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(This research paper titled, has already been published by GHS-IMR, Kanpur for it’s
esteemed management journal “IMR-Mgt- Speak., Vol 2, No-1,Jan-June 2008” issue. )
Abstract:
Although environmental issues has influenced all activities but very few academic
disciplines have inculcated green issues into their literature. Even till dated it has not
been inculcated a must be taught subject in all most all management and related higher
education level but one business area where environment issues have received a great
deal of importance is marketing. Smart business houses have accepted green marketing as
a part of their strategy. Though our understanding about green marketing still in the stage
of infancy, in this paper the author is trying to identify key ideas in relation to promote
green product that may be most relevant to both scholars and the practitioners of green
marketing.
This paper will attempt to introduce – the terms and concept of green-marketing; about
the importance of green marketing; examine some reasons that make the organizations
interested to adopt green marketing philosophy; it also highlights some problems that
organization may face to implement green marketing and it’s managerial implications
along with few case points. Last but not the least the paper “Green Marketing – A
is an emerging area of interest. There is a need of paradigm shift in the way the
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management institutes and business- houses think about their role in attaining sustainable
development.
1. Introduction
Environmental issues have gained importance in business as well as in public life through
out the world. It is not like that a few leaders of different countries or few big renowned
business houses are concerned about the day to day deterioration of oxygen level in our
atmosphere but every common citizen of our country and the world is concerned about
about their attributes or about the systems, policies and processes of the firms that
manufacture or sell them. Clearly green marketing is part and parcel of over all corporate
strategy; along with manipulating the traditional marketing mix(product, price, promotion
and place) , it require an understanding of public policy process. So we can say green
marketing covers a broad range of activities. Different writers has given different
definition about green marketing which tried to cover all major components of green
marketing
designed to generate and facilitate any exchange indented to satisfy human needs and
wants, such that the satisfaction of these needs and wants occur with minimum
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Mintu and Lozada(1993) defined green marketing as the application of marketing tools to
facilitate exchanges that satisfy organizational and individual goals in such a way that the
any exchanges intended to satisfy human needs and wants; therefore it ensures that the
interest of the organization and all it consumers are protected, as voluntary exchange will
not take place unless the buyers and sellers are mutually benefited.
This second point is very important for human consumption by its very nature is
claims should state they are “ less environmentally harmful” rather than “ environmental
friendly.” Thus green marketing should look at minimizing environmental harm, not
The industrial houses has recognised that the entire system of production and
the way services are provided and the way goods are produced, delivered, used and
disposed off. Production and consumption are considered together because gains made by
by the impacts from concurrent increases in the scale of demand for those services and
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So we can see that green marketing encompasses a broad range of activities including
modifying advertising.
environment has been surfaced on marketplace. Not only the relation between human,
organization and natural environment being redefined ,but the implication thereof are
being interpreted; because of these, new perceptions are being formed or re-evaluated on
issues like environmental friendly products, recycle ability, waste-reduction, the cost
associated with pollution and the price value relationship of environmentalism. Pressure
businesses, which in turn keeps them under constant and relentless watch in their daily
operations. A direct result can be seen in developed and developing countries where
Govt. became more strict in imposing regulations to protect environment; at the same
time, the consumers of these countries are being more and more outspoken regarding
their needs for environmentally friendly products, even though questions remain on their
So in this era where consumers determine the fate of a company, green marketing
imparts a proactive strategy for these companies to cater the market by imparting nature-
friendly products/ services which otherwise reduce or minimize any detrimental impact
on environment.
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A green- marketing approach in the product area promotes the integration of
environmental issues into all aspects of the corporate activities; from strategy
the companies will have to find answer through their marketing strategies, product&
service redesign, customer handling etc. in this endeavour the companies may go for new
technologies for handling waste, sewage and air pollution; it can go for product
products.
In this regard the companies should be concerned with what happens to a product during
and after its useful life. Companies may manifest this concern through experimentation
with ways to reassess and redesign the product life stages. Life cycle reassessment
energy and material inputs and out-puts in production, consumption and disposal of
environmental friendly and eco- efficient manner. Eco-efficient refers to the proper
thinking for the use or consumption of natural resource so that nature is afforded an
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The life stage of product would include the following:
Table-I
Thus the mammoth like challenge of green marketing is to meet the unlimited wants of
production processes of companies. Currently our concern is with the total yield of
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1.3 The change in managerial perspective:
Criteria/Goals:
1. Customer satisfaction 1.Customer satisfaction,
2.Orgnisational goal 2.Orgnisational goal,
3. Eco-system compatibility.
Decision making frame of reference
1.Immediate channel network 1.*PSLC: cradle to grave,
2.Fragmented thinking 2. Integrated thinking,
3.Non-boundary spanning 3. Boundary spanning,
4 Short term orientation. 4. Long term orientation.
Philosophical Basis:
1. Anthropocentric 1. Bio-centric,
2. Ecosystem an open sink. 2. Ecosystem physical
limiting factor; eco cost must be paid.
Ecological accountability/responsibility
1. Limited product risk 1. Product risk,
2. Local/regional/national 2.Global/international,
3. No/underpaid ecological costs 3. Full accounting of
ecological cost,
4. Individual organization alone is responsible 4. PSLC members are
mutually responsible,
5. A public sector responsibility 5.Both PSU & private sector.
Source: ‘Marketing Management’ by Dr.Rajan Saxena, pg no 657, 1st edition, Tata-Mc Grow-Hill Pub. Co.
Ltd, New-Delhi.
*PSLC: Product System Life Cycle.
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2. Why Are Firms Using Green Marketing?
Firms may choose to green their systems, policies and products due to economic and non-
economic pressures from their consumers, business partners, regulators, citizen groups
#1.Some scholar claim that green policies/products are profitable: green policies can
reduce costs; green firms can shape future regulations and reap first mover advantage.
#2. Now a days firms are becoming more concerned about their social responsibilities
(S.R). They have taken S.R as a good strategic move to build up an image in the heart of
consumers. Even the socially responsible firms are getting leverage, whenever they
intend to enter into foreign countries. There are example of firms like ITC, HLL(Surf-
excel) who are heavily promoting them as an environmentally concerned firms, where as
there is example of firms who are working in this direction in a silence manner like coca-
cola, who have invested corers of money in various recycling activities, as well as
having modified their packaging to minimize it’s environmental impact. While being
concerned about the environment coke has not use their concern as a marketing tool.
Another big organization who is also working in this field without claiming any credit is
So we can see that firms in this situation have taken two perspectives: (1) they are using
green marketing as marketing tool; (2) they are working in this field without promoting
the fact.
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#3. Change in customers attitude: with increasing concern about environment, consumers
attitude towards firms having green policies or green products are becoming motivating
factor.
# 4. Governmental pressure: in all most all civilized countries Govt. has the law to
protect the consumers and the environment from the harmful goods or byproducts and
ensure through law that all types of consumers have the ability to evaluate the
amount of hazardous waste produced by firms and many by-products of production are
controlled through the issuing of various environmental licenses, thus shaping the
behaviour of organization towards more socially responsible one. In some countries govt.
has designed guidelines in such a way that consumer would have appropriate information
#5 . Competitive pressure: competition is the integral part of business; and you can not
over-look any competitive action taken by your competitor. So to be in the market you
have to have a vigil over your competitor’s move for marketing it’s products. Some firms
ahs taken green-marketing as a strategy to build up it’s image rather than inculcate it as a
part of the policy and work silence. In some instances this competitive pressure has
caused an entire industry to modify and thus reduce it’s detrimental environmental
behaviour.
#6. Cost or profit issue: firms may also use green-marketing in an attempt to have an
control over the cost associated with waste disposal. therefore firms that would able to
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introduce green-marketing by not inculcating or lesser use of harmful ingredients would
In other case the firm may attempt to find end-of –pipe solution, instead of minimizing
In China organic waste from thousands of small straw pulp mills is used as agricultural
fertilizer.
#1. No matter how noble the objective is; the firms working in the direction of green
marketing, have to have encounter a number of problems. First of all the firms must
ensure that their move in this direction will not create any confusion in the mind of
consumers or industry and do not break any of the regulations or laws dealing with
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#2 Another problem the firm may face is that, those who modify their products due to
increase customers concern must aware about the fact that customer’s perceptions are
some time not correct. Take the example when paper pack and jute bag were replaced
by the synthetic pack for the sake of saving the trees the result became more
environmental fatal.
#3. When firms attempt to become socially responsible, they may face the risk that the
fluorocarbon) which in later revealed is also a green-house gas. Some firms now shifted
to DME(dimethyl ether), which may also harm the ozone layer. So we can see that with
the limited scientific knowledge at any point in time, it may be impossible for a firm to be
This may explain why some firms, like coca-cola and Walt Disney World(WDW), are
#4. Reacting to competitive pressure can cause all followers to make the same mistake
claims for it biodegradable plastic garbage bags. But the condition under which it become
biodegradable is not allowed by natural processes. For this Mobil was sued by several US
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states for using misleading advertising claims. Thus blindly following the competitors
#5. Though Govt. has formulated several laws and regulations to give consumers the
responsible, there is always a difficulty in establishing policy that would cover all
environmental issues.
The greenwashing index was announced at the 2007 UN Climate change conference held
at Bali, Indonesia with an objective to eradicate bad environmental marketing claims and
at the same time shine a positive light on companies making measurable reduction in
Experts urged the consumers and the industries to be ever vigilant in preventing
greenwashing. they believed that one of the major factors that led to greenwashing was
the absence of a central agency to certify the green credentials of a firm. This allowed
companies, even those with questionable green credentials to step forward and call
themselves green.
causes problem for companies to represent their products in market place as high
percentage of customers still feel that environmental products do not work as well as
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conventional one; some time though the consumers are well aware about a particular
issue, they are not willing to pay a premium price for a green product.
It appears that consumers are not overly committed to improve their environment and
may be looking to lay too much responsibility on industries and govt. according to an
American survey it has been found that more than 50% of American adults say they
would do more for environment if only they come to know how? So education is crucial
for a green-marketing firm. Does your product save water or energy? Does it helps cut
down waste? Does it contain fewer toxics that can harm children or wild life? Let your
In Table –II, we can see the depth of understanding-level the US people have about green
products:
Percent of US people whoever bought a product because the advertising or the level said the
product was environmentally safe or biodegradable.
Yes, in past Yes, but not in past No, have not Don’t know
two months. two months. bought
Sex:
M 22 18 53 7
F 29 20 46 5
Age:
18-29 23 19 51 6
30-44 31 18 47 3
45-59 27 21 46 6
60+ 18 18 55 8
House-hold
income:
Under $15000 19 13 61 7
$15000-30000 21 17 55 6
$30000-50000 28 22 45 5
$50000+ 35 22 40 4
$75000+ 34 25 38 3
Education:
Non-H.S. grad 14 18 60 8
H.S-grad 24 17 55 5
Some college 31 25 41 4
College grad 33 18 42 8
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Occupation:
Exe/professional 38 16 42 4
White collar 28 23 43 6
Blue collar 22 22 51 5
Other Demo
Parent of kids 0-17 31 19 46 4
yrs.
House-hold with 36 21 40 4
personal computer.
environmental impact of their activities. In the following figure we can see some of the
too cheap 8%
lazy 23%
no alternative 26%
Fig: -I
(source: “An Introduction to Green Marketing” by Michael Jay Polonsky, Dept of Mgt. University of
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4. Managerial/ Strategic Implication of Green Marketing:
Green marketing subsumes green products as well as greening firms. Managers need to
identify what ought to be green: systems, processes or products? A research model has
been developed for the purpose of this study. This consist of five major sets of variables,
Antecedent are all those factors affecting firm’s environmental orientation, which
are four groups of antecedent factors, namely external polity i.e. socio-political and
regulatory system in which the firm operates, external economy i.e prevailing and
prospective economic environment surrounding the firm, internal polity i.e. the way
power, authority are handle within the firm and internal economy i.e. the way existing
resources are allocated to produce sufficient and satisfactory out-put. The antecedents
have an impact on firms values, belief and attitude towards environmentalism and related
adjustments of the traditional marketing mix elements( product, price, promotion &
have certain financial, market, customers and competitive outcomes for the organization
with regard to it’s marketing performance. Finally the effect of strategic factors on
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either internally i.e. organizational size, scope of operations etc. or externally, i.e.
With the help of this model the marketing managers will be able to better understand the
association with marketing strategy formulation will be established and the ultimate
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Companies that have adopted some types of environmental accountability have found
some benefits in the adaptation of an ecological approach. Some of the activities that
The green image generate a more positive public image which can, in turn, enhance sales,
increase stock price and open access to public capital markets. It may enhance the overall
perception of product quality and when coupled with environmental benefits inherent in a
product and it’s use, may provide the added value that customer would favour.
Case-I: NDTC: The need to be eco friendly is across the entire spectrum of activities.
when supreme court ordered the Delhi Government to examine ways and means to
reduce pollution in Delhi, it asked the government to introduce clean fuel like CNG in
public transport system. This put pressure on petroleum companies for launching clean
fuels with low sulphur content and lead free petrol. Also the only CNG supply company,
Indraprastha Gas Ltd, had to increase it’s supply. The vehicles had to made appropriate
changes. This led to Delhi Transport Corporation becoming the largest CNG powered
transport system in the country. Today Indraprastha Gas has 121 CNG distribution station
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in Delhi with a combine capacity of 16.47 lakhs kg gas per day, catering to about 90000
vehicles.
This growing concern for the environment led to development in oil and gas exploration,
refining and marketing. It also spurred development in the automobile sector which
manufactured vehicles that could run on CNG fuel. Also the vehicles have to conform to
pollution control norms as laid down by the Govt. like Bharat-III, Ero –II.
Case-II: Surf-excel: some kids in Mumbai’s Bainganwadi slums are grateful to Surf-
Excel, the Rs 485cr brand which introduce a feel-good marketing campaign-The Surf
This saw the surf excel buyers in the four cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and
Kolkata SMSing an amount to HLL(now HUL). The company in turn donate that amount
Case-III: Ponds: The Rs355cr brand ponds of HLL, tied up with United Nations
Development Fund for Women. For every flap of ponds cold cream mailed by the
consumers, the company would contribute Rs2/- to the fund to fight domestic violence.
Even though the proportion of adspends from its Rs1000cr advertising and promotion
budget have been minimal, HLL says most of its brands will look for long term strategic
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Vice President skin care, HLL, Ashok Venkatramani told CNBC-TV18, “ if the activity
is not housed in brand promise, than it looks like a charitable activity and in my view,
those activities are difficult to sustain in long run. In our case , specific to fair and lovely,
or even ponds, these are strongly housed in what the brand stands for and what brand
promise is all about, hence they are easy to sustained and will reap huge benefits.”
(CSR) is being used to build individual brands rather than the corporate brand. A case in
point is the Rs16000Cr ITC, that ran their CSR campaign, about putting India first for it’s
e-choupal initiative two years back. Cut to the present, the company has linked the
Sunfeast brand to it’s social forestry campaign, where the company chips in with 25 paise
for every pack of Sunfeast biscuit and pasta sold and consumers who buy the Atta brand,
executive, ITC, Ravi Naware says, “consumers like to connect with brand, if the brand is
seen as a socially responsible brand, then consumers get an emotional connect that far
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Case-V: Tata –Salt: Very recently Tata has lunched a campaign through T.V advertising
that if you will purchase Tata-salt , a significant percent of profit per pack would be
differentiation is completely drying up, service aspects are narrowed out, so the brand
value question will come up in the durables sector as well. It will come up in the auto
sector in my view. This will be a very live issues as we move forward in time.”
But if from detergent to TV sets all brands chase consumers for a cause, there will be a
clutter. At the same time, experts say it is important to find the right fit between brand
6. CONCLUSION:
Our understanding to green marketing is still in it’s infancy, perhaps due to the
including eco-level and market segmentation and the role of structural factors and
For environmental economists, green marketing signifies a broader trend in the evolution
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Clearly there are many lesion to be learned to avoid confusion i.e what you can say as
“Green Marketing Myopia”. The green marketers must understand the fact that they
have to satisfy two objectives: improved environmental quality and customer satisfaction.
Misjudging either or overemphasizing the former at the expenses of the latter may cause
a fatal result for companies. Research indicates that many green products have failed
For example Whirlpool(in1994) launched the “Energy Wise” refrigerator, the first CFC
free cooler and one that was 30% more efficient than the U. S. Department of Energy’s
highest standard. For it’s innovation Whirlpool won the prestigious “ Golden Carrot”, a
$30 million award package. Unfortunately, Energy Wise’s sales languished because the
CFC-free benefit and energy saving did not off set it’s $100 to $150 price premium and
the refrigerator did not offer additional features or new styles that consumers desired.
Roper ASW’s 2002” Green Gauge Report” finds that the top reasons consumers do not
buy green products included beliefs that they require sacrifices- inconvenience, higher
The effective green marketing requires applying good marketing principles to make green
products desirable for consumers. Now the question that remains, however, is, what is the
concept. Business scholars have viewed it as a fringe topic, given that environmentalism
acceptance of limits and conservation does not mesh well with marketing’s traditional
axioms of “give customers what they want” and “ sell as much as you can.” In practice
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green marketing myopia has led to ineffective products and consumers reluctance.
Sustainability, however, will dominate the 21st century commerce. The rising price,
growing pollution and resource consumption in Asia and political pressure to address
climate change are driving innovation toward healthier, more-efficient, high performance
products. In shorts all marketing will incorporate elements of green marketing. At the
same time to avoid green marketing myopia, the future success of product
dematerialization i.e shift from “sales of goods” to the “sales of services”, and more
desired value in the market place. Only then, product dematerialization will steer
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References:
Carlson, Les, Stephen Grove and Norman Kangun (1993),” A Content Analysis of
Environmental Advertising.” Journal of Advertising Vol- 22(3), pg 27-38.
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About the author:
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