Introduction

Macromarketing’s interest in the intersection of society and marketing (Hunt 1981) has fostered theory concerned with systemic problems. Social marketing fits well with a systems approach. Previous articles on social marketing in the journal cover areas such as contraception in India (Dholakia 1984), HIV prevention (Chance and Deshpande´ ۲۰۰۹), relational paradigms (Hastings 2013), social change (Duhaime, McTavish, and Ross 1985), historical change (Krisjanous 2014), negative ideologies (Gurrieri, Previte, and Brace-Goven 2013), and macro-social marketing (Kennedy 2016). This combination of systems theory and systems thinking within social marketing has been steadily growing since the inception of the Journal of Social Marketing (JSM) in 2011. JSM has promoted holistic thinking in addressing “wicked” problems, or systemic issues that are inherently macro, they have many interrelated and interconnecting societal factors that perpetuate the issue, and are inherently hard to define or solve (Rittel and Webber 1973). Environmental degradation, obesity, poverty, gambling, fast fashion, smoking, all are examples of wicked problems and often are examples where the market system plays a leading role in allowing or encouragingthese pandemics. As such, much recent work in social marketing refers to wicked problems and the need for a holistic, systemic approach to address such contexts (Dibb 2014; Hastings 2003; Hoek and Jones 2011). Systems research is especially important when considering the many stakeholders who matter in the environment in which social marketers operate (Lefebvre 2012). Practitioners of social marketing often rely on or interact with other systems such as funding bodies, lobbyists, governments, NGOs and community groups. Such practitioners are often firmly embedded in the fabric of their community and thus need an understanding of the systems structuring their environment. In an effort to minimize the future fragmentation of this emerging area, this article seeks to place the areas’ development within a framework of understanding. It applies critical systems theory philosophy, while respecting the special context of the social marketing discipline. It is not a competition between better or newer theories or approaches. Instead, one might see synergy between multiple methodologies, such as systems thinking and system theory, which are further linked with social marketing literature, and the articles from this special issue, to aid reflection on the areas of work that are currently being undertaken and those that need development.