FRIENDLY MARKETING

( BIO -FRIENDLY, ECO-FRIENDLY, COST- FRIENDLY)

BY K.RINOSHA BANU

Abstract:
Green revolution, going green, environmental protection , sustainable life style, sustainable development, protecting our earth and many more have become a natural phenomenon in our everyday life. Green marketing is a tool used by many companies in various industries to follow this trend .There have been a lot of literature review on green marketing over the years, this paper analysis the impact of green marketing strategies on customer satisfaction and environmental safety using comprehensive literature review. As a result, this paper can be used by researchers who need to find out the impact of green marketing on customer satisfaction and environmental safety. The following paper analyses and defines the environmental marketing concept in the way it has evolved over time. Highlighting the key characteristics and concept of green marketing reflecting different perspectives of the relationship between business and environment, it has been restated that environmental and sustainability concerns are affecting the concept of green marketing more than ever. Rationally, this paper proposes a necessary shift from consumer-driven green marketing which is susceptible to errors, contradictory results and misguidance; towards market-driven green marketing which makes more sense in terms of economic environment and the sustainability framework. The objective of this paper is to (a) explore the concept of green marketing (b) strategies involved in green marketing (c) problems with green marketing (d) consumer segmentation.

Keywords: Green Marketing, Consumer Satisfaction, Environmental Safety, Ecological Marketing, Green Communication, Classical Marketing.

Introduction:
In the last decade, consumers have become more enlightened on environmental issues. Green marketing refers to selling product or rendering services based on environmental

benefit. It came into existence in later 1980s and early 1990s. Green marketing is growing rapidly and consumers are willing to pay a lot for green product. There has been little analysis of the impact of this new market on the consumers and the environment so far. Green marketing affects all areas of our economy, it does not just lead to environmental protection but it also create new market and job opportunities. Companies that are environmental stewards stand a chance of gaining many satisfied and loyal customer .Environmental concerns regarding the economic activity has been an issue to ponder upon by the society. The realm of marketing has not been untouched by the ever increasing ecological problems. Since majority of environmental problems evolve from human consumption, the problem of conservation has been brought down to the consumer level. Accordingly consumers are also coming forward to take some responsibility to reduce International Journal of Business and Management Tomorrow environmental damage through the consumption, by the way of using environmentally friendly products. In turn, this has made an impact on marketers of consumer products and organizations because they have to respond to this green challenge .The word green has not only effected the production and manufacturing of the companies but has also made an impact on how they market themselves as green. Green marketing can said to have become a tool for the companies to help them project themselves as greener or environmental friendly. Under such circumstances where the consumer has become more conscious and educated regarding the environment. Green marketing plays a crucial role in building relationship between the consumer and the company. Environmentally responsible technologies and practices can help consumers reduce cost and simultaneously raise productivity.

Green Marketing:
The American Marketing Association (AMA) held the first workshop on ecological marketing in 1975. 1980 was the first time green marketing came into existence. AMA defines green marketing as the marketing of products that are presumed to be environmentally safe; it incorporates several activities such as product modification, changes to production processes, and packaging, advertising strategies and also increases awareness on compliance marketing amongst industries. Business dictionary defines green marketing as promotional activities aimed at taking advantage of changing consumer attitude towards a brand. These changes are increasingly being influenced by a firms policies and practices that affect the quality of the environment and reflect the level of its concern for the community. It can also be seen as the promotion of environmentally safe or beneficial products. We can define green products by following measures: Products those are originally grown, Products those are recyclable, reusable and biodegradable, Products with natural ingredients,

 Products containing recycled contents, non-toxic Chemical , Products contents under approved chemical, Products that do not harm or pollute the environment, Products that will not be tested on animals, Products that have eco-friendly packaging i.e. reusable, Refillable containers etc.

Green Marketing and Sustainable Development:

According to the World Commission on Environmental Development (1978), Sustainable Development is meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs. The common theme throughout this strategy of sustainable development is the need to integrate economic and ecological considerations in decision making by making policies that conserve the quality of agricultural development and environmental protection. This is what the end product of green marketing is, environmental protection for the present and the future generation. The development of energy- efficient operations, better pollution controls, recyclable and biodegradable packaging, ecologically safe products are all part of green marketing which also leads to sustainable development.

Green Communication:
It is unacceptable when it comes to advertising non-existent green features. Discussing socially responsible behavior. Today it is not sufficient for companies to merely state they care about the environment within their corporate strategy. Things have changed and customers express their interest, want to learn more about Change has always been inevitable. The global scenario has always been dynamic, which also gets reflected in the functioning of businesses. It is this change which has brought about transformation even in the marketing perspective. The new marketing scenario, unlike the classical one not only focuses on the functioning of the products and how they look and feel, but also focus on what its effect would be on the ecology, during its life and even after .The rhythm of changes, global ecological problems, global business, growing dependence on networking and mutual exchange of various organizations, without obvious and fixed borders, sets new challenges before marketing both professionally and scientifically. Due to this reason, classical marketing, defined as "social and

management process whereby, through creation, offer and exchange of products of value with others, individuals and groups get what they need or what they want", can no longer meet growing market needs of "green" customers. Classical marketing is based on discovering, developing, and sale of products and services whose price, quality, and characteristics will best full fill customer needs without taking into consideration a wider social sensitivity. When it comes to green marketing, the objectives are much more composite, had given Development of a product that would concurrently satisfy needs and desires of customers with regards to quality, price, and convenience, with minimum influence on the environment .Companies can no deceive them with stories about socially responsible behaviour unless they truly implement it. Deceptions and false green products may cause irreparable harm both for their reputation and image and for the overall turnover caused by loss of part of customers. A growing number of today's marketing experts counsel companies not to use the term socially responsible behaviour (SRB) or ecologically acceptable product in their advertising campaigns unless they implement measures related to environmental protection primarily within the price of green product has to be affordable for the customer to encourage purchase. Industrial differentiation works only when products reduce clients cost. Most buyers are influenced by advertisement that reflects a companys commitment to environment. Companies that do green advertisement that tend to portray an image of environmental friendliness, influences their customer purchase decisions. Consumers love to associate themselves with companies that are environmental stewards. When a company communicates this through their advertisements, promotions, publicity and corporate social responsibilities, they are sure to get many loyal customers. Green distribution is a very delicate operation. Customers must be guaranteed of the Ecological nature of the product. The green environment is a constantly regulated environment and as such high level of compliance is necessary when carrying out distribution of green products. This is a common procedure in the

Stakeholders in Green Marketing Strategy:

Based on marketing literature, stakeholders play one of the most influencing roles in any organization and market .They influence all aspect of green strategy also in areas such as purchase of green product, nature of the product, the packaging, advertisement, promotion and also Green awareness programs. When a particular company wants to go green, the stakeholders are at the fore front of their green marketing strategy. Jaime RiveraCamino said that stakeholders in green marketing include the plant, various animals, plant species and the future generations. Consider the following questions: How to educate the consumers to responsibly use, spend and dispose the products? How to make the company ecologically friendly or Green? who all can collaborate and do business with us (company)?

 How to develop a new genre of products? How can the company contribute to restoration of environment?

Customer Satisfaction and Green Marketing

Customer satisfaction has been defined in two basic ways: as either an outcome or as a process .As an outcome, satisfying the end state resulting from the consumption experience. As a process, it is the perceptual evaluative and psychological process that contributes to satisfaction. The definition is varied with regards to their level of simplicity which includes; Product satisfaction Satisfaction with the purchase decision experience. Satisfaction with the performance attributes 638. Satisfaction with the store or institution. Satisfaction with pre-purchase experience. Marketing literature suggests that there is a relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty. Satisfaction leads to attitudinal loyalty. It could be seen as the intension to purchase. Satisfaction is an outcome that occurs without comparing expectations. Customer satisfaction could also be defined as an evaluative response to perceived outcome of a particular consumption experience .It is an overall judgment on satisfaction, based on the assumption that satisfaction is the outcome of service quality .Many Authors believe that customers have a high level of involvement regarding environmental issues as a consequence of growing environmental consciousness. Studies have shown the significant influence of environmental knowledge and consciousness on consumer environmental attitude .Consequently, companies that communicate their green product in their packaging, advertisement or manufacturing process, gain satisfied customers. Because of the green trend, companies that fail to go green are not failing to fail in their industry. Customers want to associate themselves with companies and products that are eco-friendly. In fact, Google Trends reports that, on a relative basis, more searches for green marketing originated from India than from any other country. Rank Country 1. India 2. UK

3. US 4. Thailand 5. Australia 6. Canada 7. China

Environmental Safety:
Environment is simply our surrounding. The increased awareness on environmental issues is as a result of increased publicity on the media on issues such as, the warring off of the ozone layer and increased pollution of the environment by industries. Customers have become concern about their everyday habit and the impact it has on their environment. Managing environmental safety issue is highly challenging, time consuming and expensive. There are many laws on environmental safety that have made companies liable to any wrongdoings. These laws cover areas such as, harmful pollution, managing of hazardous materials and soon. As a result, several hazard control pollution, control and prevention programs are held in different parts of the world on emergency procedures, contingency planning and employee training. Similarly, many regulatory bodies and acts are set to ensure environmental safety and protection, some of which include, OSHA (Occupational Safety and health Act), CERCLA ( Comprehensive environmental Respond Compensation liability Act), TSCA (Toxic Substance Control Act), HMTA ( the Hazardous Material Transportation Act), FIFRA ( Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act), FFDCA (Federal food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, GHS (Globally Harmonized System of Classification and labeling of Chemicals). Environmental Safety is not an easy task to implement. Implementing the GHS standardization policies of a single frame work of the classification and labeling of chemicals so hazards are consistently defined across different national jurisdiction is beneficial but highly challenging, especially in countries like U.S, Japan and Korea that have multiple regulatory authorities. EH&S (Environmental Health and Safety) regulatory compliance and CSR (Cooperate Social Responsibility) initiative throughout the supply chain can help promote and sustain ongoing improvement within an organization. These improvements will help the company achieve regulatory compliance and position itself as a socially responsible company. Developing a New Generation of "Green" Product Insufficient production processes and poor designing of products can be very harmful for the environment, this is why the companies should consider possible negative effects on the environment and minimize them at the beginning of New Product Development (NPD).

Discussion:
There is now a real sense that environmental protection is highly necessary. Everyone believes a green life is a better and healthier life for present and future generation. Most consumers spending pattern shows that they have a desire for brands that go green. Consumers not only want to buy their products but are willing to pay more for it. Based on research, 70 percent of some 2000 people in US, UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia and Japan are willing to pay a premium for energy alternatives such as, wind and solar power. Consumers are motivated to buy from companies that are eco-friendly in the production. When a company displays the green logo on their product, it shows that their product or services stands out from the 639crowd and this gives them a competitive edge. Consequently, most customer buying decisions are influence by green product label like the US energy star logo, Green label in Thailand, Korea Eco label and much more. THE FUTURE OF GREEN MARKETING : There are many lessons to be learned to be learned to avoid green marketing myopia, the short version of all this is that effective green marketing requires applying good marketing principles to make green products desirable for consumers. The question that remains, however, is, what is green marketing's future? Business scholars have viewed it as a fringe topic, given that environmentalism's acceptance of limits and conservation does not mesh well with marketings raditional axioms of give customer what they want and sell as much as you can.

Conclusion :
Green marketing is a tool for protecting the environment for the future generation. It has a positive impact on environmental safety. Because of the growing concern of environmental protection, there is an emergence of a new market which is the green market. For companies to survive in this market, they need to go green in all aspect of their business. Consumers want to identify themselves with companies that are green compliant and are willing to pay a premium for a greener life style. As such, green marketing is not just an environmental protection tool but also, a marketing strategy. What lies Ahead pollution has lead the products to tilt towards healthier, cost efficient and energy efficient products. Green marketing has been often thought to be a passing fad by marketers, as it does not support the traditional outlook of marketing. The customary outlook of marketing focuses on selling the consumers as much as one can and provide the customers whatever they want, which is in direct contrast to what the green marketing suggests. Even though what the traditional outlook may be, the concept of green marketing is here to stay. Growing concerns regarding the environment, rising prices and increasing Green marketing 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 their products. This paper focuses on some of the key characteristics in the area of green marketing. It also points out the fact that it is difficult for consumers as well as corporate to adopt green unless they overcome certain roadblocks, mainly: government enforcement of rules and regulations, subsidies, culture, education, and economic conditions. With an in-depth analysis, these barriers reflect the socio-economic framework for the consumers' going green and should be considered in relation to one another and solved in parallel because if they are correctly and effectively used they will support going green. The perspective change reflected in this paper is that environmental practices combined with innovativeness can be efficient and leading to financially better results than damaging ones and expected to bring with it a significant environmental improvement in the long run for the people as well as the planet .Green marketing assumes even more importance and relevance in developing countries like India.
REFERENCES 1. www.greenmarketing.net/stratergic.html 2. www.epa.qld.gov.au/sustainable_ industries 3. www.greenpeace.org/international 4. www.google.com