ABSTRACT

Marketing emerged as a discipline following the industrial revolution, when the supply of goods began to exceed consumer demand. Before then, merchandise was generally made to order. As mass production increased the supply of merchandise, however, there was far more than enough to meet society's basic needs and it became necessary to stimulate demand to take up the excess. In both the public and nonprofit sectors, social marketing found a fertile seedbed. On one hand, the concern for human rights created pressure for government action. On the other, it led to the establishment of nonprofit institutions, which were seen as a means of meeting social needs being overlooked by public and private enterprises such as the need for schools, hospitals, non-toll roads, bridges, canals, and waterworks. The marketing of any product, tangible or abstract, benefits from the preparation of a marketing plan, usually one based on the time-honored four P's—product, price, promotion, and place (distribution).