Marketing in the UK and US Not-for-Profit Sector: The Import Mirror View

Abstract

This article explores the US and UK literature on not-for-profit (NFP) marketing. The emphasis is on journal articles that have appeared in the area. The purpose of the review is to discover if their are any lessons that can be learnt from the US situation in order to gain a greater understanding of the UK NFP marketing. This is in the tradition of the ‘import mirror’ view of comparative research. The environment within which NFP marketing takes place is discussed. This is followed by a review which looks at journal types, research areas, type and quality of research and issues arising from the application of NFP marketing in the US and UK The review reveals that there is considerably more literature on NFP marketing in the US. Popular subjects are segmentation and health care. The UK literature is still largely concerned with the appropriateness and applicability of marketing in the NFP sector: The lesson taking is that the UK should not go down the US path but rather a) develop suitable courses for NFP managers and b) explore the use of the newer service concepts of relationship, service quality and internal marketing.