Learning From Practice and Politics: The Rise and Fall of Social Marketing in Aotearoa New Zealand (1984–2017)

Background: This article is the first to explore the emergence and evolution of social marketing as a professional practice in Aotearoa New Zealand [1] (NZ). Focus of the Article: The article identifies key political factors enabling the emergence, and causing the decline, of social marketing in NZ. Research Question: What are the factors that practitioners of social marketing identify as most influential on its development in NZ? Importance to the Social Marketing Field: The article makes a unique contribution to the growing literature on the history of social marketing in different jurisdictions by providing the first account of how social marketing evolved in NZ and by identifying the crucial role of political factors. Methods: The research is based on appreciative inquiry-based interviews with 20 experienced social marketers and a review of key documents. Because the field in NZ is small, it was possible to interview almost all of the leading figures. Results: This study constructs a timeline of significant political impacts on social marketing in NZ and identifies neoliberal approaches as key. Initially, neoliberalism enabled the growth of social marketing due to its emphasis on individual responsibility for health. Later, a neoliberal agenda helped disestablish the discipline due to social marketing shifting focus from downstream to upstream economic, political and social factors. Recommendations for Research or Practice: This research concludes that to sustain the legitimacy of their field, social marketers need to produce ongoing evidence-based communication of their effectiveness and responsibility and be less dependent on government funding. It also suggests the continuing enlargement of specifically situated studies of the different evolutions of social marketing in different places to better map commonalities and contrasts. Limitations: The study is limited to social marketing in NZ and would be strengthened by comparative studies of social marketing within other cultures and political systems during particular historical periods. While mainly exploring NZ social marketers’ experience from their own point of view, it could be broadened to include other perspectives.