Marketing as a business activity has been defined variously by various marketing scholars (see Hunt, 1976, Kotler, 2011) and by various Marketing Associations. However, all the different definitions reflect a common theme of marketing as a process and an activity. Marketing as a business activity is dynamic and has evolved over the years to address business and consumer needs of the period. Marketing in the 21st Century is certainly different from marketing in the 19th or even the 20th century, and one can say with a high level of certainty that marketing one hundred years from now will be different from marketing of today.
Marketing has the power to improve lives, sustain livelihoods, strengthen societies, and benefit the world at large. At the same time, marketing can have a dark side—it has the power to hurt consumers, employees, communities, markets, institutions, and the environment that surrounds us.
“Better marketing” includes a wide variety of approaches, activities, and systems. It is not restricted solely to the actions of marketing managers within commercial firms. Studies that involve marketing by organizations or individuals for whom profit is not a primary motive (e.g., NGOs, governments, activists, or charitable organizations) are welcome.
One billion people globally entered the 21st century being unable to read or write and 80% live on less than $10/day according to recent statistics on poverty. According to, Dr. Philip Kotler, often called the Godfather of Marketing Management, reminded scholars from across the globe of the unique power that marketers have in serving consumers. Dr. Kotler talked about the nobility of a profession that seeks to deeply understand consumers and works every day to solve their significant problems. No other function in the firm can have such an important and life-changing impact on the globe’s consumers.
The focus of this conference is on “marketing contribution towards the better world” emphasizes on the issues of ‘understanding complexity’ and ‘transforming the marketplace’ and underscores the importance of unpacking emergent marketing processes by a close examination of their complexity and identification of ways to transform the marketplace into a better world. To that end, creative applications and development of new methods and theories are welcome. Thus, the conference is interested in papers that deal with, but are not limited to topics such as:
• Marketing for Children, Elderly and Bottom-of the –Pyramid
• Marketing for Not-for-Profit Sector
• Marketing in the Digital Era
• Marketing, Consumption and Spirituality
• Marketing for emerging tourist destinations
• Innovations and creativity in Marketing
• Sustainability, Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility in Marketing
• Marketing in Higher Education
• Marketing in Politics
• Marketing for Entrepreneurs
• Sports Marketing
• Healthcare Marketing
• Marketing in the Field of Entertainment
