Integrating Social Marketing with service Learning

Social marketing recognizes that neither government nor education can solve the growing range of complex social policy issues facing societies. Social marketing is about voluntary behavioural change for the good of the individual and society, combining individual factors with institutional, organisational and policy variables. Service Learning, as a pedagogical tool, provides a means of connecting students' academic study to community with the explicit intention of promoting active and responsible citizenship. Social marketing is, potentially, extremely compatible with and beneficial to service learning, embracing social change. This paper presents ways in which social marketing can improve service learning as a means for preparing individuals, including business and marketing graduates, to be life-long active citizens.