that this
domain is one extremely consistent and complex and in order to justify this argument, brings
forward the increasing pretensions of the communities towards the business sector. Kotler
(2002) defines the social responsibility of the company as a commitment of the company to
increase the wellfare of the community by business practices and discretionary contributions
from companys resources . And because this definition could be considered too narrow,

Kotler adds the fact that throught the welfare of the community he makes reference as well to
the stakeholders of the company (employees, etc) among other elements related to the
environment. These social initiatives of the company are the main instruments throught
which a company realizes the activities of social responsibility. The elements of social
initiatives of companies are :

Cause Promotions

Cause Related Marketing

Corporate Social Marketing

Corporate Philanthropy

Community Volunteering

Socially Responsible Business Practices

A Cause Promotion implies an action initiated by a company in order to support its growing
notorit and its preoccupation for a social cause through supporting fundraising actions,
participation or recruitment of volunteers. The campaign could use as the instrument to
promot a cause: sponsorship or in-kind contributions. Within this context, a good example is
AVON company that choose to be active in the fight againt breast cancer. Starting from 1992
the cosmetic products company AVON Romania associated its name with a promotion of a
social cause, namely the fight against breast cancer. Starting from a medical reality related to
the fate of women, the breast cancer being the most frequent form of cancer among women,
the company devised a marketing program based on the promotion of this cause, having as
central element the fact that this form of cancer could be prevented and treated.
AVON company realized a series of activities in the society in order to promote this social
cause such as the campaign one in eight women. Besides this, the company started a series
of philanthropic actions consisting in donations dedicated to specialized hospitals. The results

of the campaign surpassed the proposed objectives: 87% notoriety of the company from 57%,
the value of the funds raised was with 40% greater than the previsions.
Cause Realated Marketing it's a type of social responsibility program through which
a company decides to donate a certain amount of money for a social cause which depends on
the turnover realized in a certain period. The marketing related to a cause makes a link
between the company and that specific cause or a nonprofit organization which is afiliated to
that cause(Trimble, 2006).
In 2005 Vodafone initiated in partnership with the Association Mare Nostrum the program
"Clean Seaside". The aim of this program was to stimulate an ecologic behavior and to bring
forwars the importance of a cleaner environment. The idea for the project was inspired by the
situation of the beaches from the Romanian seaside during summertime, where a lot of waste
from the tourists is accumulated, especially plastic. This pollution has negative consequences
for the environment, for the tourists comfort and for the economic potential of the area. In
Romania there is not yet a culture of recycling, not to mention the selective collection of
waste. Therefore the importance of recycling for the protection of the environment is
neglected. The main activities of the project where to put trash bins for selective collection of
trash. In 2005 the number of such trash bins was 300, and in 2006 the number increased to
450. (according to the website: www.responsabilitatesociala.ro)
Corporate Social Marketing it's a way throgh which a company tries to change a
negative behavior and to convince the public to adopt a positive one. Althought within the
program strategies aiming to increase the information and education level are used, the main
aim is represented by the changement of behavior.
Colgate company has launched a compain to change the behavior of the citizens,
related to dental hygiene. Throught this campaign Colgate was not interested in maximizing

the selling for its own product, but rather in developing the market for toothpaste in Romania
because the consumed toothpaste level in Romania was the lowest in the European Union.
Corporate Philantropy it's a direct contribution of a company to a collecting fond or
to a cause, with money or products. Corporate Philantropy could be defined as an act from
the company to donate a share of its resources or profit for a nonprofit cause or to a nonprofit
organization (Milam, 2005 quoted it in Wymer, 2006).
Community Volunteering It is a type of initiative through which a company
encourages its employees, collaborators to act as volunteers for the community. This form of
social responsibility is widespread in the educational sector (universities). Many times
company representatives are coming to teach seminars pro bono for students.
Socially Responsible Business Practices are initiatives of the companies through
which these adopt and manage discretionary practices of business and investments that
support social causes in order to improve social welfare and for the protection of the
environment.
An important element to be analyzed is the level of financial social involvement of the
companies. The Donors Forum a nongovernmental organization from Romania, with
branches in other countries, have realized a classification of the first ten companies that
invest in society in Romania, Hungary, Cehia and Slovakia.
Corporate philantrophy in Romnia ( EUR)
BRD Group Societe General

1.300.000,00

GlaxoSmithKline

562.927,00

Zentiva

362.401,00

A&D Pharma

209.100,00

Commercial Bank HVB

200.000,00

IMPACT

110.000,00

Ductil

67.500,00

Lindab

65.000,00

Ozone Laboratories

50.000,00

Arctic

37.000,00

Total TOP 10

2.963.928,00

Corporate philantrophy in Cehia (EUR)

EZ

7.470.263,00

esk pojisovna (Czech Insurance Company)

5.535.714,00

Mittal Steel Ostrava

4.148.918,00

esk spoitelna

1.816.464,00

Johnson&Johnson

1.368.233,00

Philip Morris Czech Rep.

1.166.523,00

RWE Transgas

1.071.428,00

Telefnica CZ

1.022.069,00

Komern banka

1.020.714,00

eskoslovensk obchodn banka

978.571,00

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Total TOP 10

25.598.897,00

Corporate philantrophy in Slovakia (EUR)

Slovensk plynrensk priemysel (Slovak Gas Industry)

1.367.982,30

eleziarne Podbrezov (Ironworks Podbrezov)

775.404,28

Slovak Telekom

319.623,97

Tipos, nrodn lotriov spolonos (National Gambling

274.060,32

Company)
Tesco Stores SK

225.265,12

GlaxoSmithKline Slovakia

196.416,00

Matador

154.302,50

Vchodoslovensk energetika (East Slovakia Energetic

73.832,83

Company)
Chemkostav

67.925,00

Continental Matador

55.000,00

Total TOP 10

3.509.812,32

Corporate philantrophy in 2006 in Hungary (EUR)

MOL Magyar Olaj s Gzipari

1.755.725,00

Alcoa Kfm

1.225.191,00

Ericsson Hungary

763.359,00

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Pannon GSM

732.825,00

Chinoin Gygyszer

503.817,00

Vodafone Hungary

342.367,00

Mtrai Erm

324.428,00

Philip Morris Hungary

267.176,00

Porsche Hungary

229.008,00

Auchan Hungary.

209.924,00

Total TOP 10

6.353.820,00

Source Forumul Donatorilor www.donorsforum.ro

This chart demonstrates the fact that in Romania the implication of the companies in
community life is relatively reduced compared with Hungary, Slovalia or Cehia. At the same
time this analysis could show a certain tendency that would be manifested in relation to the
field of social responsibility of the company in our country. As long as the activities of these
companies would spread, and the economy would develop it is normal that the investments in
the community to grow. However, the companies should determine the level at which the
investments in the community could bring the best economic efficiency. Therefore, in some
countries in which the economy has reached a certain level of maturity, like the USA,
researchers bring in the discussion the necessity to determine a model in order to calculate
the efficiency of the social responsibility activities.

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