What makes people want to donate money to a charitable cause, or buy environmentally friendly products? You could ask a psychologist — but you might also ask Karen Winterich, a marketing expert at Penn State who studies how people make decisions. She has a few thoughts on how we can better encourage behaviors, like recycling, for the greater good.
Discover: So, first, let’s talk marketing. I think a lot of people, myself included, think of marketing as purely business-centric, like advertising — how to sell stuff. In your view, what is marketing all about?
Winterich: Marketing does get a bad rap for just selling stuff — and particularly stuff we don’t need. But marketing can influence behavior for better or for worse. So while the definition in a business-school sense might be that marketing is the business function that drives revenue, we can also have marketing for social good. Like public campaigns, public service announcements. It can go both ways.
