GREEN MARKETING HARISH BEHIN M

"Progress is possible, No one can stop it, but obstacle is there, we have to face it."

- Amartya Sen
Introduction
Yes, green marketing is a golden goose. As per Mr. J. Polonsky, green marketing can be defined as,
"All activities designed to generate and facilitate any exchange intended to satisfy
human needs or wants such that satisfying of these needs and wants occur with
minimal detrimental input on the national environment."
Green marketing involves developing and promoting products and services that satisfy customers
want and need for Quality, Performance, Affordable Pricing and Convenience without having a
detrimental input on the environment.
Meaning
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.
Definition
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 legal implications of marketing claims call for caution. Misleading or overstated claims can lead
to regulatory or civil challenges. In the USA, the Federal Trade Commission provides some
guidance on environmental marketing claims.
Three keys to successful green marketing
Show potential customers that you follow green business practices and you could reap more green
on your bottom line. Green Marketing isn't just a catchphrase; it's a marketing strategy that can
help you get more customers and make more money. But only if you do it right.
For green marketing to be effective, you have to do three things; be genuine, educate your
customers, and give them the opportunity to participate.
1) Being genuine means that a) that you are actually doing what you claim to be doing in your
green marketing campaign and b) that the rest of your business policies are consistent with
whatever you are doing that's environmentally friendly. Both these conditions have to be met for
your business to establish the kind of environmental credentials that will allow a green marketing
campaign to succeed.
2) Educating your customers isn't just a matter of letting people know you're doing whatever
you're doing to protect the environment, but also a matter of letting them know why it matters.
Otherwise, for a significant portion of your target market, it's a case of "So what?" and your green
marketing campaign goes nowhere.
3) Giving your customers an opportunity to participate means personalizing the benefits of
your environmentally friendly actions, normally through letting the customer take part in positive
environmental action.
Evolution of Green Marketing
The green marketing has evolved over a period of time. According to Peattie (2001), the evolution
of green marketing has three phases. First phase was termed as "Ecological" green marketing,
 and during this period all marketing activities were concerned to help environment problems and
provide remedies for environmental problems. Second phase was "Environmental" green
marketing and the focus shifted on clean technology that involved designing of innovative new
products, which take care of pollution and waste issues. Third phase was "Sustainable" green
marketing. It came into prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000.
Why Green Marketing?
As resources are limited and human wants are unlimited, it is important for the marketers to utilize
the resources efficiently without waste as well as to achieve the organization's objective. So green
marketing is inevitable.
There is growing interest among the consumers all over the world regarding protection of
environment. Worldwide evidence indicates people are concerned about the environment and are
changing their behavior. As a result of this, green marketing has emerged which speaks for
growing market for sustainable and socially responsible products and services.
Benefits of Green Marketing
Companies that develop new and improved products and services with environment inputs in mind
give themselves access to new markets, increase their profit sustainability, and enjoy a
competitive advantage over the companies which are not concerned for the environment.
Adoption of Green Marketing
There are basically five reasons for which a marketer should go for the adoption of green
marketing. They are -
• Opportunities or competitive advantage
• Corporate social responsibilities (CSR)
• Government pressure
• Competitive pressure
• Cost or profit issues
Green Marketing Mix
Every company has its own favorite marketing mix. Some have 4 P's and some have 7 P's of
marketing mix. The 4 P's of green marketing are that of a conventional marketing but the
challenge before marketers is to use 4 P's in an innovative manner.
Product
The ecological objectives in planning products are to reduce resource consumption and pollution
and to increase conservation of scarce resources (Keller man, 1978).
Price
Price is a critical and important factor of green marketing mix. Most consumers will only be
prepared to pay additional value if there is a perception of extra product value. This value may be
improved performance, function, design, visual appeal, or taste. Green marketing should take all
these facts into consideration while charging a premium price.
Promotion
There are three types of green advertising: -
• Ads that address a relationship between a product/service and the biophysical environment
• Those that promote a green lifestyle by highlighting a product or service
• Ads that present a corporate image of environmental responsibility
Place
The choice of where and when to make a product available will have significant impact on the
customers. Very few customers will go out of their way to buy green products.
Strategies
The marketing strategies for green marketing include: -
• Marketing Audit (including internal and external situation analysis)
• Develop a marketing plan outlining strategies with regard to 4 P's
• Implement marketing strategies
• Plan results evaluation
Challenges Ahead
• Green products require renewable and recyclable material, which is costly
• Requires a technology, which requires huge investment in R & D
• Water treatment technology, which is too costly
• Majority of the people are not aware of green products and their uses
• Majority of the consumers are not willing to pay a premium for green products
Conclusion
Green marketing should not neglect the economic aspect of marketing. Marketers need to
understand the implications of green marketing. If you think customers are not concerned about
environmental issues or will not pay a premium for products that are more eco-responsible, think
again. You must find an opportunity to enhance you product's performance and strengthen your
customer's loyalty and command a higher price. Green marketing is still in its infancy and a lot of
research is to be done on green marketing to fully explore its potential.