The Marketed Social Movement

The transcendental meditation (TM) movement has grown from a small cult to a multinational organization in 15 years. Success is largely due to TM's recruitment and organizational strategy, which follow a pattern similar to the organizational form and marketing strategy of a large-scale consumer products firm. Based on the analysis of TM, the marketed social movement is offered as an ideal type which may be generalizable to other contemporary social movements. The marketed social movement differs from traditional thinking about social movements in four ways: (1) the use of sophisticated promotional and recruiting techniques; (2) a radical divergence in the status of the membership; (3) participation as a product package; and (4) the extension of membership as the dominant goal of the movement.