Dimensions of social responsibility in marketing

A growing lack of consumer confidence and demands from the consumer protection movement pressure marketing to broaden its functions beyond the design of a good marketing mix, so that businesses commit themselves to social responsibility (SR). However, the dimensions of this amplified marketing function are unknown. The objective of this article is to identify and validate the dimensions that make up the new construct called Socially Responsible Marketing (SRM). To accomplish this, content analysis was performed on the normative and diagnostic instruments for social responsibility; and the proposal for SRM dimensions and items was submitted to a panel of 40 experts for consideration. As a result, six dimensions were identified and, preliminarily, 141 items were selected. The content of these dimensions suggests that SRM ought to invade all levels of the organization. The identification and content of these dimensions constitutes a valuable contribution to the academic marketing community, companies, consumers and those responsible for designing public policies. With this study, the first steps have been taken toward developing a reliable, valid scale that permits measuring consumer attitude toward socially responsible marketing in later confirmatory studies.