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Innovations in Social Marketing and Public Health Communication pp 107–132Cite as

Faces of Power, Ethical Decision Making and Moral Intensity. Reflections on the Need for Critical Social Marketing

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Part of the book series: Applying Quality of Life Research ((BEPR))

Abstract

Adopting an ‘agnostic’ approach to power leaves social marketing open to strong criticism and without a mandate to fully evaluate its effects. This chapter considers the implications of this and proposes a way forward. Following an orientating overview of social marketing’s evolution, it is proposed that being able to incorporate the framing effects of power through a critical social marketing lens would support social marketing in countering its critics and offer quality self-review. A discussion of what kinds of power can be wielded through organisations acknowledges that an ethical decision-making process is fundamental. Moreover, it would be important for any ethical codes to encourage challenging thinking that takes full account of interventions, including inadvertent effects, and must be guided by the moral intensity of the social issue. High quality evaluative research would offer a means to critically engage with the impact of social marketing on quality of life and provide an ongoing source of educational development.

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  1. Department of Marketing, Monash Business School, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Jan Brace-Govan

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Correspondence to Jan Brace-Govan .

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  1. Faculty of Management, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada

    Walter Wymer

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Brace-Govan, J. (2015). Faces of Power, Ethical Decision Making and Moral Intensity. Reflections on the Need for Critical Social Marketing. In: Wymer, W. (eds) Innovations in Social Marketing and Public Health Communication. Applying Quality of Life Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19869-9_6

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