Green Marketing

(1.1)INTRODUCTION TO GREEN MARKETING

Meanings & Concepts:

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

➢Product modification,

➢Changes to the production process,

➢Packaging changes, as well as

➢Modifying advertising.

Yet defining green marketing is not a simple task where several meanings intersect and

contradict each other; an example of this will be the existence of varying social,

environmental and retail definitions attached to this term. Other similar terms used are

Environmental Marketing and Ecological 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.

My definition which encompasses all major components of other definitions is: "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."

This definition incorporates much of the traditional components of the marketing

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Green Marketing

definition that is "All activities designed to generate and facilitate any exchanges

intended to satisfy human needs or wants".

So, 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 it or produced and/or packaged in an environmentally friendly

way.

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 on consumers has washed away by the present recession

(2008-09) only.

Green marketers though argue that it is a way to use the environmental benefits of a

product or service to promote sales. Many consumers will choose products that do not

damage the environment over less environmentally friendly products, even if they cost

more. With green marketing, advertisers focus on environmental benefits to sell

products such as biodegradable diapers, energy-efficient light bulbs, and

environmentally safe detergents.

People buy billions of dollars worth of goods and services every year—many of which

harm the environment in the way they are harvested, made, or used. Environmentalists

support green marketing to encourage people to use environmentally preferable

alternatives, and to offer incentives to manufacturers that develop more environmentally

beneficial products.

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Green Marketing

Importance of green marketing

Man has limited resources on the earth, with which she/he must attempt to provide for

the worlds' unlimited wants. There is extensive debate as to whether the earth is a

resource at man's disposal. In market societies where there is "freedom of choice", it

has generally been accepted that individuals and organizations have the right to attempt

to have their wants satisfied. As firms face limited natural resources, they must develop

new or alternative ways of satisfying these unlimited wants. Ultimately green marketing

looks at how marketing activities utilize these limited resources, while satisfying

consumers wants, both of individuals and industry, as well as achieving the selling

organization's objectives.

When looking through the literature there are several suggested reasons for firms

increased use

of Green Marketing. Five possible reasons cited are:

• Organizations perceive environmental marketing to be an opportunity that can be used

to

achieve its objectives

• Organizations believe they have a moral obligation to be more socially responsible

• Governmental bodies are forcing firms to become more responsible

• Competitors' environmental activities pressure firms to change their environmental

marketing

activities

• Cost factors associated with waste disposal, or reductions in material usage forces

firms to

modify their behavior.

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Green Marketing

GREEN MARKETING PRINCIPLES

Be Credible

Credibility is essential for successful green marketing. You have to implement

sustainable business practices before promoting green products and services or the

public will perceive you as cynically taking advantage of environmental concerns.

Make Specific Claims

People understand the cost and difficulty in making a product or service completely

green. Communicate about the particular attributes that are rooted in sustainability. The

FTC offers guidance on what's acceptable

Validate Through Third Parties

Use external organizations, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), or governmental

entities to substantiate any green claims. Examples include: UL Environment

(Underwriters Laboratories), Ceres, and the EPA's Green Power Partnership.

Engage Your Customers

Green consumers have an above average propensity to engage, interact with, and even

help companies that are making credible efforts to operate with sustainable business

practices and offer green products and services. Use interactive channels to involve

your customers in developing and managing your green products and services.

Engage Your Employees

In addition to ensuring a consistent message across all customer contact points, your

employees can feed green innovation in internal processes and policies. What's more,

they will be more productive and loyal as well.

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Green Marketing

Goals of Green Marketing

• Eliminate the concept of waste.

• Reinvent the concept of product.

• Make prices reflect actual and environmental costs.

• Make environmentalism profitable.

• Bringing out product modifications.

• Changing in production processes.

• Packaging changes.

• Modifying advertising.

Benefits of Green Marketing

Today’s consumers are becoming more and more conscious about the environment and

are also becoming socially responsible. Therefore, more companies are responsible to

consumer’s 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:

• It ensures sustained long term growth along with profitability.

• It saves money in the long run, though initially the cost is more.

• 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.

• Most of the employees also feel proud and responsible to be working for an

environmentally responsible company.

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Green Marketing

Golden Rules of Green Marketing

1. Know Your Customer: Make sure that the consumer is aware of and concerned

about the issues that your product attempts to address, (Whirlpool learned the hard way

that consumers wouldn’t pay a premium for a CFC-free refrigerator because consumers

dint know what CFCs were.).

2. Empower Consumers: Make sure that consumer feel. By themselves or in concert

with all the other users of your product, that they can make a difference. This is called

“empowerment” and due to this main reason consumers will buy greener products.

3. Be Transparent: Consumers must believe in the legitimacy of the product and the

specific claims made in regard.

4. Reassure the Buyer: Consumers must be made to believe that the product performs

the job it’s supposed to do-they won’t forego product quality in the name of the

environment.

5. Consider Your Pricing: If you’re charging a premium for your product-and many

environmentally preferable products cost more due to economies of scale and use of

higher-quality ingredients-make sure those consumers can afford the premium and feel

it’s worth it. Thus leading brands should recognize that consumer expectations have

changed. It is not enough for a company to green its products; consumers expect the

products that they purchase pocket friendly and also to help reduce the environmental

impact in their own lives too.

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Green Marketing

CHAPTER-2

(2.1)Challenges in Green Marketing

➢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 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 labeling and licensing.

➢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 those aspects the consumer is

already aware and will be inclined to accept the green products.

➢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.

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Green Marketing

➢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, and 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.

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Green Marketing

(2.2)GREEN MARKETING – REASONS FOR ADOPTION BY THE FIRMS

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:

•McDonald's replaced its clam shell packaging with waxed paper because of increased

consumer concern relating to polystyrene production and Ozone depletion.

•Tuna manufacturers modified their fishing techniques because of the increased

concern over driftnet fishing, and the resulting death of dolphins.

•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 ways,

1. Reduce production of harmful goods or by-products

2. Modify consumer and industry's use and/or consumption of harmful goods

3. 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. For example, New Delhi, the India's capital was getting polluted

gradually at a very fast pace till Supreme Court of India forced a change of fuel on it. In

2002, a directive was issued to completely adopt CNG in all public transport systems to

curb pollution.

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Green Marketing

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 behaviors and attempt to emulate

this behavior. In some instances this competitive pressure has caused an entire industry

to modify and thus reduce its detrimental environmental behavior. 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 manufacture 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 behavior is a

competitive advantage, the firm was established specifically to offer consumers

environmentally responsible alternatives to conventional cosmetic products. This

philosophy is directly tied to the overall corporate culture, rather than simply being a

competitive tool.

Fund managers and corporate developers too, are taking into account the

environmental viability of the company they invest in Venture Capitalists are investing in

green business because they believe it's a growth opportunity. Britain based HSBC

became the world's first bank to go carbon neutral late last year and is now turning its

11000 buildings in 76 countries worldwide into models of energy efficiency." our

customers have told us that they decide where they shop based on whether the

business is a good neighbor ". Says David North, Tesco’s community director.

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Green Marketing

An example of a firm that does not promote its environmental initiatives is Coca-Cola.

They have invested large sums of money in various recycling activities, as well as

having modified their packaging to minimize its environmental impact.

While being concerned about the environment, Coke has not used this concern as a

marketing tool. Thus many consumers may not realize that Coke is a very

environmentally committed organization. Another firm who is very environmentally

responsible but does not promote this fact, at least outside the organization, is Walt

Disney World (WDW). WDW has an extensive waste management program and

infrastructure in place, yet these facilities are not highlighted in their general tourist

promotional activities.

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.

In other cases firms attempt to find end - of - pipe solutions, instead of minimizing

waste. In these situations firms try to find markets or uses for their waste materials,

where one firm's waste becomes another firm's input of production. One Australian

example of this is a firm who produces acidic waste water as a by-product of production

and sells it to a firm involved in neutralizing base materials.

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Green Marketing

(2.3)GREEN MARKETING MIX

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.

The increasingly wide variety of products on the market that support sustainable

developments are:

• Products made from recycled goods, such as Quick’ N Tuff housing materials made

from recycled broccoli boxes.

• Products that can be recycled or reused.

• Efficient products, which save water, energy or gasoline, save money and reduce

environmental impact.

• Products with environmentally responsible packaging, McDonalds, for example,

changed their packaging from polystyrene clamshells to paper.

• Products with green labels, as long as they offer substantiation.

• Certified products, which meet or exceed environmentally responsible criteria.

• Organic products-many customers are prepared to pay a premium for organic

products, which offer promise of quality. Organic butchers, for example, promote the

added qualities such as taste and tenderness.

• A service that rents or loans products-toy libraries.

Whatever the product or service, it is vital to ensure that products meet or exceed the

quality expectation of customers and is thoroughly tested.

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Green Marketing

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.

Environmentally responsible products, however are often less expensive when product

life cycle coast are taken into consideration, for example fuel-efficient vehicles, water

efficient printing and non-hazardous products.

PLACE

The choice of where and when to make products available will have significant impact

on 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 market place so they are not just

appealing to a small green niche market.

The location must also be consistent with the image you want to project and allow you

to project your own image rather than being dominated or compromised by the image of

venue. The location must differentiate you from the competitors. This can be achieved

by in-store promotions and visually appealing displays or using recycled materials to

emphasize the environmental and other benefits.

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Green Marketing

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.

Retailers, for example are recognizing the value of alliances with other companies,

environmental groups and research organizations. When promoting their environmental

commitment to reduce the use of plastic bags and promote their green commitment,

some retailers sell shopping bags and promote their green commitments.

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Green Marketing

(2.4) 8 green marketing ideas for your business

In the spirit of Earth day, businesses can make a commitment to environment and create a competitive advantage in their market place.

Everywhere your turn, there’s talk about the environment and how businesses need to be socially responsible to minimize their impact on the environment. Finally, the earth we take so much from is going to be getting some payback.So, can a business lower its negative impact, grow and think green all at once?

 ‘Thinking Green’ in business is not only good for the environment, but for business as well. Here are some easy to implement green marketing ideas your business can apply:

1. Work from home – allow staff to work from home more often. This will help provide added perks and could improve productivity.

2. Teamwork – boost Company moral by setting a company wide goal of everyone working together to lower the businesses carbon footprint.

3. C02 friendly servers – yes, today, you can reverse the impact of your websites by switching to C02 friendly servers. There are two providers that we know of in this field: one can be found here, another here.

4. Sustainable Packaging – replacing your existing packaging with “green” packaging materials such as biodegradable . Or simply get creative by re-using old magazine pages. Yes it’s possible.

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Green Marketing

5. Transportation – if your business relies on transportation, look at transitioning to environmental friendly vehicles. This bold move will most likely get the attention of your local or national newspapers.

6. Green Seal – assess the ‘Greenness’ of your products and apply for a green seal. In the US and Canada there are several NGO’s supporting green seal projects. We’re excited to share, a similar effort is starting here in Portugal, and Chama is currently working with a partner to launch the initiative in the Algarve.

7. Get Your Brand out there – help your local community and customers reduce dependency on grocery store plastics. Invest in environmental friendly grocery bags with your brand, and give them away to customers for free…it’s free advertising!

8. Give Local Love. Receive Local Love – if you’re in the food business, look at ways to source local products even if they’re at slightly higher cost. In return, promote your goal of supporting local farmers and reducing your carbon footprint. You can start the transition slowly by having select products that feature seasonal and locally sourced produce.

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Green Marketing

CHAPTER-3

(3.1)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.

DEVELOPMENT OF ISO 14000 SERIES OF STANDARDS.

ISO has been developed to help any company in any country to meet the goal of

sustainable development and environmental friendliness. The ISO 14000 family of

standards ( i.e. ISO 14001, 14004, 14010, 14011 and 1412) were published as an

official document in 1996.

The ISO series aims to provide guidance for developing a comprehensive approach to

environmental management and for standardizing some key environmental tools of

analysis such as labeling and life cycle assessment.

ECO-LABELING INITIATIVES

Eco label provide information regarding the environmental performance of products.

The objective of eco-labeling is to provide authentication to genuine claims regarding

the environmental impact of products and processes by manufacturers.

In India the government has introduced the eco-mark scheme since 1981. The

objectives of the Scheme are:

• To provide incentives to manufacturers and importers to reduce the adverse

environmental impact of products.

• To reward genuine initiatives by companies to reduce adverse impact of environmental

impact of products.

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Green Marketing

• To assist consumers to become environmentally responsible in their daily lives by

providing them information to take account of environmental factors in their daily lives.

• To encourage citizens to purchase products which have less environmental impact.

ECO-LABELLING SCHEMES IN INDIA

The Ministry of environment and forest of government of India has prescribed the

following criteria for products:

• That they cause substantially less pollution than comparable products in production,

usage and disposal,

• That they are recycled and/or recyclable whereas comparable products are not.

• That they contribute to a reduction on adverse environmental health consequences.

• That they comply with laws, standards and regulations pertaining to the environment.

• That their price is not exorbitantly higher than comparable products.

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Green Marketing

(3.2)SHIFTING TO A GREEN ERA

The color GREEN, until recently was associated all over the world with emerald. In the

modern age, however, GREEN is getting associated with sustainable development.

Being green is no longer a matter of choice; its marketing is a must, or else enterprise

may run the risk of losing customers, employees and shareholders. It has become

almost a necessity to maintain a green lifestyle.

The possibility of oceans rising and claiming coastal lives, climate change, and polluted

air and water are beginning to gain momentum towards the green movement.

Today there is an increasing concern among the business houses towards the

challenges posed by the environment. Green consumerism is playing a catalytic role to

bring in environmentalism and make business green oriented. Also it has been noticed

that there has been an increasing trend of consumers demanding for a “Green Image”

of an enterprise. The most feasible option available for the business houses is to put

into practice the process of “Green Manufacturing”. It involves product recovery

activities as well as reverses logistics.

Product recovery concept is applied on the returned product so as to translate it to a

usable one, for example remanufacturing, refurbishing or even recycling. Whereas

reverse logistics focuses on inbound supply and distribution of used goods and

inventory.

Companies like ABB, MUL, Ranbaxy and many more have taken up green projects.

They sponsor huge amount and in return earn a lot of goodwill, low cost publicity, and

an environment conscious image. Scores of such enterprises have responded to

environmental concerns with several strategic versions of green business, which are

enumerated below:

• Adopting products/packages to make them environmentally sound.

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Green Marketing

• Making realistic environmental claims about existing products through the

advertisements.

• Linking brands with environmental causes to create goodwill.

• Introducing entirely new range of products explicitly designed to appeal

environmentally conscious consumers.

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Green Marketing

(3.3)GREEN WASHING

“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:

Supply Chain

Packaging

Raw Material

Product Innovations

It is not enough just to develop a brand or a logo, or invest in an advertising campaign,

and then position a product as Green before consumers.

Like any other new concept, marketers must first educate the public about going green,

ensure product credibility, and establish trust. Moreover, since “Green” aspect of the

product is not a tangible attribute that the consumers receive the consumer has to be

convinced about the benefits of the green benefits of the product. It is also important to

understand how companies across the globe are innovating and creating “Green”

products.

“GREEN” RAW MATERIAL-

This refers to using recycled material or using material, which does not have a negative

impact on natural resources like resulting in problems such as deforestation and

pollution.

Example: Grid core Systems International – demonstrated the use of Recycled

Building Material. The company was looking for an alternative building material in-order

to reduce the impact on environment. While researching they discovered space board, a

new type of building panel developed by the Forest Products laboratory. Space board

can be manufactured from various recycled or agricultural fibers, and due to a

honeycomb the interior design is just as strong as and several times lighter than

conventional fiberboard.

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Green Marketing

“GREEN” IN MANUFACTURING-

This focuses on using renewable energy for production and minimizing air and water

pollution during the manufacturing process.

Example: Energy Star is helping businesses and consumers save money and check

pollution.

Energy star has its own pre defined parameters and gadgets which conform to the

energy efficiency standards. The businesses that join hands with energy star sign an

MOU and upgrade their facility as per the requirement outlined by Energy Star. There

are about 2,400 corporations, hospitals, schools and other organizations, which are

energy star compliant in the US today.

The real estate developers, architects and environmentalists across the globe are

working together to create the next wave of modern eco-friendly projects: green

buildings and manufacturing facilities. They are using energy conservation appliances

and recycling building products and water harvesting techniques in their projects.

“GREEN” IN PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT-

This refers to either environment friendly or environment efficient products as

demonstrated by the following examples.

Example: Kodak’s Recyclable Camera When Kodak created its first disposable camera

it also solved the waste disposal problem by initiating a ‘camera take back’ scheme

during picture processing. This not only reduced the waste disposable problem, it also

saved Kodak the manufacturing costs for new cameras. This made it completely

recycled camera.

Example: Philips Earthlight Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs With relentless efforts on

research and development the company was successful in producing compact

fluorescent light bulbs, which are the most energy efficient bulbs.

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“GREEN” BY USING ALTERNATIVE INGREDIENTS TO REDUCE HEALTH

RISKS -

Example: AFM Safecoat and Safechoice Paints to meet the markets demand for non-

toxic paints, the California based company invested in Research and Development and

developed a full line of non-toxic coatings, paints, stains and adhesives.

“GREEN” IN SUPPLY CHAIN-

Example: McDonald’s is often blamed for polluting the environment because much of

their packaging finishes up as roadside waste. It must be remembered that it is the

uncaring consumer who chooses to dispose of their waste in an inappropriate fashion.

With the intent to cut costs and work on eco-friendly image and practices McDonald’s

tried to reduce the amount of material disposed by its stores. McDonalds asked the

supplier to do away with the cartons for napkins. The supplier suggested a better way

and came up with dimpling pattern on napkins, which enabled the supplier to pack 25%

more napkins in one box and reduction in shipping cost accordingly. McDonalds also

allied with Environment Defense Fund (EDF) and created a waste reduction plan. It also

made a Paper Task Force to focus on paper waste reduction and better solid waste

management.

Some food chain retailers are working on Green Procurement program to help

purchasing officers to buy products and services that have a lower environmental

impact than comparable products and services.

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Green Marketing

“GREEN” IN PACKAGING-

Packaging is a key element of marketing mix for promoting “Green washing”. It can also

be an effective tool to display the “Green” component of the product.

Natural Package for a Natural Product

When creating product materials, markets need to remember that a “Green” product is

appealing to consumers for its benefits to the environment and for its roots in natural

resources. There should be a consistent look for the product package, or materials that

appear natural, not glossy or extravagant.

“Green” consumers tend to appreciate consistence in package and product. They will

appreciate the usage of recycled paper and other environment friendly materials. That

will help manufacturers/suppliers gain customer loyalty and product credibility.

Third Party Certification Seal on Package

In order to win consumer trust and for product credibility many companies go in for a

third party certification. This helps build trust and acceptability by the consumer.

A third party seal guarantees the consumer that the product fulfills its promise and is

true to his claim. One such third party in the USA is the Green-e Program of the Center

for Resource Solutions. Certification provides an independent third-party review of the

program similar to the ISO 9000 or CMMI Six Sigma level of certifications, which mat

help build consumer confidence. Once a green product earns certification, they can

publicize this achievement and promote their certification through the use of the Green-

e logo on their marketing materials and website.

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“GREEN” IN SERVICES-

With increased demand for value-based marketing, there is also growing demand of

“Green” services. Global customers are not only interested in cost cutting through

outsourcing but are also looking for energy efficient IT operations.

Example: ITC InfoTech is a good example to understand how to package the services

“Green”

ITC InfoTech is a Bangalore based independent Subsidiary of ITC Ltd. At corporate

level ITC is working to establish itself as a carbon free company. The company is

working on “Triple Bottom Line” i.e. social, economic and environmental capital. The

company is involved in many community driven initiatives. It is one of the 10 companies

globally and first one from India to start publishing sustainability report in compliance

with G3 guidelines of Global Reporting Initiative. The company is investing in large-

scale plantations to wash away its carbon positive image. It is also focusing on water

harvesting and working towards zero solid waste by recycling.

36 Cigarette warehouses were converted to make ITC InfoTech’s global development

campus in the heart of Bangalore. The company has used recycled material and

virtualization tools for optimizing energy usage in its data centers. It is also working on

digital infrastructure to connect the rural farmers to the Internet using solar panels for

power, so that the Indian farmers can get information on crop research and monitor

weather trends. The company is using these as a service differentiator and positioning

itself as Green service Provide. The corporate image of ITC Ltd. is further enhancing

the True Green Image.

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Green Marketing

(3.4)Green Strategy Formulation

As in formulation of green strategy, a firm may evolve it from a SWOT analysis or

Environmental Audit.

SWOT ANALYSIS

STRENGTHS

1. Marketers get access to new markets and gain an advantage over competitors that

are not focusing on “greenness.”

2. Marketers can charge a premium on products that are seen as more eco-responsible.

3. Organizations that adopt green marketing are perceived to be more socially

responsible.

4. Green marketing builds brand equity and wins brand loyalty among customers.

E.g. research and development capabilities for clean processes and green products and

human resources committed to environmental protection.

WEAKNESS

1. Most customers choose to satisfy their personal needs before caring for environment.

2. Overemphasizing greenness rather than customer needs can prove devastating for a

product.

3. Many customers keep away from products labeled “Green” because they see such

labeling as a marketing gimmick, and they may lose trust in an organization that

suddenly claims to be green.

E.g. products cannot be recycled, and hazardous wastes) of a company.

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Green Marketing

OPPORTUNITIES

1. Marketing to segment which are becoming more environmentally aware and

concerned.

These consumers are demanding products that conform to these new attitudes.

2. Organizations perceive green marketing to be a competitive advantage, relative to

the competitors. Firms, therefore, strive to improve upon their societal awareness. This

complements the increase in consumers’ socially conscious behavior and will therefore

give them an advantage over competitors who do not address these issues.

E.g. offering an environmental friendly product and saving resources, and relating them

to internal strengths.

EXTERNAL THREATS

1. Uncertainty as to the environmental impact of present activities, including that is

perceived to be less environmentally harmful.

2. Uncertainty as to which green marketing activities are acceptable from a government

perspective.

3. The possibility of a backlash from consumers or government based on existing green

marketing claims, threat one and two above may cause backlash to arise.

E.g. competitors gain market shares with green products and increased environmental

regulations).

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Green Marketing

CHAPTER-4

(4.1)GREEN MARKETING: A CORPORATE INITIATIVE

It is important in today’s world because mankind has limited resources on the earth and

if we want long term sustainability of human life on this earth’s surface, then companies

has to learn to conserve these scarce natural resources and create products that have

less environmental damage. Otherwise the very existence of humankind will be under

question mark.

Corporate are going green from the grassroots level to sustain and win the

customers’ expectations. The environment is becoming increasingly 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.

Sony: Green “ODO” Digital Camera -

Sony has recently launched developed and launched a range of innovative products

named as “ODO” line products also called as Eco-chic. These products do not require

AC adapter as they were powered by kinetic or solar energy. Sony has used simplified

packaging and recycled plastic in the manufacturing of ODO products as a “Sustainable

Product” initiative. The ODO line products comprise of five products:

1. Spin N Snap: The spin and snap is a digital camera. It has two holes which are used

as

View finder and chargers. On spinning the camera on ones fingers generates kinetic

energy and charges the device.

2. Push Power Play: Push power play is a display device with a roller on the base. The

rollers are used to charge the device by the friction of the device with hard surface.

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Green Marketing

3. Crank N’ Capture: Crank and Capture is a digital video camera with a crank used to

operate and generate power.

4. Pull and Play: The pull and play is a stereo headphone with a cord to simply pull and

use.

5. Juice Box: The juice box is a credit card sized object used to recharge the other

ODO products.

Sony has also added a new Twirl N Take hand powered digital camera to the

ODO line series. Twirl N take digital camera has a sleek stem circle design. It is

recharged by rolling the round wheel on the hard surface.

Sony’s ODO line product series are the most innovative eco-friendly products

which are very safe and handy. Even children can also use these products.

As customers are seeing that sony electronics company are launching eco-

friendly and safer products with different concepts, new ideas consumers are

showing their interest in the product.

Due to green marketing strategy sony company have adopted different concept

and this has been beneficial to them by increasing their sales, as well as

motivating new consumers to purchase their product.

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Green Marketing

Kansai Nerolac Paints India Ltd –

Kansai Nerolac India`s second largest company by market share were first in the

country to Launch Green Paints – Eco Clean Whose TVC said no-lead, no-mercury,

no-arsenate and no-chrome. This was Nerolac’s first green product. Nerolac invested in

R&D to reduce the VOC." They are also one of the first Paint Company to make green

a marketing initiative. with two TV ads featuring actors like Shahrukh Khan, Mona

Singh and K K Menon for its Eco Clean range of paints which have low VOC (volatile

organic compounds) and no odour.

In continuation of the same objective The Company has made entire range of Water-

Based decorative products Low –VOC apart from being already Lead Free. Company

low VOC range of paints conforms to the strictest of International Standards and has the

NTH certification which compiles. Due to green marketing the sales of the company

have increased more & it have created a good image in the society about the company

and it has formed a goodwill of the company.

The company has invested hugely in R&D and formulations with new raw material to

make the entire range Low VOC and Lead Free. But they consider this a small price to

pay for a improving our living environment and making it safer and healthier.

“Let us transform the world into a safer, healthier and beautiful world”

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Green Marketing

Cipla: CFC-free Inhaler -

Cipla-India’s second largest drug company by market share has planned and started

replacing all its CFC contained drugs to meet the international standard and Montreal

Protocol ban deadline. The CFC depletes the ozone layer and also is a major cause of

global warming. Cipla has updated the necessary technology to avoid the CFC and has

also done its clinical trial in India and overseas. The Rota haler and the Asthalin inhaler

are environment – friendly inhalers, used by asthma and bronchitis patients. These

inhalers are using HFA (Hydro Fluro Alkaline) technology. The Rotahaler is a powder

based inhaler, different from regular inhaler which contains propellants.

Bharat Petroleum -

Bharat Petroleum launched a campaign to position itself as a responsible corporate

‘green’ entity. Foraying into renewable energy-solar and wind power-it installed solar

panels on its service stations. It also ran a program 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 Auotgas were

developed. Almost all of its plants are ISO 14001 certified. Currently it is running a

program to contain its net emissions at current levels for ten years.

Hindustan petroleum -

Hindustan petroleum owns a massive e-waste recycling plants, 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.

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Green Marketing

Nokia: The Take-Back Campaign

The Take-Back campaign is running successfully in 85 countries. It was recently

launched in India, specifically in Bangalore, Delhi, Gurgaon and Ludhiana, with over

1,300 recycling bins distributed just in the first months.

Other companies:-

• LG has insisted mainly on power management,

• While Nokia has centered its attention on the use of recyclable materials.

Samsung has produced marketing-friendly green devices like its Restore and

Reclaim and has mainly focused on producing phones with reduced toxins, by

removing BFRs (bromide flame retardants) last year. It also plans to remove

most other toxins by the end of 2012.

• Sony Ericsson, with its Green Heart line, concentrates mainly on packaging.

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Green Marketing

Videocon-

• The company has changed its logo, appeal and also its corporate strategy in

order to adjust to the recent global environment and stay in the race. Videocon

changed it logo from the traditional giant solid silver ‘V’ to a more fluid lava type

‘V’.

• With this new logo, it is visible that the company is trying to portray itself as an

eco friendly company with a fresh outlook and to give a feel that the Videocon

always on the move. Using the color of nature, i.e. green, Videocon has give a

feel that it product are environmentally aware and with respect to world

environmental standards.

• Videocon is positioned itself as a reliable and value-for-money product.

• After adopting green marketing Videocon has built goodwill and formed a good

image in the mind of consumers.

• As its slogan reflects “Experience Change”

• As well as it helped in increasing sales of Videocon products.

• Logo of Videocon has been given a new modern look .Green is the colour of the

future the new logo gives the feeling that the company is on the move and can

take any shape and form.

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Green Marketing

IDEA Ad Campaigning- SAVE PAPER. SAVE TREES. SAVE THE

WORLD

IDEA Cellular, the 3rd largest GSM mobile service operator in India, has its own way

to promote the brand. IDEA has launched an ad: Use Mobile, Save Paper. This ad also

features IDEA’s brand ambassador Abhishek Bachchan, but as a tree! This new ad is

sixth in the series. The preceding campaigns were

• ‘Championing a world without caste’,

• ‘Championing a world in which no one suffers from the disability to

communicate’;

• ‘Education for All’,

• ‘Participative Governance’,

• and the last ‘Walk When You ,Talk’.   

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Green Marketing

AIRCEL Ad campaigning- Save our tigers-

• Save our Tigers campaign is collaborative effort from Aircel and WWF India to

save the wildlife especially tigers worldwide.

• Amitabh Bachaan has joined the initiative as the campaign ambassador

• Dhoni who roars for our Tigers in Aircel Save our Tiger Ad

• Kiran Bedi, Suresh Raina and Baichung Bhutia follow the same.

• Due to this Campaign Aircel have formed a good image of his brand in the mind

of the consumers.

• This Campaign have helped Aircel to built goodwill about the company, which is

beneficial in increasing the sales of the product.

• As well it is welfare for the society.

• Thus this Campaigning is a marketing strategy of the company.

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Green Marketing

DELL-

• For the past three months, Dell has been working towards bringing a path-

breaking initiative for our consumers in India - the Dell Go Green Challenge. It is

designed to promote a green approach towards technology adoption for

consumers in India, by asking them to share their ideas and stories about how

they aim to change the way technology is being used in our homes and offices.

• As our economy is growing and technology penetration is increasing, e-waste is

one of the biggest challenges we as a nation are facing, and recycling is still not

an option that most consumers are either aware of, or interested in taking up.

• As one of the world’s leading providers of technology, they recognize our

responsibility to ensure that technology is recycled at the end of its usable life.

Dell was in fact the first computer company to offer consumer free recycling

worldwide and both these initiatives are designed to create awareness among

consumers on recycling of PCs in India.

• Dell has launched the ‘Dell Go Green Challenge’ in an effort to raise awareness

and community involvement in green initiatives in India. The challenge invites

consumers to share photographs, videos and other innovative depictions of key

issues, concerns or thoughts

on green technology at

www.dellgogreen.com.

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Green Marketing

• The contest has provided a platform to build a Dell Go Green community of

green technology and lifestyle enthusiasts, to connect with each other online, and

share ideas, thoughts and visions on the issue of e-waste and sustainable

technology. We have got over over 600 ideas over the last three months. These

ideas have been voted on by the community and we look forward to the winners

being announced shortly.

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Green Marketing

CHAPTER-5

(5.1)UNDERSTANDING CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND

PRIORITIES TO MAXIMIZE BUSINESS

Carbon labels show consumers the “Carbon Content” of an individual product. An item’s

content is the total amount of carbon dioxide emitted from very stage of its production

and distribution, from source to store. This is also known as “embedded carbon”, or a

carbon footprint. Today’s consumer is more ethically and environmentally aware than

ever before, and increasingly so with regard to the consumption of food and drink. In the

media, on the shelves, the focus on reducing our carbon footprint is constantly present,

and the push to understand where our food is from increasing.

Carbon labeling is a really recent development. The focus on reducing carbon footprint

is constantly present, and the push to understand what they are purchasing and

consuming. But to make it a success, the understanding regarding:

a) What they are purchasing?

b) How are they prioritizing- between organic, fair trade, carbon friendly and so on?

c) Whether the consumers are getting what they want to purchase?

Study Findings on the Basis of Literature Regarding Consumer Behavior:

Consumers show different attitudes to issues like:

a) Food quality is shoppers’ most important concern. Price is also very important for

those on lower incomes.

b) Whether health, environmental and social issues are very important in relation to the

food they buy.

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Green Marketing

c) Concerns for health, environmental and social issues vary with household income or

not.

d) Concern for health, environmental and social issues increase with age or not.

e) Women do most of the shopping, and they are more concerned about health,

environmental and social issues than men.

f) Attitudes vary regionally, and there is particularly strong concern in the South West.

Familiarity with labels for different consumers is different:

How familiar are you with each of the following types of information on product packets

on the basis of:

a) Most people are at least somewhat familiar with most forms of product information.

b) Familiarity with the product information is much higher among people who think the

issues are very important.

Use of labels had different perceptions for different consumers:

Use of the following types of information when making decisions about what consumers

buy is different for every consumer on the basis of:

a) Product information is used by many consumers.

b) There is a clear link between concern about health, environmental and social issues

and use of relevant product information.

c) The gap between attitudes and behavior is wider in relation to environmental and

social issues that in it is with the mainstream health.

d) There is little variation with income, except organic labels are used more by people

with higher incomes.

e) Product labeling is generally used more by older people.

f) Women use nutrition information more, but broadly similar numbers of men and

women use organic and Fair trade information.

g) Different patterns of use in different regions.

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Green Marketing

Barriers to greater integration into shopping behavior on the basis of

changing patterns of consumption mean that increasingly consumers are

considering the social, environmental and health issues associated with

production and consumption:

a) “Products too expensive” is the number one barrier.

b) “Takes too much time” is the second biggest barrier to choosing healthy food.

c) “I don’t know enough about it” is the second biggest barrier to choosing

environmentally friendly and socially responsible food.

d) Other barriers are significant or not, like:

➢Unavailability of products (either altogether, or of sufficient quality).

➢Lack of understanding about the issues in general.

➢Difficulty in understanding the product information.

➢Concerns about the reliability of the product information.

(5.2)GREEN CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

Environmentally Conscious Consumer Behavior

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Green Marketing

Environmentally Conscious Behavior (ECCB) is consumer behavior based on some

awareness of the environmental impacts associated with a product or service, and a

desire to reduce those impacts. Many researchers in the field of consumer’s psychology

and market research have demonstrated a substantial grow thin ECCB across a range of

markets. It has been demonstrated through case studies that how product developers

and marketers have capitalized on this positive attitude and effectively differentiated their

product in terms of their environmentally friendly character. The term environmental

consciousness does not have a standardized definition in the body of academic

literature; the reason can be due to arousal of the term out of political and everyday

language. Environmental consciousness is the desire to protect flora and fauna,

willingness scrutinize the consequences of economic activity and a willingness to

combine long term with short term planning.

Green Buyers and Green Consumers

 Research about the identity and nature of green consumer has been the central

character in the development of green marketing, as business attempt to understand

and respond to external pressures to improve their environmental performance.

Marketing practitioners and academics are attempting to identify and understand green

consumers and their needs, and to develop market offerings that meet these needs.

SEGMENTATION OF GREEN CONSUMERS-

• True-Blue Greens- The most environmentally active segment of the society.

• Greenback Greens- Those most willing to pay the highest premium for green

products.

• Spouts- Fence-sitters who have embraced environmentalism more slowly.

• Grousers- Uninvolved or disinterested in environmental issues, who feel the issues

are too big for them to solve.

• Apathetic- The least engaged group who believe that the environmental indifference

is main stream.

Apart from this, Natural Marketing Institute (NMI) divides the market into following

categories:

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Green Marketing

• Lohas- Very progressive on environment and society, looking for ways to do more; not

too concerned about price.

• Naturalites- Primarily concerned about personal health and wellness, and use many

natural products; would like to do more to protect the environment.

• Conventional- Practical, like to see the results of what they do; interested in green

products that make sense in the long run.

• 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.

• 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.

Consumer Information and Education

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Green Marketing

If managers believe that consumers view greenness as a motivating variable, they

should invest in conveying information through advertising, direct mailing, brand labels,

in-store displays and pamphlets. The important points to be noted here are

a. Firms willing to provide clear, comprehensive and credible information must

ensure that consumers have low cost to access it.

b. Governmental policies and stakeholder initiatives can be important in reducing

consumers search, information or transaction costs.

c. Regulators can publish and disseminate it to the media by press releases and

post it on the internet.

d. Stakeholders can use the media as well as use their organization-specific

vehicles such as newsletters.

Green marketing can be successfully implemented by use of ICT in cost

effective way:

By developing compelling, concise messages, plan innovative ways to

repeatedly deliver, identify appropriate links within network of political,

legislative, nonprofit organization and media, develop concept based programs

and events.

Utilize extensive relationship with local and national media to get a client’s

message to the right media targets.

Identify venues, plan tours, identify audiences, and organize meals, speakers

and press.

Strategies and plan joint PR initiatives as well as joint advertising campaigns and

events to cross-promote companies and organization campaigns.

Help develop identify and branding for print, broadcast and digital mediums.

Consulting and creation of a corporate design, brochures, leaflets, info materials.

Develop web sites, e-mail campaigns, and banner advertising.

Develop creative print, broadcast and digital advertising, identify advertising

targets and purchase appropriate media slot.

CHAPTER-6

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Green Marketing

(6.1)RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Primary Data Collection :

The data has been collected from the respondents through personal interviews and a

detailed questionnaire was designed for that purpose. The questionnaire was designed

according to the research objectives; the questions fulfill the aim of determining the

impact on consumers towards green marketing.

Secondary data collection :

Secondary data is very important to complete a project report. The purpose of this data

was to supplement the primary data. The secondary sources of collecting data was-

Internet - www.ecomall.com,www.greenmarketingcorner.com.

Magazines –Young Explorer

Size of   sample :

This refers to the numbers of items to be selected from universe to constitute asample.

An optimum sample is one, which fulfills the requirements of efficiency, representativeness,

reliability and flexibility.

Sample size - 50 consumers

Age Group No. of

consumers

10-17 15

18-30 20

30-50 15

Total 50

(6.2)DATA ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION

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Green Marketing

RESULTS:

 According to the analysis of questionnaire most of the respondents were not aware

about green marketing but after reading the questionnaire they realized what it is all

about.

1. Are you aware of the term green marketing?

a. Yes b. No

The above bar graph indicates that out of 50, 36 respondents are not familiar with the

term Green Marketing. Many of them have a misconception with the term Green

Marketing.

2. Have you heard of any campaign related to Green Marketing?

a. Yes

b. No

From this bar chart we can say that most of the respondents are not aware of

any campaign related to green marketing.

3. Have you been part of any such campaign?

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Green Marketing

a. Yes b. No

We can see here that out of 50 respondents only 3 has been part of such type of

campaign.

4. Do you consider the environmental aspects of the products before buying them?

a. Yes b. No c. Sometimes

 

The above chart indicates that only 48% i .e. the majority of respondents consider the

Environmental aspect some times. And, only 24% consider the environmental aspect

of the product while buying it.

5. Do you think that Green Marketing and advertising are good sources of information

about green products and services?

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Green Marketing

a. Yes b. No

From this pie chart, it indicates that 94% respondents think that green marketing and

advertising are good sources of information about green products and services.

1. Do you think that Green Marketing activities are good at addressing

environmental issues?

a. Yes b. No

We can see most of the respondents feel that Green marketing activities are good at

addressing environmental issues.

2. Do you think Green Marketing activities results in better products?

a. Yes b. No

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Green Marketing

In this above bar chart it is clearly indicates that 82% of respondents think this strategy

results in better products while 18% have different opinion.

.8. Do you think that Green Marketing strengthen company’s image in the mind of

consumers?

a. Yes b. No

The above chart indicates, majority of the respondents, i.e. 37 respondents feel that it

strengthen company’s image in the mind of consumers.

9. Do you think that companies that focus on environmental concerns persuade

consumers to buy products?

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Green Marketing

a. Yes b. No

Most of the respondents feel that it helps to persuade consumers to buy products.

10. Do you think that by implementing green marketing strategy the companies are able

to gain competitive advantage over others?

a. Strongly agree b. agree c. disagree d. strongly disagree

Most of them agree that by implementing green marketing strategy the companies are

able to gain competitive advantage over others.

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Green Marketing

11. Do you think sometimes companies are trying to cheat customers in the name of

green products?

a. Yes b. No

Here, we can say that most of the respondents have negative opinion. They feel that

sometimes companies are trying to cheat the customers in the name of green products.

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Green Marketing

(6.3)RESEARCH FINDINGS

In my research work through the survey of questionnaire I find the following points-

1. Maximum numbers of respondents are not familiar with the term Green Marketing

2. Most of the respondents are not aware of any campaign related to green

marketing

3. Maximum numbers of respondents sometimes consider the environmental

aspects of the products while purchasing.

4. Significant numbers of respondents feel that green marketing and advertising are

good sources of information about green products and services.

5. Most of the respondents feel that this marketing strategy helps to persuade

consumers to buy products.

6. Also this type of strategy helps a company to get the competitive advantage over

others.

7. Many respondents feel that sometimes companies are trying to cheat the

customers in the name of green products.

CHAPTER-7

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Green Marketing

(7.1)LIMITATIONS OF THE PROJECT

1. DEMOGRAPHIC CONSTRAINTS - will be a main issue of concern. This is due

to the reason that the data collection will be restricted to the Kalyan and

Adjoining Areas.

2. DATA RELIABILITY - As the data will be collected from various sources the

accuracy of the data collected would be an area of concern. It would be an uphill

task to validate the data consistency of the collection of that data.

3. UNAWARENESS – People are unaware of Green marketing. So it’s a very

challenging task for me.

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Green Marketing

(7.2)RECOMMENDATION

Finite resources such as oil, metal, and even fresh water will become scarcer and more

expensive. If businesses do not become more efficient in using these resources it will

have a huge impact on the bottom line. Investing in Green Products thus changes from

‘beyond doing good’ to ultimately ‘good business sense’. Thus they should:

Invest in research and create clean and environment friendly products.

Recycle at every level.

Educate masses of the environment issues because they are going to be the

bulk consumers.

Socially responsible investing in environment driven projects.

Plant more trees.

The corporations must rethink:

Their raw material and procurement strategies.

They should develop new products

They should redesign existing products and service.

They should realize that pollution prevention can be a cost saving activity.

They should steer their product and packaging designs to use less material.

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Green Marketing

(7.3)CONCLUSION

Green marketing covers more than a firm's marketing claims. While firms must bear

much of the responsibility for environmental degradation, the responsibility should not

be theirs alone. Ultimately green marketing requires that consumers want a cleaner

environment and are willing to "pay" for it, possibly through higher priced goods,

modified individual lifestyles, or even governmental intervention. Until this occurs it will

be difficult for firms alone to lead the green marketing revolution. Having said this, it

must not be forgotten that the industrial buyer also has the ability to pressure suppliers

to modify their activities. Thus an environmental committed organization may not only

produce goods that have reduced their detrimental impact on the environment, they

may also be able to pressure their suppliers to behave in a more environmentally

"responsible" fashion. Final consumers and industrial buyers also have the ability to

pressure organizations to integrate the environment into their corporate culture and thus

ensure all organizations minimize the detrimental environmental impact of their

activities. Thus green marketing should look at minimizing environmental harm, not

necessarily eliminating it.

Green marketing covers more than a firm's marketing claims. While firms must bear

much of the responsibility for environmental degradation, ultimately it is consumers who

demand goods, and thus create environmental problems. One example of this is where

McDonald's is often blamed for polluting the environment because much of their

packaging finishes up as roadside waste. It must be remembered that it is the uncaring

consumer who chooses to disposes of their waste in an inappropriate fashion. While

firms can have a great impact on the natural environment, the responsibility should not

be theirs alone. It appears that consumers are not overly committed to improving their

environment and may be looking to lay too much responsibility on industry and

government. Ultimately green marketing requires that consumers want a cleaner

environment and are willing to "pay" for it, possibly through higher priced goods,

modified individual lifestyles, or even governmental intervention. Until this occurs it will

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Green Marketing

be difficult for firms alone to lead the green marketing revolution. It must not be

forgotten that the industrial buyer also has

the ability to pressure suppliers to modify their activities. Thus an environmental

committed organization may not only produce goods that have reduced their detrimental

impact on the environment, they may also be able to pressure their suppliers to behave

in a more environmentally "responsible" fashion. Final consumers and industrial buyers

also have the ability to pressure organizations to integrate the environment into their

corporate culture and thus ensure all organizations minimize the detrimental

environmental impact of their activities.

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Green Marketing

CHAPTER-8

(8.1)QUESTIONNAIRE

GREEN MARKETING & ITS IMPACT ON CONSUMERS

NAME…………………………………………………………..

ADDRESS………………………………………………………

1. Are you aware of the term green marketing?

a. Yes b. No

2. Have you heard of any campaign related to Green Marketing?

a. Yes b. No

3. Have you been part of any such campaign?

a. Yes b. No

4. Do you consider the environmental aspects of the products before buying them?

a. Yes b. No c. Sometimes

5. Do you think that Green Marketing activities are good at addressing

environmental issues?

a. Yes b. No

6. Do you think that Green Marketing activities are good at addressing

environmental issues?

a. Yes b. No

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Green Marketing

7. Do you think Green Marketing activities results in better products?

a. Yes b. No

8. Do you think that Green Marketing strengthen company’s image in the mind of

consumers?

a. Yes b. No

9. Do you think that companies that focus on environmental concerns persuade

consumers to buy products?

a. Yes b. No

10.Do you think that by implementing green marketing strategy the companies are

able to gain competitive advantage over others?

a. Strongly agree b. agree c. disagree d. strongly disagree

11.Do you think sometimes companies are trying to cheat customers in the name of

green products?

a. Yes b. No

Signature

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Green Marketing

(8.2)BIBLIOGRAPHY

1.  Philip Kotler & G. Armstrong. Principles of marketing.

2. Richa Agrawal, Green Marketing: An Emerging Trend (PMR, Vol.5,April 2000)

3. www.ecomall.com

4. www.greenmarketingcorner.com

5. www.greenpeace.org

6. www.greenmarketing.com

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