An empirical study of social enterprise marketing that creates social value : a case study of food social enterprises in Thailand | |
| Author | Sorawadee Srivetbodee |
| Call Number | AIT Diss. no.SM-18-03 |
| Subject(s) | Social entrepreneurship Social responsibility of business Food industry and trade--Thailand--Case studies |
| Note | A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Management |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | Marketing not only creates economic value for a social enterprise, it also must create social value. This study adopts a case research approach to seven food-focused social entrepreneurs in Thailand to examine how the marketing strategy can support social value creation. The findings reveal that the majority of the social enterprises addressed a social problem articulated in their marketing strategy to demonstrate the benefit for producers and the society. The extant literature on social enterprise marketing could be validated for the context of Thailand. Key contribution of the case research findings include a holistic set of propositions for social enterprise marketers how to create social value beyond a narrow scope of the target beneficiaries to include society as a whole. Recommendations for social enterprise policy makers are made to support improving the marketing strategy to address social problems and emphasize social value creation. This study also employed, in parallel, consumer store-intercept surveys of customers of one selected food social entrepreneur from the case sample. This survey examines how social enterprise consumers perceive quality and value when considering to buy social enterprise food products. The results from one hundred and forty valid survey questionnaires indicate two major findings. The first confirms that product and communication as identified in the case research of social enterprises does affect perceived quality. Likewise, pricing and service affect perceived sacrifice. The second finding is that a majority of consumers who regularly purchase social enterprise products perceive societal value (helping the vulnerable producers and protecting the environment) as secondary to the product’s functional value, of good taste, nutritional value and variety, the social acceptance value, namely social acceptance and affiliation, and the emotional value of feeling happy and satisfied with the social enterprise food products. These consumer research-based findings help extend the application of consumer perception theories, notably Ziethaml’s model (1988) and Dodds, Monroe, and Grewal’s model (1991), to the context of food-focused social entrepreneurship. Resulting recommendations to policy makers include to focus more on marketing tools and perceived value which are viewed by consumers as important. Choosing an integrative view of the underlying theme by adopting a mixed-method research approach, this study offers important theoretical implications. Being the first of its kind that proposes within a single study frame an integrated conceptual framework with propositions for social enterprise marketing and hypotheses of consumer perceptions. Social enterprise marketers can grasp the benefits of the findings from social entrepreneurs and consumers, both of which can complement to more effective marketing strategy. As social entrepreneur and consumer findings demonstrated, social enterprise marketers are advised to put the communicative message about social acceptance value and functional value (consumer findings) in addition to the stories of marginalized producers and societal problem (social enterprise findings). Finally, policy makers can also benefit from the integrative findings when designing, incentives and support for social enterprises’ marketing to stimulate not only social value creation, but also to respond to the quality and value expectations of consumers. As such, marketing cost can be reduced and marketing effectiveness increased and maintained. In particular, Department of Business Development, Ministry of Commerce, might plan aiding policy based on the findings (i.e., expanding distribution channels, developing new products, and communicating social missions with consumers) to fulfill one of its major roadmaps (SE marketing pillars) and more importantly to strengthen social enterprises in Thailand. |
| Year | 2018 |
| Type | Dissertation |
| School | School of Management |
| Department | Other Field of Studies (No Department) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Doctor of Philosophy in Management (Publication code = SM) |
| Chairperson(s) | Igel, Barbara |
| Examination Committee(s) | Vatcharapol Sukhotu;Kusakabe, Kyoko;Suthisak Kraisornsuthasinee; |
| Degree | Thesis (Ph.D.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2018 |