Critical Social Marketing in Troubling Times

This chapter explores critical social marketing – which “examines the impact of commercial marketing and business on society and/or critically analyses social marketing theories, concepts, discourses and practice, to generate critique, conflict and change that facilitates social good” ( Gordon, 2018 , p. 86). It begins with an overview of social marketing’s foundations and the rise of critical perspectives in the field. The chapter then discusses contemporary literature on critical social marketing, covering topics such as marketing’s influence on social issues, reflexivity, power, socio-cultural and systems perspectives, gender and intersectionality, decolonisation, and ethics. It concludes with reflections on the future development of critical social marketing.