THE PREEMINENCE OF SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY MARKETING TOWARDS CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY: A CRITICAL NOTIONAL SCRUTINY IN AN ORGANIZATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

The concept of corporate social responsibility is developed with the notion that corporations have responsibilities that go beyond their legal obligations. Despite the mounting diverse focus on corporate social responsibility, claims are common that business situations routinely pose ethical dilemmas and complicated issues. Thus, certain business practices seem unethical or illegal. These contradictory viewpoints pose a quest as to how social responsibility marketing contributes to enhance the concept of corporate social responsibility in the organizational scenario. The purpose of this paper is to theoretically scrutinize to what extent marketing as a business philosophy and a business function contributes towards corporate social responsibility. The study relied on extensive literature upon gathering various concepts and definitions related to corporate social responsibility and social responsibility marketing perspectives. The paper discusses corporate social responsibility in different perspectives such as Corporate Philanthropy, Social Disclosure, Company’s Environmental Record, Workforce Diversity, Financial Health and the tendency to grow and Community Involvement with the aspects of legal, ethical, economical and philanthropic responsibility. Corporate social responsibility calls for a new trend that enlarges the marketing concept towards “societal marketing concept as a business philosophy. The societal marketing calls upon marketers to build social and ethical considerations into their marketing practices. Corporate social marketing, Cause marketing, Corporate Philanthropy, Corporate community involvement, socially responsible business practices and Cause related marketing are some corporate social initiatives practiced by a marketer throughout the marketing management process. In conclusion, though marketing practice is controversial, theoretically it is proven that social responsibility marketing is the key towards corporate social responsibility.

Keywords: Business Function, Business Philosophy, Corporate Social Responsibility, Organization, Social Responsibility Marketing

For full paper: fmscresearch@sjp.ac.lk