ABSTRACT
SM, it may be argued, was a by-product of the development of marketing. In fact its widely considered inception, through an article that signalled the first announcement of SM, had as its title ‘Broadening the concept of marketing’ (Kotler and Levy, 1969) although the actual title was not formally formulated until later (Kotler and Zaltman, 1971; MacFadyen, et al., 1999). Indeed the jump was relatively simple from a remarkably successful commercial marketing to a marketing whose aim is to enhance people’s healthier behaviours and, consequently, lifestyles. This was especially reinforced by the general finding that many social ills originate from unhealthy behaviour (such as smoking and obesity). Nevertheless, the principle had already been in existence well before the publication of these articles as shown through the publication of Wiebe’s paper (1952) where he enquired whether it was possible to ‘sell brotherhood like soap’.
