Systematic Reviews: Their Emerging Role in the Co-Creation of Social Marketing Value

The exponential decline in economic growth and competitiveness, coupled with a growing number of complex social problems are creating challenging times for policy makers. Complex and multifaceted issues cannot be solved by government alone and therefore, social marketers need a more sophisticated and comprehensive understanding of ways to inform policy and shape strategies. Systematic reviews offer an evidence-base to close the strategic gap between theory and practice. This paper will illustrate through a strategic social marketing perspective, how systematic reviews can actively facilitate partnerships between social marketers, researchers and policy makers, at both upstream and downstream levels through an innovative co-created networked approach.