Content uploaded by Carla Rodriguez-Sanchez
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Carla Rodriguez-Sanchez on Jun 12, 2023
Content may be subject to copyright.
Social Marketing Statement of Ethics
Agreed by the iSMA Board in May 2023
The International Social Marketing Association (iSMA)
iii
adopted this Social Marketing
Statement of Ethics to support the ethical conduct of social marketing professionals,
including practitioners, scholars and students, in all areas of their professional
activities.
The statement is intended to promote conscious engagement with diverse ethical
issues arising in social marketing work.
As social marketers we have a duty to observe the highest standards of personal and
professional conduct. Behaviour change programmes and projects that seek to
influence individuals and communities ideally should be developed and delivered in a
way that demonstrates that any potential ethical concerns have been identified,
considered and addressed.
We recognise that social marketers working across different social issues and contexts
face a diverse range of ethical issues, therefore the principles set out in this paper
have been developed to be succinct but also generic enough to be capable of creating
a common ethical narrative and shared foundation for all social marketers, identifying
potential areas of ethical concern and consider what mitigating actions are necessary.
Suggested citation: Kubacki, K, Akbar, B, Chamorro, JB, French, J, Lee, D, Ong,
DLT, Rodríguez-Sánchez, C, Veríssimo & Ward, D (2023) Social Marketing
Statement of Ethics, International Social Marketing Association, May 2023. Available
at: https://isocialmarketing.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2022/10/Socal-Marketing-
Ethics-guidance-for-consultation-Board-aproved-September-2022.pdf
The 6 Principles
As social marketers we are committed to the highest standard of personal and
professional ethics, guided by the following six social marketing ethical principles:
1. Respect and sensitivity: Respect for people’s privacy, autonomy, diversity,
free and informed choice and rights to participation and non-participation,
inclusion and exclusion, and control over their lives.
2. Social justice and fairness: Promotion of social justice and avoidance of
unfair distribution of benefits and burdens.
3. Openness and transparency: Transparency of goals, methods, intended and
achieved outcomes, data ownership, and potential or apparent benefits and
risks to target group(s) and society.
4. Avoidance of conflicts of interest: Avoidance of potential or apparent
conflicts of interest, including opportunity for personal and reputational gain or
avoidance of loss; promote public trust in social marketing.
5. Duty of care and nonmaleficence: Endeavour to do no physical,
psychological or environmental harm and exercise a duty of care, integrity and
professional and scientific responsibility.
6. Serve public interest: Fulfil social and political mandate and identify
responsibilities and accountabilities for all stakeholders.
Details:
Principle 1
Respect and sensitivity: Respect for people’s privacy, autonomy, diversity, free and
informed choice and rights to participation and non-participation, inclusion and
exclusion, and control over their lives.
Standards
Social marketers should:
1.1 Reflect on their own assumptions, beliefs, values, attitudes and behaviours to
treat all people with respect and empathy.
1.2 Respect and uphold people’s right to privacy with understanding and sensitivity.
1.3 Consult with people to identify best approaches to overcome exclusion and
meet their needs.
1.4 Observe and respect the autonomy of individuals, groups, communities and
other organisations and work in partnership with them.
1.5 Ensure access to social marketing programmes for people who continue
engaging in behaviours that negatively affect their health and well-being.
1.6 Respect people’s desire for non-participation and withdrawal from social
marketing programmes at any time.
1.7 Acknowledge demographic, experiential and cognitive diversity and approach
all types of diversity without prejudice.
1.8 Listen to people and support their free and informed choice.
1.9 Take steps to provide people with opportunities for participation and inclusion
in social marketing programmes.
1.10 Recognise and strive for a pluralistic society in which people from various
segments are actively involved in solving its problems.
Principle 2
Social justice and fairness: Promotion of social justice and avoidance of unfair
distribution of benefits and burdens.
Standards
Social marketers should:
1. Acknowledge that all people are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
2. Recognise that all people vary in their stories, cultures, resources, opportunities,
and self-identities.
3. Acknowledge that different people may need different approaches to achieve
common or specific goals.
4. Consider the difference between equality and equity in approaches: recognise that
equal interventions have the potential of promoting inequity and may themselves
be a barrier to achieving common goals.
5. Ensure equitable distribution of resources, including, but not limited to research
effort, time and financial support.
6. Establish social marketing goals based upon a broadly shared recognition of a
societal problem and collective aspirations.
7. Identify and address inequities in social marketing practice.
8. Engage in social marketing practice without imposing hierarchy or superiority.
9. Provide people with ample opportunity to share their views and provide input in the
design of social marketing programmes.
10. Create processes and structures that respect people´s time, trust and willingness
to participate in social marketing programmes.
Principle 3
Openness and transparency: Transparency of goals, methods, intended and
achieved outcomes, data ownership, and potential or apparent benefits and risks to
target group(s) and society.
Standards
Social marketers should:
3.1 Ensure openness and transparency in the process of setting goals and selecting
beneficiaries and stakeholders of social marketing programmes.
3.2 Ensure social marketing goals and programmes are informed by input from
beneficiaries and stakeholders as well as appropriate primary research, secondary
data and evidence reviews.
3.3 Be open, clear, and transparent in the communication of predetermined goals of
social marketing programmes to all stakeholders.
3.4 Identify the duration, level and nature of involvement for all stakeholders in social
marketing programmes.
3.5 Work to ensure that social marketing programmes are planned, delivered and
evaluated in accordance with iSMA and affiliated associations approved professional
occupational standards.
3.6 Articulate the rationale for the selection of the programme mix.
3.7 Articulate the rationale behind methods employed to monitor and evaluate social
marketing programmes.
3.8 Be open about apparent and potential benefits and risks to social marketing
programme stakeholders and wider society.
3.9 Ensure contingency plans are considered to ameliorate any potential unintended
consequences of social marketing programmes.
3.10 Ensure all data collection and storage protocols are compliant with relevant legal
and ethical requirements, and the protocols are subject to regular review.
Principle 4
Avoidance of conflicts of interest: Avoidance of potential or apparent conflicts of
interest, including the opportunity for personal and reputational gain or avoidance of
loss; promote public trust in social marketing.
Standards
Social marketers should:
4.1 Recognise and publicly document any potential conflict of interest, including
personal and professional relationships with other stakeholders, before developing
and implementing social marketing programmes.
4.2 Demonstrate their commitment to the social good in words and actions.
4.3 Act in ways that cannot be interpreted as being primarily focused on and driven by
outcomes that result in gaining personal and reputational gain or avoidance of loss.
4.4 Accurately represent all benefits from participating in social marketing programmes
for their organisation.
4.5 Respect the resources of all stakeholders and target audiences involved in social
marketing programmes.
4.6 Report any concerns to their superiors if they believe that the ethicality of a social
marketing programme may be compromised.
4.7 Promote and advocate for an impartial social marketing profession.
4.8 Act in a way that promotes public confidence and trust in social marketing and the
social marketing profession.
4.9 Provide opportunities for all stakeholders to raise concerns openly as part of
routine social marketing programme monitoring and evaluation.
Principle 5
Duty of care and nonmaleficence: Endeavour to do no physical, psychological or
environmental harm and exercise a duty of care, integrity and professional and
scientific responsibility.
Standards
Social marketers should:
1. Respect notions of harm and benefit from the perspectives of participants and other
stakeholders, recognising these concepts have physical, psychological and
environmental components.
2. Recognise that notions of harm and benefit vary between individuals, based on
factors such as demography, disability, as well as socio-cultural and political
contexts.
3. Reflect on the uncertainty that underpins planning and execution of social
marketing programmes to avoid or minimise harm, including from unintended
consequences.
4. Take steps to avoid or minimise unreasonable risk of harm or injury that can arise
through either negligence in planning or the participation in social marketing
programmes.
5. Take a precautionary approach to balancing benefits and risks resulting from social
marketing programmes, especially when evidence of the impact of an intervention
in a given context is lacking.
6. Acknowledge that the perception of urgency for action does not diminish the need
to minimise harm.
7. Promote the well-being of those participating or otherwise affected by social
marketing programmes.
8. Take a precautionary approach when working with individuals and communities
that can be considered as vulnerable.
9. Obtain consent from parents or legal guardians when engaging minors or
individuals unable to make free and informed choices regarding social marketing
programmes.
Principle 6
Serve public interest: Fulfil social and political mandate and identify responsibilities
and accountabilities for all stakeholders.
Standards
Social marketers should:
1. Avoid adopting ideology and actions that are biased against any groups or
individuals.
2. Ensure social marketing programmes respect and comply with the restrictions
imposed by law, customary law, and codes of conduct agreed at international,
national and regional levels.
3. Work to influence and support partners and stakeholders to uphold social rights.
4. Ensure that the ultimate goal of the social marketing programme is good for
society.
5. Pursue objectives of societal interest and avoid the use of public resources to
satisfy interests of individual stakeholders.
6. Strive to consider the requirements of all the stakeholders, which includes a
willingness to explain and justify all actions if necessary.
7. Exercise their profession in a way that identifies and develops the potential
strengths of people to facilitate their empowerment.
8. Evaluate the ethicality of a policy and/or social marketing programme before
agreeing to develop a programme mix.
9. Facilitate effective and meaningful cooperation with relevant organisations and
other entities whose policies or programmes have the same common objective with
that of the social marketing programme.
10. Acknowledge that social marketing programmes may cause unintended
consequences and take steps to minimise that risk.
………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Correspondence:
All correspondence related to this paper should be addressed to the ethics working
committee chair: Krzysztof Kubacki krzysztof.kubacki@plymouth.ac.uk
Notes:
i
In November 2018 the first working group was established to develop the initial
statement of ethics, including the 6 principles, on behalf of iSMA, including Krzysztof
Kubacki (chair), Diogo Veríssimo (International Social Marketing Association
representative), Jim Mintz (Social Marketing Association of North America
representative), Dave Ward (Pacific Northwest Social Marketing Association
representative), Lynne Eagle (Australia Association of Social Marketing
representative), Jeff French (European Social Marketing Association representative),
Inés Besada Paullier (Latin American Social Marketing Association representative)
and Duncan Musumba (African Social Marketing Association representative).
ii
In September 2021 the second working group was established to develop the
standards accompanying the initial 6 principles, on behalf of iSMA, including Krzysztof
Kubacki (chair), Bilal Akbar, Jackeline Bravo Chamorro, Jeff French, Daisy Lee, Derek
Ong Lai Teik, Carla Rodríguez-Sánchez, Diogo Veríssimo and Dave Ward.
