ABSTRACT
Marketing, then, "is a neutral methodology and social marketing is its adaptation to social imperatives". Almost more important than the methodology itself is the set of underlying ideas, which can animate much more than a marketplace. The ideas are worth a fairly close look because of their congruence with, and relevance in, projects for social change. In practice, social change and marketing are both about modifying group behavior, the one in a community, the other in a market. In either case, the quarry is an elusive, tricky target. Both must deal with resistance to change and with competition for attention and/or clientele. Both need clear, strong distribution channels for ideas and products. Both require a price to be paid by those benefited, or canvassed. But the major "market segment" for social marketing is surely the Third World, where the real challenges lie because the issues deal with life and death and the scale is vast.
