Abstract
Social marketing is the application of marketing principles and exchange to social issues. It is best known for its use in campaigns related to public health and the environment. Successful strategies dealing with obesity, tobacco consumption, family planning, safe sex, recycling, waste management and water purity are the more common applications (Kotler et al., 2002; Andreasen, 2002; Hastings, 2003). It is widely accepted that many social problems have underlying behavioral causes. As social marketing is about influencing behavioral exchange outcomes, we have witnessed dramatic growth in its use (Gordon et al., 2006). Both commercial and non-profit organizations alike are undertaking social marketing, especially in areas where educational and legal interventions have failed (Diamond and Oppenheim, 2004). It has been also pointed out that the number of international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) alone rose from 6,000 in 1990 to reach 26,000 in 1996 (The Economist, 1999), and 37,000 in 2002 (UNDP, 2002). Figures for NGOs operating at national level are much higher: Russia, for instance is estimated to have some 277,000 NGOs and India between 1 million and 2 million NGOs (Chicago Tribune, 2007). In 2006, it was estimated that there were some 1.5 million NGOs in the USA alone (McGann and Johnstone, 2006). NGOs have been a positive force in domestic and international affairs, working to alleviate poverty, protect human rights, preserve the environment, and provide relief worldwide. The growth of NGOs has been too a large extent fuelled by the inability of both domestic and international institutions to respond adequately to major economic, social and political changes which have been taking place at a fast pace (Heap, 2000). Moreover, in line with Government Programme 2012-2015, a National NGO Policy has been elaborated by the Ministry of Social Security, National Solidarity & Reform Institutions in collaboration with the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India and NGO stakeholders in 2012. The aim of the Policy Paper was to create an enabling environment for a strengthened Government, private sector and NGO sector partnership in addressing emerging social challenges. The Policy Paper also addressed the issue of financial sustainability of NGOs through the adoption of the innovative concept of social entrepreneurship and social marketing. In pursuance of the above, the Government programme 2012- 2015 mentioned that a National NGO Policy based on the innovative concept of social entrepreneurship and social marketing would be developed. It has been recommended to: Spearhead social entrepreneurship and social marketing culture as a way of life in the NGO sector' (NGO policy paper, page 16, 2012). Empirical evidence has demonstrated that there exist several difficulties of applying conventional marketing theory and practice in pursuit of more sustainable consumption, hence, the upsurge of an adapted form of social marketing to promote greater sustainability among NGOs is emerging as a new paradigm. In the past, traditional marketing has been the only marketing method used by NGOs in Mauritius. Although social marketing has been a term for over forty years, it has been introduced in developing countries just recently and the concept of social marketing is gaining greater momentum in emerging countries. It should also be noted that the biggest limitation which NGOs face is the limited access to resources; they operate on very small amount of money. However, it is this limitation which has led to the development of a very innovative culture within such organizations and also, NGOs usually enjoy high levels of trust amongst people and therefore, they get trusted to go in and experiment, it is not unusual to find an NGO taking something which it right at the edge of cutting end technology and using it for a purpose. They are very quick to be in the latest place and they operate in an innovative culture within their limited resources. Hence, the future sustainability of NGOs depends on the proper application of social marketing strategies. Therefore, it is highly recommended that NGOs integrate a unique social marketing culture in order to achieve greater sustainability and at the same time, make a positive social contribution in the context of Mauritius. The main Objectives of the Study were: i.To understand NGOsâ views on Social Marketing.
ii. To analyze the importance of Social Marketing in NGOs.
iii. To identify capacity building activities for NGOs with the right learning and development strategies towards fostering social marketing culture in NGOs
iv. To investigate the nature of partnerships between business community and NGOs for human and social capital building