International Journal of Innovative Technology and Exploring Engineering (IJITEE) ISSN: 2278-3075, Volume-9, Issue-1, November 2019 2914 Published By: Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering & Sciences Publication Retrieval Number: A9107119119/2019©BEIESP DOI: 10.35940/ijitee.A9107.119119 Abstract— The first Community Radio Station was set up in India in the year 2006, and presently there are over 251 such operational radios in the country. The paper sets out to locate Community Radio in Indian context, and its practices based on the conceptual definition and framework of social marketing as proposed by Philip Kotler, Alan Andreasen and others. Historically Community Radio has evolved as an alternative to the mainstream media which failed to focus and give due attention to issues and concerns of rural people in general and marginalised sections of the society. The paper maps the practice of Namma Dhwani Community radio which has been broadcasting for over a decade in the state of Karnataka to the Social Marketing techniques, in promoting social ideas to bring out a change in the attitudes and behaviour. The specific objectives of the paper are to explore how Namma Dhwani draws from the theory of Social Marketing, in its implementation of commercial marketing techniques and to understand the role of Community Radio in empowering the community and bringing about a change in behaviour. A case study method approach has been adopted and the paper is conceptual and descriptive in nature. Key words: Community Radio, Social Marketing, Namma Dhwani, India, 6Ps I. INTRODUCTION One of the primary questions that over the years make marketers ponder, is that do they only exist for creating wants and fulling material needs. Well the possible answer and a partial relief is that, marketing can also be applied for social causes. Way back in 1971, the term Social Marketing(SM) first surfaced through the seminal work of Kotler and Zaltman, however like any definition many scholars contest and better it over the time so does Alan Andreasen in the year 1994. Community Radio (CR) long existed since 1940’s in the US and Latin American countries, it is only in the Year 2006, the first Community Radio station(CRS) was set up in India. As on today, the official figures state that there are over 251 CRSs that are operational in the country. CR has evolved as an alternative to the mainstream media which failed to focus and give due attention to issues and concerns of rural people in general and marginalised sections of the society, in particular. The present paper is limited to studying one such CR radio which is operating since a decade and is serving the needs of an identified geographic region, namely Namma Dhwani. Revised Manuscript Received on September 05, 2019. Sunil Belladi, Assistant Professor, Symbiosis Centre for Media and Communication, Pune, Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Maharashtra, India.(Email: sunil.belladi@scmc.edu.in) Shyamsunder Chitta, Associate Professor, Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Hyderabad, Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Maharashtra, India.( Email: shyam.chitta@sibmhyd.edu.in) Hariprasad Soni, Assistant Professor, Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Hyderabad, Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Maharashtra, India.(Email: hr.soni@sibmhyd.edu.in) Objective of the paper: The paper sets out to locate Community Radio in Indian context, and maps their practice to the conceptual definition and framework of SM, in promoting social ideas to bring out a change in the attitudes and behaviour. Methodology: In order to achieve the objective, a definitive conceptual framework which is informed by various definitions of SM as proposed by Philip Kotler, Alan Andreasen and other academicians has been chosen. Since the paper is to explore how CRdraws from the theory of SM, the chosen CRS, Namma Dhwani in its practices is mapped to the theory of SM. A case study method approach has been adopted and the paper is conceptual and descriptive in nature. A survey has been conducted to find out the perceptions of the users of Namma Dhwani with a total of 120 respondents. The results are presented in the form of tables. II. SOCIAL MARKETING According to Kotler and Zaltman (1971) SM is a strategy which aims at consumer acceptance of ideas that are socially relevant and is a purposive effort taking into consideration of the various traditional marketing techniques and which is backed by research. Andersen goes on to build on the Kotler’s definition and tries to comprehend it. He states that, SM encompasses not just to generate change in behaviours of the target audience but as well enhance the welfare of the people and society. This, Anderson reminds, can be achieved by analytical planning of the proposed programme, it’s systematic implementation and objective evaluation, using the existing commercial techniques informed by Marketing principles. John Quelch &Katherine Jocz (2007) observe that, there is a lot, a consumer can learn and be informed from the citizen within and vis-avis the citizen in a person can learn from the consumer in them. One of the descriptions suggested by General Hasting & Christine Domegan (2018) of SM states that, it should not be delimited and aimed at change in individual behaviour but should rather go on to about social change. To put in simple terms SM is all about behavioral change working at two levels, one at individual level and societal level, getting people to change their individual behavior so that it benefits society at large. Social Marketing Techniques in Community Radio Practices Sunil Belladi, Shyamsunder Chitta, Hariprasad Soni