Altruistic Marketing, as a business development strategy, has been recognized for many years.

"More recently, with the current economic recession acting as a force-multiplier, we advise our family business clients to give careful consideration to this very effective marketing strategy," reports top family business expert "What makes altruistic marketing such a compelling strategy is that it is a marriage between business marketing goals and objectives with a broad range of feel-good causes such as helping others who are less fortunate, bringing supplies to a disaster area or supporting a youth sports team - the opportunites to apply the concept of altruistic marketing is endless. Be creative! Altruism is the selfless helping of others. However, biologists, philosophers, sociologists and psychologists have been telling us for some time that there is no such thing as altruism and imply that it is self-interest and not actually the benevolent helping of others

Almost all of us sometimes voluntarily give up some scarce resources to make someone else better. Not only the amount of resources used for such purposes, but also other wider concerns (implications for private and government sector) have drawn the attention of economists in recent decades. In this paper I develop a theoretical framework underlying such activities, which can be in short termed as altruistic. To do so, I first explain the notion of altruism, as can be found in the works of Adam Smith, Gary Becker and Ludwig von Mises. On these grounds, we can say that by voluntary altruistic transactions the utility of both sides of the transaction has been increased. The main differences between the market and non-market sectors are described and the concept of social entrepreneurship is developed. The analysis is concluded by application of this theoretical framework to the case of altruism as a public good. This essay examines the behavior on insurance markets \vhen individuals have altruistic concerns for others' \~Telfare. We consider a large population of equally altruistic individuals who all run a risk of losing their health \vith some exogenous probability. Against a premium~ the individuals can obtain insurance \vhich fully restores their health. Due to the altruistic preferences, the individuals may consider transferring funds to those "rho are in \vorse health states than themselves. This potentially has distorting effects on the individuals' decisions to purchase insurance: it is no\v possible to forego insurance and exploit the good \vill of others if an adverse health outcome arises. \tVhen only a few individuals interact: the presence of altruism can potentially lead to severe savings and insurance distortions. In contrast to most of the previous literature, we consider hO\~T altruism may create incentives to forego insurance vvhen there is a large number of individuals. In addition to the free riding effects that arise \vhen receivers exploit the donors, free riding may no\v arise \vhere donors exploit other donors. Voluntary donations are a public good, and therefore risk being under-provided in equilibrium. That is, each individual may consider their personal contribution to be so marginal in relation to the total that giving seems superfluous. Consequently, there is a possibility that no one makes any donations in

equilibriurn. \Ve find, ho\vever, that there "\-vill be a positive total donation even \vhen the population size approaches infinity. In the case vvhere all the individuals have the same probability of falling ill,~v\ie find that even moderate levels of altruism can cause complete market failure. In that case, no individual purchases insurance and those ,vho remain healthy \vill help those "rho fall ill. However~ it is simultaneously an equilibrium that all individuals purchase insurance and that no transfers are made. vVhen ,ve introduce some heterogeneity bet-\veen the individuals, this result is modified and altruism must no\v be rather substantial to cause any severe distortions on the
We are coming to recognize that there is a marketplace of ideas just as there is a marketplace of goods. In this marketplace, purveyors of ideas-lobbyists, publicists, charismatic leaders, change agents-promote ideas to influence the attitudes and behavior of target audiences. They use modern channels of communication and distribution to reach their audiences. They approach their task from a variety of perspectives, but rarely a marketing one. In this book Seymour Fine describes how ideas and issues can be more effectively disseminated through the use of modern marketing concepts and tools. Marketing ideas goes far beyond their promotion. Anyone who wishes to influence others must research the target audience; understand their perceptions, attitudes and needs; develop and test effective communication concepts; and use the most cost-effective distribution channels. Ideas, according to Fine, can be managed like any other commodity. Although the suggestion that marketing planning could be applied to ideas and issues was made some years ago, only a few writings have appeared to date. Most are specialized to a particular area of social marketing, such as family planning, antismoking, or better environment. Fine is the first person to write a book on the general principles of social marketing and he is to be congratulated. The reader will find much stimulating material in this book-a book that shows a high standard of scholarly research and an adept pen. The reader will not only emerge convinced of the contributions that a marketing point of view can make to the effective dissemination of ideas but also be sensitized to the role of the four Ps (product, price, place and promotion) in this endeavor. While it is hard to evaluate the first book written on any new subject, I am sure that Fine's work will gain recognition as a major and enduring contribution. Some readers may be squeamish about "idea marketing," as if it can only be used to persuade people to act against their best interests. This is not the philosophical position of social marketing. Social marketing is an effective way to promote ideas that serve the best interests of people-better nutrition, physical exercise, conservation, environmental protection-to the point where people might act on what they believe and really want to do. True, bad ideas can also be promoted and are being promoted all the time, with or without the aid of modem marketing concepts. We have to assume that all ideas enter a marketplace where consumers of ideas are exposed to multiple claims and counterclaims and in the end are intelligent enough to know which ideas best serve their interests.