Everything you need to know about green marketing. The term green marketing came into prominence in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The American Marketing Association (AMA) held the first workshop on “Ecological Marketing” in 1975. The proceedings of this workshop resulted in one of the first books on green marketing entitled “Ecological Marketing”.
Thus green marketing incorporates a broad range of activities, including product modification, changes to the production process, packaging changes, as well as modifying advertising.
In simple terms green marketing refers to the process of selling products and/or services based on their environmental benefits. Such a product or service may be environmentally friendly in itself or produced and/or packaged in an environmentally friendly way.
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Learn about:-
1. Introduction to Green Marketing 2. Meaning of Green Marketing 3. Golden Laws 4. Concept 5. Importance 6. Examples 7. Elements
8. Green Marketing Mix 9. Present Trends 10. Role of Information Technology 11. Attributes of the Green Consumers 12. Adoption of Green Marketing by Firms 13. Benefits 14. Challenges.
Green Marketing: Introduction, Meaning, Golden Laws, Importance, Examples, Elements, Green Marketing Mix and a Few Others
Contents:
- Introduction to Green Marketing
- Meaning of Green Marketing
- Golden Laws of Green Marketing
- Concept of Green Marketing
- Importance of Green Marketing
- Examples of Green Marketing
- Elements of Green Marketing
- Green Marketing Mix
- Present Trends of Green Marketing
- Role of Information Technology in Green Marketing
- Attributes of the Green Consumers Adoption of Green Marketing by Firms
- Benefits of Green Marketing
- Challenges of Green Marketing
Green Marketing – Introduction to Green Marketing
According to the American Marketing Association, green marketing is the marketing of products that are presumed to be environmentally safe. Thus green marketing incorporates a broad range of activities, including-
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1. Product modification,
2. Changes to the production process,
3. Packaging changes, as well as
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4. Modifying advertising.
The term green marketing came into prominence in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The American Marketing Association (AMA) held the first workshop on “Ecological Marketing” in 1975. The proceedings of this workshop resulted in one of the first books on green marketing entitled “Ecological Marketing”.
Thus green marketing incorporates a broad range of activities, including product modification, changes to the production process, packaging changes, as well as modifying advertising.
In simple terms green marketing refers to the process of selling products and/or services based on their environmental benefits. Such a product or service may be environmentally friendly in itself or produced and/or packaged in an environmentally friendly way.
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The obvious assumption of green marketing is that potential consumers will view a product or service’s “greenness” as a benefit and base their buying decision accordingly. The not-so-obvious assumption of green marketing is that consumers will be willing to pay more for green products than they would for a less-green comparable alternative product an assumption that has not been proven conclusively, specially the mild effect which it had had on consumers has washed away by the present recession (2008-09) only.
Green or Environmental Marketing satisfies human needs with minimal detrimental impact on the national environment. Green marketing not only includes consumer goods and industrial goods but also the services sector. In the process of distribution of goods and services, both the manufacturing and the services balance contribute towards the ecological imbalance and loss of the ozone layer.
However, the role of the manufacturing sector in this regard is more significant. The process of manufacturing and selling goods and services with the least threat to the environment is a big issue before the business houses. Green marketing requires awareness not only from the consumers but also from the manufacturers of such goods.
Ultimately green marketing requires extra cost but the stakeholders should be ready to bear that cost. Business firms have also started responding to environmental challenges by adopting and practicing green marketing strategies.
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The most important advantage of green marketing is that eco-friendly goods have a competitive advantage over other firms selling non-eco-featured goods. At the same time, it should be noted that in the era of green marketing, each and every shareholder should take part in this process as a social responsibility.
It is a fact that the natural environment is the basis of all activity. Natural environment and ecosystem services provide us with food, water and material for living. Since the economic activities directly depend upon the natural resources and the environment, the protection of natural environment is the duty of all stakeholders.
He should take utmost care to protect both the renewable and non-renewable energy sources. If we fail to manage the ecosystem and environmental resources in a proper way, the future generations will face severe imbalances in climate and availability of water, food, good air, etc.
It is needless to say that the major reason behind the imbalance in the ecosystem is the improper management of resources and the population explosion. Hence, the process of selling goods and services in an eco-friendly way is a big issue before the business houses across the globe.
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Moreover, keeping eco-friendly goods in the hands of the ultimate users is the social responsibility of the manufacturer as the role of wealth creators has been more in damaging the ecosystem rather than preserving it.
In our days the environmental problems seem to concern all active citizens, enterprise, and institutions all over the world much more than it did 30 years ago. International researches show that consumers worry about the environment and change their behaviour gradually. Thus a new market for viable or sustainable product emerges, which is further strengthened by active consumers since it is a way to contribute to the protection of the environment.
The enterprises gradually recognize the various competitive advantages and the enterprising opportunities that arise from this ecological consuming approach, entering the word “green” in many of their activities. Thus, in parallel with the concept of corporate social responsibility of “green marketing” has also been cultivated with sufficiently effective practices.
The term green marketing refers to the planning, development and promotion of products or services that satisfy the needs of consumers for quality, output, prices and services without a negative effect on the environment with regard to the use of raw material, the consumption of energy, etc.
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According to Kingis, green marketing must be more than a green way of marketing of the so-called green products. Green has to refer both to the method and to the product. This is why the very idea of green marketing needs considerable development and analysis, with rules and integrity in economic, scientific, academic and ethical terms.
The environmental parameter has been included in the strategy of marketing from the beginning of 1990s.
It is reported that in the USA, the green market counts about $250 billion, which 63 million of consumers are directed to the products that either protect the environment contrary to the conventional ones or have been produced with processes that respect the society and the environment.
The same consumers are prone to spend an additional 7 to 20% in order to buy pure green products and reject the non-viable alternatives, offered to them by conventional market. According to a recent research, at a world level the supportive fame of a company about its environmental responsibility is determined by the 53% of consumers as a decisive reason that makes them buy and use its products.
Green marketing is a relatively new focus in business endeavours and came into prominence only in the late 1980s. Since the mid-nineties, environmental legislation has increased leading to a high level of awareness of environmental issues in the business domain and many corporations being required to consider the issues in their strategic planning in order to meet stricter environmental change that is far easier said than done. The so called “green consumer” movement in the USA has struggled to keep afloat by not quite being able to reach critical mass not being at the very forefront of shopper’s minds.
In the fast moving period, there is a huge requirement of standard entity wealth as well as fresh environment. It is the primary responsibility of the public and private sector enterprises to provide the essentials of a life and the maintenance of the demands of the environment. In green marketing, products are offered to satisfy the customers with special consideration on environment.
Green Marketing – Meaning According to American Marketing Association, Polonsky and Investopedia
According to American Marketing Association – “Green marketing is the marketing of products that are presumed to be environmentally safe.”
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According to Polonsky, 1994 – “Green or Environmental Marketing consists of all activities designed to generate and facilitate any exchanges intended to satisfy human needs or wants, such that the satisfaction of these needs and wants occurs, with minimal detrimental impact on the natural environment.
Green marketing refers to the process of selling products and/or services based on their environmental benefits. Such a product or service may be environmentally friendly in itself or produced and/or packaged in an environmentally friendly way. The assumption of green marketing is that potential consumers will view a product or service’s “greenness” as a benefit and base their buying decision accordingly. The consumers may be willing to pay more for green products than they would for a less-green product.
Green Marketing incorporates broad range of activities including product modification, changes to the production process, packaging changes, and modifying advertising. The focus of Green Marketing is on satisfaction of customers’ needs and wants with no or minimum harm to the natural environment.
Marketing products and services based on environmental factors or awareness. Companies involved in green marketing make decisions relating to the entire process of the company’s products, such as – methods of processing, packaging and distribution. Investopedia explains ‘Green Marketing’ as the companies seek to go above and beyond traditional marketing by promoting environmental core values in the hope that consumers will associate these values with their company or brand.
Engaging in these sustainable activities can lead to creating a new product line that caters to a new target market, also known as sustainable marketing, environmental marketing or ecological marketing.
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According to the American Marketing Association, green or Environmental Marketing consists of all activities designed to generate and facilitate any exchanges intended to satisfy human needs or wants, such that the satisfaction of these needs and wants occurs, with minimal detrimental input on the national environment.
Green Marketing has progressed over a period of time. There are three phases in the evolution process of Green Marketing. First phase was ecological green marketing where environmental problems and remedies for environmental problems were mainly focused.
Environmental green marketing was the second phase; the major focus was on clean technology and designing of innovative new products, which can control pollution and waste issues. Third phase was “sustainable green marketing”. This phase gained popularity in the late 1990s and early 2000.
A variety of jargons are used in this area, like Green Marketing, Ecological Marketing and Environmental Marketing. The term Green Marketing came into regulation in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Green Marketing – 5 Important Golden Laws: Customers should be Aware, Reassure the Buyers, Transparency, Consider Pricing and Customer Participation
The important golden laws of Green Marketing are as follows:
1. Customers should be Aware:
If a company needs to sell the products, it should make sure that the customers are better aware of the benefits of “green” products and their growing necessity. The customer should know the main reason behind the issue of the products that are eco-friendly.
2. Reassure the Buyers:
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Marketer should understand that they need to convince the customers by promoting the true quality and ethically show the performance of the product, because it would be very difficult to sell the products to customers only on the lines that they are eco-friendly.
3. Transparency:
Marketers should be ethical in claiming their products as eco-friendly. They should be genuine and transparent about their claims. The business policies should also go with it.
4. Consider Pricing:
It is possible that marketers charge a greater price for their “green” products because of their high cost of production and use of higher-quality ingredients. Many customers might not afford these high prices, so company needs to consider a reasonable price and target the appropriate audience effectively.
5. Customer Participation:
The marketer should involve the customers in the initiative of green marketing. Once the customer is a part of this cause, he or she will understand the concept better and the issues of pricing etc. can be resolved.
Green Marketing – Importance: Environmental Advantages, Economic Advantages, Sustainability, Efficient Use of Resources, Planned Techniques and a Few Others
It is well known that increasing production and business activities are polluting the natural environment. The damages to people, crops, and wildlife are reported in different parts of the world. As resources are limited and human wants are unlimited, it is necessary for marketers to use resources efficiently, so that organisational objectives are achieved without waste of resources. So green marketing is inevitable.
There is growing interest among people around the world regarding protection of natural environment. People are getting more concerned for environment and changing their behaviour for the protection of environment. As a result of this, the term “Green Marketing” has emerged. Hence, marketers are feeling their responsibility towards environment and giving importance to green marketing.
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Not only marketers but consumers are also concerned about the environment, and consumers are also changing their behaviour pattern. Now, individual as well as industrial consumers are becoming more concerned about environment-friendly products.
Importance # 1. Environmental Advantages:
Going green is an environmentally responsible choice. It is estimated that 40 percent of all greenhouse gases in the United States comes from energy production that businesses use to heat, cool and light workplaces. Reducing these energy needs reduces carbon dioxide output, helping to control global warming. As businesses use more natural resources than individual consumers, recycling business materials and conserving water contribute to conservation on a larger scale.
Importance # 2. Economic Advantages:
The reduction in waste equals lower operating costs and more savings. Eco-friendly business equipment and practices such as – low-wattage or LED lights, use of natural lighting, water conservation policies, mandatory recycling and hybrid company vehicles save money on utilities, fuel and office supplies. This generates instant cash flow. Further going green puts a business in a positive light in the eyes of customers, potential investors, distributors, activists, watchdog groups, communities and prospective employees.
Importance # 3. Sustainability:
Going green is about sustainability; this sustainability translates to sustainable profits in green sectors with secure futures. The future-safe markets include biomaterials, green buildings, personal transportation, smart grids, mobile applications and water filtration.
Importance # 4. Efficient Use of Resources:
Today, human demands and needs are unlimited but resources are short enough that cannot fulfill the human needs. Markets need to facilitate the consumers by utilizing resources efficiently.
Importance # 5. Planned Techniques:
It needs to develop well planned techniques and innovative policies to achieve the organizational goals effectively without any wastage of time and other resources. Green marketing examples of different products and services develops a growing interest among customers throughout the world.
Importance # 6. Consumer Attraction:
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Green marketing examples of different products attracts the consumers regarding environment protection. People are so much conscious about their environment and variations in behavior. Green marketing is considered as growing marketing that helps to design socially and sustainable products.
Importance # 7. Innovation:
Green marketing helps to design such kinds of products that are economically affordable and satisfy the human needs efficiently. It produces innovative green products that consume less resource.
Importance # 8. Competitive Advantage:
Companies enjoy competitive advantage over other companies in the market through green marketing examples. Today, companies which adopt green marketing techniques gain more competitive advantage over other companies which are not conscious about such techniques and environment. Companies which develop innovative products and services with innovative qualities at affordable rates are successful in the market.
Green marketing is a group of activities that are designed to meet the consumer’s demands and needs at affordable price range.
Green Marketing – 5 Main Examples: Maruti Suzuki, Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum, Proctor & Gamble and ITC
Corporate are going green from the grassroots level to sustain and win the customers’ expectations. The environment is becoming increasingly an important part of the corporate reputations and they are actively participating in greening the corporate strategy. Companies have converted almost all the products to make them eco-friendly products. Following are the recent environment friendly initiatives taken by the companies.
Example # 1. Maruti Suzuki:
The company has been promoting 3 R since its inception. As a result the company has not only been able to recycle 100% of treated waste water but also reduced fresh water consumption. The company has implemented rain water harvesting to recharge the aquifers. Also, recyclable packing for bought out components is being actively promoted.
The country’s largest car manufacturer had managed to slash energy consumption per car at its Gurgaon factory by 26 per cent over the past six years, while its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions during car manufacturing processes has come down 39 per cent in the past five years. The model with gas as fuel was adopted by Maruti Suzuki India Limited as their Green Marketing practices.
Example # 2. Bharat Petroleum:
Bharat Petroleum launched a programme to cut production of greenhouse gases by 10% across its units worldwide and achieved it much ahead of schedule. Cleaner fuels such as Greener Diesel (ultra low sulphur content) and BP Autogas were developed. Almost all of its plants are ISO 14001 certified. Currently it is running a programme to contain its net emissions at current levels for ten years.
Example # 3. Hindustan Petroleum:
Hindustan Petroleum owns a massive e-waste recycling plant, where enormous shredders and granulators reduce four million pounds of computer detritus each month to bite-sized chunks the first step in reclaiming not just steel and plastic but also toxic chemicals like mercury and even some precious metals. HP will take back any brand of equipment; its own machines are 100 percent recyclable. It has promised to cut energy consumption by 20 percent by 2010.
Example # 4. Proctor & Gamble:
Laundry detergents are also touting energy savings. Proctor & Gamble’s (P&G) newest market entry, Tide Coldwater, is designed to clean clothes effectively in cold water. About 80 to 85 percent of the energy used to wash clothes from heating water.
Example # 5. ITC:
ITC has been ‘Carbon Positive’ for three years in a row sequestering/ storing twice the amount of CO2 than the Company emits. It has been ‘Water Positive’ six years in a row creating three times more Rainwater Harvesting potential than ITC’s net consumption. It has obtained close to 100% solid waste recycling. All Environment, Health and Safety Management Systems in ITC conform to the best international standards. ITC’s businesses generate livelihoods for over 5 million people.
ITC’s globally recognized e-Choupal initiative is the world’s largest rural digital infrastructure benefiting over 4 million farming families. ITC’s Watershed Development Initiative brings precious water to nearly 35,000 hectares of dry lands and moisture-stressed areas. ITC’s Sustainable Community Development initiatives include women empowerment, supplementary education, integrated animal husbandry programmes.
Green Marketing Mix – 4 Ps of Green Marketing Mix: Green Products, Green Price, Green Place and Green Promotion
Marketers need to define and design the 4 Ps of marketing mix from the viewpoint of environmental preservation. The green marketing mix elements address the key environmental issues appropriately and effectively.
Element # 1. Green Products:
Consider products that consume more energy, use toxic chemicals, cannot be recycled, and use extensive packaging. Such products are a threat to the environment as they lead to environmental degradation and pollution. On the other hand, products that help in saving energy, use natural ingredients, are recycled, or use reduced packaging make contributions to the environment. Therefore, those products that are produced in harmony with the environment are known as ‘green products’.
Production of green products is based on green technology. Green products help in saving natural resources and subscribe towards sustainable future.
Organizations should produce environment-friendly products as they help in saving energy resources and do not affect the environment adversely. The various stages involved in the production of environment-friendly products are efficient in terms of environment protection and conservation.
Environment-friendly products use natural and organic ingredients that are sourced from local suppliers and its manufacturing and circulation is done in a manner that has least or no impact on environment. Different governing organizations and certification systems certify the product as green after assessing it against environmental performance criterion.
Element # 2. Green Price:
Production of green products requires modification in the production processes and this necessitates expenditure. Cost increase results in increased price point of green products that makes acceptability of the product in the market difficult. The high price may act as a deterrent as consumers may be either unwilling or unable to pay this green premium.
The gap between the price of a green product and a non-green product is known as ‘pricing gap’. Price impediments can be tackled either by lowering the price point of green products to make it contiguous with the prevailing products in the market or by enhancing the perceived value of the green products in the eyes of the customer (by adding to the benefits derived such as improved packaging, improved attributes, and making the product specific to customers’ needs).
Element # 3. Green Place:
Green place relates to the distribution of green products without doing any harm to the environment. This is achieved through efficient utilization of fuel and energy and arranging for logistics with the least emissions.
Transportation costs constitute a major part of business costs and resources spend in distribution can be saved through local production. This decreases transportation costs and also reduces carbon footprint. Selling over the Internet as compared to a shop also saves business resources.
Element # 4. Green Promotion:
Consumers need to be made aware about green products and motivated to purchase them. Therefore, huge amount of money and resources are spent by companies nowadays on advertising and promotion of green products. Green promotion entails increasing the sensitivity of consumers towards green products as well as promoting the products in an environment-friendly manner like using social networking sites to post profiles related to green marketing.
Recently, Nike with its ‘Better World’ campaign launched its first 100 per cent recycled television advertisement, which was recycled by reusing and remixing film of its earlier campaigns.
Green Marketing Mix – 4 Major Elements of Marketing Mix: Product, Price, Place and Promotion
1. Product:
Entrepreneurs wanting to exploit emerging green markets either- Identify customers’ environmental needs and develop products to address these needs or will develop environmentally responsible products to have less impact than competitors.
2. Price:
Pricing is the critical element of the marketing mix. Most customers will only be prepared to pay a premium if there is a perception of additional product value. This value may be improved performance, function, design, visual appeal or taste. Environmental benefits will be often be the deciding factor between products of equal value or quality.
3. Place:
The choice of where and when to make products available will have significant impact or the customers you attract. Very few customers go out of their way to buy green products merely for the sake of it. Marketers looking to successfully introduce new green products should position them broadly in the marketplace so they are not just appealing to a small green niche market.
4. Promotion:
Promoting products and services to target markets include paid advertising, public relations, sales promotions, direct marketing and on- site promotions. Smart green marketers will be able to reinforce environmental credibility by using sustainable marketing and communication tools and practices.
For example- many companies in the financial industry are providing electronic statements by email; e-marketing is rapidly replacing more traditional marketing methods and printed materials can be produced using recycled materials and efficient processes such as waterless printing.
Moving towards Green Marketing:
The era of green marketing has begun. It has already been granted wide acceptance by all stakeholders. However, there is a need to lay down the standards and practices, in order to bring in objectivity in the judgment of various national and international agencies. This will not only encourage the activities of green marketing but shall also provide the much needed level playing fields to all.
Green Marketing – 5 Important Present Trends in India
1. Organizations perceive environmental marketing to be an opportunity that can be used to achieve its objectives.
2. Organizations believe they have a moral obligation to be more socially responsible.
3. Governmental bodies are forcing firms to become more responsible.
4. Competitors’ environmental activities pressure firms to change their environmental marketing activities.
5. Cost factors associated with waste disposal or reductions in material usage forces firms to modify their behaviour.
Green Warming – Proposed Solution:
The solution to this problem lies in “Going Green” in our thoughts, behaviour and actions.
The consumers and corporations need to focus on clean and environment friendly products and services.
To elaborate on the “Green” Terminology:
1. “Green Product” is non-toxic and is made from recycled material. There is no absolute green product. However the products, which consume less energy, cause less pollution and are biodegradable, belong to this category. Thus “Green” is a relative term.
2. “Green Service” fulfills the philosophy of sustainable development, improving and maintaining the quality of life for people without compromising the environment.
3. “Green Washing” is the process of making products and services “Green” in all respects.
To make products and services green the businesses need to focus on bringing the green in various aspects such as:
i. Supply Chain
ii. Packaging
iii. Raw Material
iv. Product Innovations
Green Marketing – Role of Information Technology
IT departments are under increasing scrutiny and pressure to deliver environmentally sound solutions. Large data centre are one of the most significant energy consumers in an organization’s IT infrastructure, so any measures that the organization can take to reduce this consumption (and therefore also carbon dioxide emissions) will have a positive impact on the organization’s environmental footprint.
A green data centre is defined as one in which the mechanical, lighting, electrical and computer systems are designed for maximum energy efficiency and minimum environmental impact. The construction and operation of a green data centre are involved in advanced technologies and strategies.
Some examples include:
i. Reducing the power consumption of the data centre.
ii. Using low-emission building materials, carpets and paints.
iii. The consumption of energy is considered the dominant and often the only factor in defining whether or not a facility is green.
Green Marketing – Attributes of the Green Consumers
To take the advantage of the emerging green market, it is important to understand who green customers are and the factors influencing their purchasing decisions and behaviour.
What Drives Environmentally Conscious Consumer Behaviour?
The proposed framework presents Environmentally Consciousness Consumer Behaviour (ECCB) as a process involving consumer environment, constructs, mediators and outcomes. The underlying influencers of ECCB are complex and different approaches to consumer motivation account for them in various ways.
Apart from this Natural Marketing Institute (NMI) divides the market into following categories:
1. Lohas – Very progressive on environment and society, looking for ways to do more; not too concerned about price.
2. Naturalites – Primarily concerned about personal health and wellness, and use many natural products; would like to do more to protect the environment.
3. Conventional – Practical, like to see the results of what they do; interested in green products that make sense in the long run.
4. Drifters – Not too concerned about the environment, figuring we’ve got time to fix the environmental problems; don’t necessarily buy a lot of green products.
5. Unconcerned – Have other priorities, not really sure what green products are available and probably wouldn’t be interested anyway; they buy products strictly on price, value, quality and convenience.
Towards a Green Marketing Partnership – ICT and Cost Management is the Key.
Worldwide evidence indicates people are concerned about the environment and are changing their behaviour accordingly. As a result there is a growing market for sustainable and socially responsible products and services.
The types of businesses that exist, the products that they produce and their approaches to marketing are changing. Successful green marketers will reap the rewards of healthy profits and improved shareholder value and help in making the world a better place for future generations.
Identify and close the Green Gap.
Right now, gaps exist on both sides of the market, between where customers are today and the preferences that will help sustain a future market. There is also a gap between today’s products and green designs of tomorrow.
Green Marketing – 5 Main Reasons for Adoption of Green Marketing by the Firms: Opportunities, Competitive Pressure, Social Responsibility and Cost or Profit Issues
Green marketing has been widely adopted by the firms worldwide and the following are the possible reasons cited for this wide adoption:
1. Opportunities:
As demands change, many firms see these changes as an opportunity to be exploited and have a competitive advantage over firms marketing non-environmentally responsible alternatives.
Some examples of firms who have strived to become more environmentally responsible, in an attempt to better satisfy their consumer needs are:
I. McDonald replaced its clam shell packaging with waxed paper because of increased consumer concern relating to polystyrene production and ozone depletion.
II. Tuna manufacturers modified their fishing techniques because of the increased concern over driftnet fishing, and the resulting death of dolphins.
III. Xerox introduced a “high quality” recycled photocopier paper in an attempt to satisfy the demands of firms for less environmentally harmful products.
2. Governmental Pressure:
As with all marketing related activities, governments want to “protect” consumers and society; this protection has significant green marketing implications.
Governmental regulations relating to environmental marketing are designed to protect consumers in several way:
I. Reduce production of harmful goods or by-products.
II. Modify consumer and industry’s use and/or consumption of harmful goods.
III. Ensure that all types of consumers have the ability to evaluate the environmental composition of goods.
Governments establish regulations designed to control the amount of hazardous wastes produced by firms.
3. Competitive Pressure:
Another major force in the environmental marketing area has been firms’ desire to maintain their competitive position. In many cases firms observe competitors promoting their environmental behaviours and attempt to emulate this behaviour. In some instances this competitive pressure has caused an entire industry to modify and thus reduce its detrimental environmental behaviour.
For example- it could be argued that Xerox’s “Revive 100% Recycled paper” was introduced a few years ago in an attempt to address the introduction of recycled photocopier paper by other manufacturers. In another example when one tuna manufacturer stopped using driftnets the others followed suit.
4. Social Responsibility:
Many firms are beginning to realize that they are members of the wider community and therefore must behave in an environmentally responsible fashion. This translates into firms that believe they must achieve environmental objectives as well as profit related objectives. This results in environmental issues being integrated into the firm’s corporate culture.
There are examples of firms adopting both strategies. Organizations like the Body Shop heavily promote the fact that they are environmentally responsible. While this behaviour is a competitive advantage, the firm was established specifically to offer consumers environmentally responsible alternatives to conventional cosmetic products.
5. Cost or Profit Issues:
Firms may also use green marketing in an attempt to address cost or profit related issues. Disposing of environmentally harmful by-products, such as polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contaminated oil are becoming increasingly costly and in some cases difficult.
Therefore firms that can reduce harmful wastes may incur substantial cost savings. When attempting to minimize waste, firms are often forced to re-examine their production processes. In these cases they often develop more effective production processes that not only reduce waste, but reduce the need for some raw materials. This serves as a double cost savings, since both waste and raw material are reduced.
Green Marketing – 4 Benefits and Advantages
Today’s consumers are becoming more and more conscious about the environment and are also becoming socially responsible. Therefore, more companies are responsible to consumers’ aspirations for environmentally less damaging or neutral products. Many companies want to have an early mover advantage as they have to eventually move towards becoming green.
Some of the advantages of green marketing are:
i. It ensures sustained long term growth along with profitability.
ii. It saves money in the long run, though initially the cost is more.
iii. It helps the companies market their products and services keeping the environment aspects in mind. It helps in accessing the new markets and enjoying the competitive advantage.
iv. Most of the employees also feel proud and responsible to be working for an environmentally responsible company.
Green Marketing – 4 Popular Challenges: Need for Standardization, New Concept, Patience and Perseverance and Avoiding Green Myopia
Challenge # 1. Need for Standardization:
It is found that only 5% of the marketing messages from “Green” campaigns are entirely true and there is a lack of standardization to authenticate these claims. There is no standardization currently in place to certify a product as organic. Unless some regulatory bodies are involved in providing the certifications there will not be any verifiable means. A standard quality control board needs to be in place for such labelling and licensing.
Challenge # 2. New Concept:
Indian literate and urban consumer is getting more aware about the merits of green products. But it is still a new concept for the masses. The consumer needs to be educated and made aware of the environmental threats. The new green movements need to reach the masses and that will take a lot of time and effort.
By India’s ayurvedic heritage, Indian consumers do appreciate the importance of using natural and herbal beauty products. Indian consumer is exposed to healthy living lifestyles such as yoga and natural food consumption. In these aspects the consumer is already aware and will be inclined to accept the green products.
Challenge # 3. Patience and Perseverance:
The investors and corporate need to view the environment as a major long-term investment opportunity, the marketers need to look at the long- term benefits from this new green movement. It will require a lot of patience and no immediate results. Since it is a new concept and idea, it will have its own acceptance period.
Challenge # 4. Avoiding Green Myopia:
The first rule of green marketing is focusing on customer benefits i.e. the primary reason why consumers buy certain products in the first place. Do this right motivate consumers to switch brands or even pay a premium for the greener alternative. It is not going to help if a product is developed which is absolutely green in various aspects but does not pass the customer satisfaction criteria. This will lead to green myopia. Also if the green products are priced very high then again it will lose its market acceptability.