Contemporary Europe

Contemporary Europe

Social Marketing

Has the model failed? Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the European social market model in the light of the problems it faces today. Use relevant examples to illustrate your points.

"Social marketing is a process for influencing human behaviour on a large scale, using marketing principles for the purpose of societal benefit rather than commercial profit."

(www.greencom.com)

Introduction

At the end of World War 2 Germany was in a state of total destruction, the country was in need of major rebuilding, and there was a sense of confusion and distortion about the place. The main tasks of the German Government was to uphold the basic living conditions of the public and to come up with a strategy to rebuild the economy.

The debate on how the "New Germany" should be affected almost every political sector. The debate was represented by 2 main counterparts, the socialist or communist side, and the liberal or capitalistic side.

Both these sides wanted different things for the country, and after long talks they still could not come up with an unified decision on which way Germany would go towards. To settle this matter, a Christian Democrat by the name of Ludwig Erhart introduced and implemented the Social Market Model (Known as the Soziale Marktwirtschaft in German). Important figures in the development of the concept include Franz Oppenheimer, Walter Eucken, Wilhelm Rцpke, Franz Bцhm and Alfred Mьller-Armack.

When introduced, the model was very controversial, but once it was accepted it became increasingly popular in Western Germany since economic success was identified with it. By the 1960's, the Social Marketing Economy was used as