Business for public behavior change

Some of the most visible changes observed in Nepal since the last decade are the growing availability and use of new communication technologies (such as cellular computers, phones, email, internet, WiFi), fashion (traditional clothing are being replaced by jeans and shorts), Coke, Pepsi and beer and etc. They are available even in the remote districts where vital and basic needs are yet to reach. Similarly, other examples of changes are the increased accessibility and consumption of imported fruits and vegetables, behavioral growing number of vehicles on the road, increasing popularity and growth of private hospitals, departmental stores within the metropolitan areas, and private banking services. English medium schools, which were exclusive to the higher class until the last few decades, are now accessible even to the lower middle class due to increased availability of commercial private schools in the country.

As a consequential effect of such changes, people’s expectations have also changed. Even common people now look for English medium schools for their children. They like to drink Coke or Pepsi whenever they have extra money; they prefer to get treatment at the private hospitals instead of public one. Various low interest loans offered by private banks have enabled commoners to own land/homes, cars, jeep and motorbikes, which they never would have hoped even to dream. Introduction of cable cars to the Manakamana temple, situated in relatively inaccessible location in the mountain has not only redefined the mode of transportation but also ensured economic growth within the area.

We can come up with thousands of examples of such behavioral changes in the society that seem so natural.

What causes these public behavioral changes? The majority of these behavioral changes took place not because of any community, social or political movements, but because of growing marketing and commercial activities in the country. It is already evident that if there is anything that can effectively change public behavior, it is “marketing and commercialization” process.

Social, political or economic success is possible only with marketing and commercial support. No political party, parliamentary system of democracy or a particular culture or national identity of any country will ever survive without increased commercial, marketing and business activities. It has become very common practice to hire advertising companies by political parties during elections. Despites general social denial, Marketing and commercialization are in fact the pillars, not anti-social elements of the society. Business leaders and entrepreneurs, not the politicians, should lead the country.

Now, marketing and business define our personality, thoughts and our value system. It defines who we are, distinguishable by what we use and do. Marketing creates consumers’ faith in products that may range from simple brands to as complex as religious belief, tradition, or culture. The economic status of our parents, the schools in which we studied, the dress we wore and the social culture in which we grew are some of the ingredients of our value system and of our personality, the source of which is the commercial and business world. Behind every religious, cultural or political value, there is economic factor involved.

The marketing of values needs a lot higher level of sophistication, the example being the marketing of religious values, which have successfully created an indispensable faith, and even fanaticism among people. Some of the world’s well-known pundits/gurus, such as Saibaba and Osho, were great marketers and religious entrepreneurs who saw some niché market to market themselves as divine representatives. Ramayan and Mahabharat were some of the other brilliant marketing strategies designed the past to achieve religious goals.

Not all marketing products are obvious and conventional. They may be in different forms. An example of such products is the political parties, which are de facto “political entrepreneurs” who see opportunity to cash-in from people’s aspiration. A successful political party follows all the marketing process; first it identifies people’s aspiration, makes them party’s manifesto, and markets the party with a promise to fulfill public desire for the price of a vote. If a political party knows good marketing, it ensures fulfillment of all its commitments. Ambassadors and diplomats are marketing agents assigned to market the national interest of the country they represent. A school of thought would be that the ambassadors/diplomats should come from marketing or business backgrounds.

Marketing and commercial status indicates the modernity and the development status of a country. A major difference between developed countries and developing countries is that, while developed countries acknowledge and make use of the power of marketing, privatization, and free entrepreneurship to develop their country, developing countries like ours, deny this fact and live in the illusionary world of culture, tradition, charity and socialization and over idealization. In places like Nepal, leaders seem to give too much emphasis on political freedom rather than on economic development. Only they think economic development will strip them of their power.

The only way to change the “developing” status of a country to the “developed” status is to harness its commercial, business and marketing skills, functions and practices. A country cannot prosper unless we change public behaviors to be more enterprising, positive, diligent and healthy. We can change that only through informed choices, and that can happen only if we adopt a marketing approach. A country cannot remain democratic unless its people meet basic needs, and trying to achieve that through political clamor is far from rare possibility.

The question is not about what marketing and business process cannot do; it is about knowing what they can do. Can we use marketing and business process to motivate people to pay tax, discipline people to follow traffic rules, or wash hands or increase patriotism? Yes, we can make it happened by using marketing and business process and much more if we begin to realize their miraculous power to change public behavior.