Societal marketing: integration of European experiences into business practices in Belarus

The purpose of this paper is to analyse whether the concept of societal marketing being practised in developed countries can be directly applied to countries in transition, such as Belarus, and what adjustments would be beneficial to achieve this. The paper takes a comprehensive view of the complex linkages between the implementation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) principles by examining elements of societal marketing in the European Union (EU) countries and in Belarus. The research presents two groups of companies in Belarus: Start-up companies see their CSR activities as philanthropic actions; and On-the-way companies integrate elements of societal marketing such as vision and stakeholder management into their practices. The European societal marketing experience can act as a mechanism for further integrating CSR principles into business practices in Belarus. This depends on the aptitude of the companies for social innovation, the level of stakeholder involvement and the governmental support for CSR policy creation.