Social exclusion and economic growth at the European Union: can social marketing and behavioral economics help us to overcome the problem?

Abstract

The problem of poverty and social exclusion is growing nowadays in the European Union context, according to Eurostat (2015 and 2016). And, in spite of the fact that Europe 2020 Strategy is apparently focused on that situation, the perspectives are not promising. What could be happening? In this paper we analyze this issue from a Macromarketing approach, including elements from Behavioral Economics (stigmatization process and stress coping theories, going further than the “homo economicus” traditional model) to reach a better understanding, and recommending a combined public-private response to overcome the problem, using the elements that Marketing provide us (such as Social Marketing, Macro-social Marketing, Corporate Social Marketing and also traditional Commercial Marketing techniques, under a “fortune at the bottom of the pyramid” approach). Doing so, we do not only want to eradicate this sort of curse, but also to boost economic growth in an effective inclusive manner.