Structured Abstract:

Purpose - Social impact research remains in its infancy. The purpose of the paper is to build on Keeling and Marshall’s (2022) ‘Call for impact’ paper and develop a comprehensive Social Impact Pathway framework. The aim is to encourage marketing researchers, nonprofits, and corporations to pursue impactful work that is valued, planned, monitored, and evaluated.

Design/approach - The conceptual paper explores the complexities of estimating social impact drawing from a range of illustrative cases.

Findings - The paper identifies a lack of clarity in the understanding and application of impact and presents a pathway aimed at increasing focus on social impact across future work to deliver the net-positive changes that are needed to reverse biodiversity decline, climate change, and social and health inequalities that continue to be persist and be experienced by so many planet-wide.

Originality - This paper aims to encourage marketing researchers to engage in social change projects, rather than solely disseminating academic findings. Emphasising the importance of an outside-in approach, this paper highlights the necessity of showcasing accumulated outcomes to demonstrate impact. The paper contributes a pathway forward to encourage and support increased utilisation of the framework in future marketing research.

Practical implications - Mapping and measuring social impact pathways are concerted efforts directing understanding towards identifying the activities that are contributing to the delivery of outputs that can achieve intended outcomes. The measurement of impact directs investment towards activities that ensure net-positive gains are achieved.

Social implications - Ever growing social inequities, health disparities, loss of biodiversity, and environmental degradation occur when practices are left unchecked. A focus on impact avoids greenwashing practices, ensuring that an understanding of what has changed because of our work is transparently reported.