Guest editorial

Citation

French, J. (2012), "Guest editorial", Journal of Social Marketing, Vol. 2 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/jsocm.2012.51102baa.001

Guest editorial

Article Type: Guest editorial From: Journal of Social Marketing, Volume 2, Issue 2

Being a guest editor for this issue of the Journal of Social Marketing has been a challenging, thought provoking and an enjoyable experience and one that I would recommend to others. Before I set out a few thoughts reflecting on the content of this edition of what is fast becoming the most important journal for those working as academics or practitioners in the field of social marketing I would like to thank a few people who have helped me with my guest editorial duties.

Thanks first to all the people who took the time to submit papers to the journal your efforts and the quality of the submissions were truly impressive. I would also like to thanks the authors for their forbearance through what is a long process of selection and refinement. We were in the great position of having a large number of quality papers to assess which made the selection of the final five papers that appear in this edition a difficult process. In this regard I would also like to extend a big thank you to all those reviewers who gave up their time to review papers and provide great feedback and guidance to authors. I would like to thank all the staff at Emerald for their help and support and finally I would like express my appreciation to Sharyn Rundle-Thiele, co-editor of the journal for all her guidance and encouragement through the selection and publication process.

The papers in this edition cover a wide range of issues from the specific to the philosophical. I will not comment on them individually as you will read and assess them and draw your own conclusions. My view and the view of the reviewers is that these papers represent some of the most interesting papers from the 2nd World Social Marketing Conference which took place in Dublin Ireland in the Spring of 2011. They cover a wide range of issues and I believe also represent a good snapshot of the state of the art of Social Marketing, how it is being applied, some of the practical and philosophical challenges faced by those interested in the field and also what practitioners themselves think are some of the big issues and opportunities that need to be tackled by those working in Social Marketing as we move into what is going to be one of the most extraordinary periods in human development.

As the papers in this edition make clear the world faces a range of complex social challenges that have at their heart human cognition and behaviour. Complex social and behavioural issue such as environmental change, obesity and substance abuse are at the forefront of many individuals and governments thinking whilst at the same time every one is having to come to terms with the massive geo-economic shifts that are taking place around us. These shifts including issues such as the global aging population in most countries and regions, the rapidly changing economic power balance from the developed world to the emerging economies of China, India, Brazil and Russia and others but also the continued impact of growing inequality and in far too many parts of the world persistent abject poverty and all the negative personal and social issues that flow from it.

We are, however, also lucky enough to be living at a time of continued scientific advancement with the fruits of new genetic, biological and physical science rapidly reaching the stage of practical application. Driving and connecting many of these fundamental changes in our increasingly globalised society are developments in the fields of communication technology and applied behavioural science. One of the most fundamental impacts of this explosion of understanding is the necessity for Social Marketing to embrace what Andrew McAuley co-editor of Volume 1 Number 2 of this journal called the extraordinary importance of interdisciplinary working. What is happening in the field of Social Marketing, as demonstrated by the papers in this edition, is the development of a truly inclusive transtheoretical, multidisciplinary applied field of practice. Social Marketing like many other modern fields of applied science is not bound by any pre-set theory of ridging set of rules rather it is driven by a rigorous process of planning and reflection drawing on all relevant sources of understanding and knowledge to create social programmes that are both effective and efficient in bring about social good.

Clearly within the field of Social Marketing there will never be absolute agreement or an algorithm that sets out the perfect programme. However, we are reaching a general consensus about the fundamental building blocks of good practice and the principles and techniques that need to be applied to build and deliver effective and efficient social programmes. A consequence about increased understanding and ability to build effective social change programmes is that even more effort will be required in addressing fundamental ethical and moral questions about what role states, communities and other civic institutions have to play in influencing individuals and groups through Social Marketing. The papers in this edition I believe make a further valuable contribution to our consideration of these issues.

I know that you will find this edition of the Journal of Social Marketing interesting and stimulating, I also hope that you will consider making your own contribution to the debate through considering submitting papers for publication in subsequent editions of the journal. I also hope that I will get the chance to meet you at the next World Social Marketing Conference that is taking place in Toronto Canada between the 21 and 23 April 2013. This event like this journal is helping to advance good practice and the development in the field of Social Marketing. You can find details of the programme at: www.wsmconference.com

Jeff FrenchGuest Editor