Green Marketing Strategy of Businesses

common grocery has been an important academic research topic since it came about (Coddington, 1993 Fuller, 1999 Ottman, 1994). Attention was drawn to the subject in the latterly 1970s when the American Marketing Association organized the first ever workshop on ecologic Marketing in 1975 which resulted in the first book on the subject, entitled, Ecological Marketing by Henion and Kinnear in 1976. The first definition of grand merchandise was according to Henion (1976) the implementation of merchandise programs directed at the environment every last(predicate)y conscious market segment (Banerjee, 1999, p. 8). Peattie and Crane (2005) claims that despite the early wining, it was only in the late 1980s that the idea of kB selling actually made an appearance, because of the consumers festering interest in discolor merchandises, variety show magnitude aw beness and willingness to pay for leafy vegetable features.Henions (1976) definition of green merchandise has evolvi ng and m each much definitions of green marketing mother arisen throughout the years. One of the latter definitions is Fullers (1999, p. ) The process of planning, implementing, and masteryling the development, pricing, forward motion, and diffusion of productions in a manner that satisfies the following three criteria (1) customer needs are met, (2) organisational goals are attained, and (3) the process is compatible with ecosystems. The first indication of consumer interest in green products came through Vandermerwe and Oliff? s (1990) survey. This utter that more than 92% of European multinationals claimed to have diversityd their products in response to green concerns and 85% claimed to have changed their product systems (Peattie & Crane, 2005). unripe product introductions increased by more than double to 11. 4% of all new home products in the USA between 1989 and 1990, and continued to rise to 13. 4% in 1991 (ibid. ). However, this optimistic start to the 1990s was no t sustained (Peattie & Crane, 2005. A report conducted by Mintel in 1995, showed only a very delicate increase in green consumers since 1990, and showed a significant gap between concern and actual acquire (ibid. ). This can be attributed to the fact that consumers do not want to compromise on price, quality or convenience when conducting a green purchase (D?Souza et al. , 2006).The frequency and swelling of green claims was also found to be in decline (Peattie & Crane, 2005). So instead of the green whirling in marketing forecasted for the 1990s, companies became more chary about launching environmentally- establishd communications campaigns for fear of being accused of greenwashing (ibid). This is when a company hides the true issuance of its products or actions on the environment, by devising it seem as though the company is very have-to doe with about the environment (Greenwashing, 2009).One challenge green marketers old and new are likely to appear as green products and messages fit more common is confusion in the marketplace. Consumers do not authentically understand a lot about these issues, and in that locations a lot of confusion out there, says Jacquelyn Ottman (founder of J. Ottman Consulting and author of Green Marketing Opportunity for Innovation). Marketers sometimes take advantage of this confusion, and purposely make false or exaggerated green claims. Critics refer to this practice as green washing. Even though this revolution did not occur as predicted, the interest in the topic has not died down.Grant (2007, pp. 20-24) claims that green marketing is at a tipping point and that what we do next will decide if the topic continues to develop and bring forrard momentum. The popularity of such marketing approach and its effectiveness is hotly debated. Supporters claim that environmental appeals are actually festering in numberthe Energy Star label, for example, now appears on 11,000 different companies models in 38 product categori es, from washing machines and light bulbs to skyscrapers and homes. However, despite the growth in the number of green products, green marketing is on the decline as the primary sales pitch for products.On the other hand, Ropers Green Gauge shows that a high percentage of consumers (42%) feel that environmental products dont work as well as conventional ones. This is an unfortunate legacy from the 1970s when showerheads sputtered and natural detergents left clothes dingy. given the choice, all but the greenest of customers will reach for synthetic detergents over the premium-priced, proverbial Happy Planet any day, including Earth Day. New reports however show a growing trend towards green products. This provides information regarding the mise en scene of the need and/or general information about preview of the topic.The term Green Marketing came into prominence in the late mid-eighties and early 1990s. The American Marketing Association (AMA) held the first workshop on Ecologic al Marketing in 1975. The proceedings of this workshop resulted in one of the first books on green marketing entitled Ecological Marketing. The first wave of Green Marketing occurred in the 1980s. bodily Social Responsibility (CSR) Reports started with the ice cream seller Ben & Jerrys where the financial report was supplemented by a great view on the companys environmental impact.In 1987 a document prepared by the World direction on Environment and Development defined sustainable development as meeting the needs of the fork up without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own need, this became known as the Brundtland Report and was another(prenominal) step towards widespread thought on sustainability in everyday activity. Two tangible milestones for wave 1 of green marketing came in the form of published books, both of which were called Green Marketing. They were by Ken Peattie (1992) in the United Kingdom and by Jacquelyn Ottman (1993) in the United Sta tes of America.According to Jacquelyn Ottman, (author of Green Marketing Opportunity for Innovation) from an organizational standpoint, environmental considerations should be unified into all aspects of marketing new product development and communications and all points in between. The holistichttp//en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Holistic temper of green also pop the questions that besides suppliers and retailers new stakeholders be enlisted, including educators, members of the community, regulators, and NGOs. Environmental issues should be balanced with primary customer needs.The past decade has shown that harnessing consumer motive to effect positive environmental change is far easier said than done. The so-called green consumer movements in the U. S. and other countries have struggled to reach critical kettle of fish and to remain in the forefront of shoppers minds. While public opinion polls taken since the late 1980s have shown consistently that a significant percentage of consum ers in the U. S. and elsewhere profess a safe willingness to favor environmentally conscious products and companies, consumers efforts to do so in real life have remained uncomplete at best.One of green marketings challenges is the privation of standards or public consensus about what constitutes green, according to Joel Makower, a generator on green marketing. In essence, there is no definition of how good is good enough when it comes to a product or company making green marketing claims. This lack of consensusby consumers, marketers, activists, regulators, and influential micklehas slowed the growth of green products, says Makower, because companies are often reluctant to promote their green attributes, and consumers are often incredulous about claims.Despite these challenges, green marketing has continued to gain adherents, particularly in light of growing global concern about climate change. This concern has led more companies to advertise their commitment to tighten thei r climate impacts, and the effect this is having on their products and services. This provides the concise description of the issues that need to be addressed. It also provide why these variables are important so it focus on it. The ongoing marketing paradigm, according to Peattie (1999, p. 57), is based on using the earths resources and systems in an unsustainable manner.The traditional view on in collective social responsibility, which debates that tummy managers and directors only responsibilities are to the owners of the firm and to maximize profit, started changing in the early nineties to include a responsibility not only to those with a vested interest in the corporation (Klonoski, 1991). Instead a company must consider the effect of its actions on all stakeholders, including nature and animals (ibid. ). Many of the serious environmental issues we face are due to modern development and the pursuit of econoy Peattie, 1999, p. 58).However, making these crucial changes occur requires more than respective(prenominal) change change on a societal and economic level will be necessary (Grant, 2007, p. 47 Hartmann & Ibanez, 2006). Hence, governments will need to commit to developing forward thinking environmental policies (Peattie, 1999 Grant, 2008). Corporations must integrate greening into their avocation strategy and invest in the development of it as they would any other aspect of their business (Polonski & Rosenberger, 2001). Finally, the consumers have to actually purchase the environmentally palsy-walsy products they, so far, only claim to be interested in (Ginsberg & Bloom, 2004).In the end though, going green needs to make business sense for the corporation and not require a compromise on product attributes for the consumer. Marketers have a tremendous potential to help make this shift happen by pushing organizations to implement some form of a green marketing strategy (Peattie & Crane, 2005 Grant, 2007, p. 32). Marketers have the power to help sell? new lifestyle ideas (Grant, 2007, p. 1) According to Ottman (1993) green marketing serves two key objectives1) To develop products that be consumers? eeds for convenience, affordable pricing and performance while having a minimal impact on the environment. 2) To regurgitate an image of high quality, including environmental aspects, both in regards to product attributes and the manufacturers track magnetic disk for environmental compliance. If a paradigm shift from conventional to green marketing occurs, corporations will need to incorporate sustainability into their strategies or risk being left behind (Grant, 2008). It will be important for organizations and marketers to be well-versed on the subject and have a thorough understanding of green marketing and how it can cook value.Since the mid-nineties environmental legislation has increased, leading to a higher level of awareness of environmental issues in the business community and some(prenominal) corporations being req uired to consider these issues in their strategic planning in nightspot to meet stricter environmental standards (Banerjee, 1999, p. 18 Olson, 2008). Regardless of legislation and standards many people are calling for corporations in general to take more responsibility for their actions and the consequences thereof. Green marketing concept is fairly young and as a consequence it has not been extensively explored or research yet (Grant, 2007, p. Hartmann & Ibanez, 2006 Baker & Sinkula, 2005).Olson (2008) claims that while many corporations have implemented some form of green initiative, very few have actually completed an enterprise-level green strategy. He merelys states that, while it may vary depending on industry and possibly by individual business, early adoption of a formalized and well-articulated green strategy can allow companies the opportunity of a free-enterprise(a) advantage. Considering Olsons statement, one wonders how corporations, that have indeed incorporated s ome form of green thinking into the business, have done so and for what reasons.Therefore, the purpose of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of the subject of strategic green marketing by examining how strategic green marketing can be developed and what incentives companies have to do so. In order to fulfill this purpose, four research questions were developed. One objective of a marketing strategy is to optimize the marketing mix in relation to the wants and needs of the target market (Fuller, 1999, p. 330). data from the targeted business consumers can provide valuable input for the decision making process (ibid. . 320).Fuller (1999, p. 330) further states that mass-undifferentiated marketing will often fail to ensure customer satisfaction and profit and that segmenting the market provides a more realistic market interpretation. The first research question is therefore RQ1 How do companies segment their market based on business consumers green tendencies? Polonsky and R osenberger (2001, p. 22) claim that in true green marketing, environmental issues become an overriding strategic corporate focus rather than simply one strategic action.When forming a green marketing strategy it is important to realize that, just as in conventional marketing, there is no single strategy that will work for all companies (Ginsberg & Bloom, 2004 Fuller, 1999, p. 330). Instead each company must examine what strategy will work best depending on its own individual objectives, resources, target market, private-enterprise(a) conditions and so on (Polonsky & Rosenberger, 2001). According to Olson (2008), many companies pass up significant benefits because they do not go to at green opportunities in a strategic context.This brings us to research question two RQ2 How do companies choose their green marketing strategy? Implementing a green marketing strategy requires a fundamental, holistic, integrated approach across all functional marketing areas, including the entire marke ting mix of targeting, pricing, design, positioning and promotion (Polonsky & Rosenberger, 2001). According to Fuller (1999, p. 109), only companies that are truly committed to environmental concerns and are willing to record those concerns into action through marketing mix decisions can develop viable green marketing strategies. referable to these facts, research question three was developed RQ3 How do companies choices of green marketing strategy influence their marketing mix? Authors such as Porter and van der Linde (1995) and Elkington (1994) argue that environmentally superior strategies exist, which can create a competitive advantage by stimulating innovation and tapping into consumer concerns. Fuller (1999, p. 39) states that worldwide corporate practices suggest that a competitive advantage can indeed be earned and companies not implementing a green marketing strategy will be viewed as uncompetitive, unresponsive, and out of touch with emerging global markets.However, other s argue that greening strategy is difficult to do in practice (Walley & Whitehead, 1994). Managers need strategies that transform environmental investments into sources of competitive advantage by optimizing the economic return on their investments (Orsato, 2006). This lead to the fourth, and final, research question RQ4 How do companies die hard a competitive advantage through their green marketing? The obvious assumption of green marketing is that potential consumers will view product or services 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, in my opinion, has not been proven conclusively. This green marketing approach is largely used as a gimmick by the gigantic corporate houses in order to make a difference in the consumers point of view when it comes to major(ip ) market decisions.Many firms are beginning to realize that they are members of the wider community and therefore must give birth in an environmentally responsible fashion. So green marketing is also a way of feeling at how marketing activities can make the best use of these exceptional resources while meeting corporate objectives. Thus an environmental committed organization may not only produce goods that have rock-bottom their detrimental impact on the environment, they may also be able to instancy 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. With the human wants escalating heavily, the resources are decreasing. Hence it has become mandatory for the marketers across the globe to use the resources expeditious ly and not waste them under any circumstances. Worldwide surveys indicate that consumers globally are changing their port towards products and services.Green marketing is almost inevitable as the market for socially responsible products is increasing greatly. This provides what the study covers and fix its boundaries. Limitations specify certain constraints in the study which are essential, but which the researcher has no control of. Although the business-to-consumer (B2C) segment is a major contributor to the damage of the global environment and that a significant change in attitude is necessary, this thesis will only focus on the business-to-business (B2B) segment.The study is not limited to one industry but is examining a range of B2B firms with the purpose of gaining a deeper understanding of green marketing strategies in an overall business context. Most research conducted on the topic of green marketing is cogitate on the B2C market and the authors consider there to be a sig nificant lack of knowledge available when it comes to the B2B market. Furthermore, the authors? were intrigued by the apparent opportunities available to companies choosing to go green.