Iceland: how social mechanisms drove the financial collapse and why it’s a wicked problem

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to extend the macro-social marketing approach by detailing a framework to better understand the driving forces of wicked problems. Design/methodology/approachThis is a conceptual paper that uses the financial crisis in Iceland as a demonstrative example to show how social mechanism theory can help social marketers and policy makers overcome complexity and strive for the social transformation they seek. FindingsThis paper suggests the utility of social mechanism theory for understanding wicked problems, how they came to be and how social marketing practices can be applied to resolve market complexities. Research limitations/implicationsSocial marketers need to identify what is driving what, to plan and implement interventions that will lead to the social change desired. This paper presents a framework that guides the analyst through this social change process. Originality/valueThis work provides social marketers with the means to understand the “moving parts” of a wicked problem to identify where an intervention is required to achieve the social change sought.

Systems Social Marketing and Macro-Social Marketing: A Systematic Review

“…While systems social marketing is a term used interchangeable with macro-social marketing, this systematic review uncovered differences in their working definitions (see Tables 2–4). For example, Duffy et al’s (2017) paper on macro-social marketing provided Layton’s (2007, p. 230) definition for marketing systems. Truong (2017, p. 410) defines macro-social marketing as “the use of social marketing by governments and other upstream actors within a systemic approach to engender social change.” Kemper and Ballantine (2017, 2020), Kennedy (2016, 2017), Kennedy and Parson (2012), Hamby et al (2017), and Huff, Barnhart, McAlexander, and McAlexander (2017) include “system-wide change,” “change at the societal level,” “holistic,” and “altering institutional norms” within their definitions of macro-social marketing.…”

“…All macro-social marketing papers used the term “wicked problems” and described them as “multi-level of interconnecting factors,” “interlinked causal pathways,” “involve multi levels and multi stakeholders” and “are difficult to define, address and manage” (Hamby et al, 2017; Huff et al, 2017; Kock & Orazi, 2017). Duffy et al (2017, p. 332) provided some clarification and defined wicked problems as“complex social issues that involve networks of actors and entities that reflect commonly held beliefs or norms that result in ineffective, inefficient, unequitable or unfair social marketing systems. A wicked problem is likely to be dynamic, resilient against intervention, influenced by the associated strategic action field, driven by social mechanisms and will have consequences, singularly or simultaneously at the micro, meso or macro level of the system.”Within the systems social marketing papers, “wicked,” “complex,” and “social” problems were all used interchangeably.…”

“…Regarding theoretical integration, clearly systems social marketing and macro-social marketing integrate social marketing and systems thinking. Macro-social marketing also integrates institutional theory (Duffy et al, 2017; Kennedy, 2016) and other theoretical approaches such as social engineering (Kennedy & Parsons, 2012), a multilevel perspective on socio-technical transitions (Kemper & Ballantine, 2017; Little et al, 2019) and socio-ecological models (Kemper & Ballantine, 2020). The integration of these theoretical approaches signals the importance of institutions for macro-social marketing.…”

Realising the value of knowledge resources and capabilities: an empirical study

“…For example, knowledge management and information sharing have been shown to significantly influence the management of poverty and disability (Buettgen et al, 2012). Likewise, the ability for stakeholders to share knowledge and engage in an informed discourse was a key driver in Iceland's response to the global financial crisis of the 2000s (Duffy et al, 2017). If such macrolevel knowledge management practices continue to evolve, it is possible we will see the continual development of 'knowledge cities' (Ergazakis et al, 2004 Despite the significant theoretical and managerial implications of the present study, it has several limitations which also offer avenues for future research.…”

Cultural Self-Identification within the Millennial Market: A Qualitative Examination

“…The Great Recession -adversely shaped the global and U.S. economies more universally than any economic downturn since the Great Depression‖ (Brooksbank, Subhan, Garland, & Rader, 2015;Rollins, Nickell, & Ennis, 2014, p. 2727Zhao, Jiang, & Li, 2015). Duffy, Northey and van Esch (2017) showed how the global financial crisis can contribute to -wicked problems‖ in the case of industries key to particular countries, using Iceland as an example. Moreover, Brooksbank and associates (2015) referred to the financial crisis (the Great Recession) as -an on-going post financial crisis ‗hangover'‖ characterized by unpredictable consumer behavior and global trading market conditions (p. 600).…”