Handbook of Marketing and Society

Book excerpt: Marketing scholars have a long history of conducting research on how marketing affects the welfare of society. A significant body of knowledge has developed to look beyond marketing's impact on the corporate bottom line towards the affects of marketing on consumer sovereignty, public health, economic growth, and other aspect of societal welfare. The large and growing amount of research has become fragmented and diverse. There is a need for a volume to pull all of this research together to facilitate the assessment of what we have learned and what we need to study further. This volume fills that need! Handbook of Marketing and Society presents the first comprehensive, in-depth examination of scholarly research on how marketing affects societal welfare. Drawing on the talents of a distinguished group of contributors, the editors have assembled key reviews, analyses, and perspectives on a broad range of research topics including deceptive advertising, warning labels, trademark infringement, antitrust enforcement, environmental labels, privacy protection, social marketing, and corporate societal marketing. An unifying model is presented in the introduction that illustrates the linkage of marketing knowledge, marketing decisions, and societal welfare. Each chapter covers, in a purposeful way, a different link or path through which marketing can affect societal welfare. Future research needs are identified in each chapter in order to help focus marketing thinking and marketing practice serve society more effectively. Academics, graduate students, and others interested in marketing's role in society will find this a valuable resource and an excellent guidebook for future research.