Toward a Doctrine of Socially Responsible Marketing (SRM): A Macro and Normative-Ethical Perspective

2020/11/24 by Gene R. Laczniak, Gene Laczniak, Clifford J. Shultz +1 · 96 citations
Business, Management and Accounting · Decision Sciences · #Business #Business ethics #Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting #Corporate social responsibility #Doctrine #Ethics in Business and Education #Law #Law and economics #Macromarketing #Management and Organizational Studies #Marketing #Marketing ethics #Normative #Political science #Public relations #Social responsibility #Sociology

paper · open access · doi:10.1177/0276146720963682

published in Journal of Macromarketing 41(2), 201-231 (SAGE Publishing)

crossref issued 2020/11/24 · crossref published 2020/11/24 · crossref published-online 2020/11/24 · openalex publication_date 2020/11/24 · crossref created 2020/11/24 · crossref published-print 2021/06/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref deposited 2026/04/29 · crossref indexed 2026/08/04 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04

Abstract

In this conceptual article, the authors use a macro-level analysis and normative ethical theory to delineate and to explicate a doctrine of socially responsible marketing (SRM). Applying a theory-in-formation approach, we postulate a literature-informed definition of SRM. We discuss why a macro and normative-ethical rather than a micro and positive-descriptive perspective is essential to justifying the elements of SRM. We explore and explain why the roots of an authentic doctrine of SRM can be discerned from the literatures of marketing history, corporate social responsibility, institutional economics and moral philosophy. In so doing, the mandate to engage in socially responsible marketing is shown to be anchored in a social contract. This conception offers three essential elements of SRM—corporate citizenship, stakeholder orientation and social/ecological sustainability—each of which augers a pro-social rather than instrumental-financial approach to marketing practice. We recommend a specific normative-ethical standard, embodied in distributive justice, to best evaluate SRM. We counsel adopting a macromarketing perspective of constructive engagement for those seeking responsible marketing for a better society and world. Finally, we offer a short research agenda for advancing Marketing’s embrace of SRM.

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Cited by

• Socially Responsible (Macro-Social) Marketing
• A Tri-Sector Model for Market Emancipation: Bridging the Algorithmic Divide