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Most of the different and various marketing definitions available in the literature tend to put customer into focus: “Marketing is the delivery of customer satisfaction as a profit” (Kotler et al, 2001); “Marketing is the management process for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitability” (Charter et al, 2002). “Marketing is the whole business seen from its final result, which is from the customer’s point of view” (Charter et al, 2002). On the other hand, the notion of marketing has developed with time and usually in the definitions of conventional marketing it is hard to find any reference to ecological, moral or social perspectives, (Kotler et al, 2001). The traditional marketing concept is focused on mass consumption and company compartmentalization as mass sales, mass marketing, standardized products or services, market locally, separate different responsibilities among different departments (Kotler et al, 2001). This “old school” marketing concept do not consider the social and environmental issues that must be audited, understood and accommodated within the marketing strategy process. The “new school” concept of marketing integrate the concept of globalization to some extent presenting a less generalized and customized perspective focusing on consumers satisfaction, selected marketing segments, customized products or services, market both locally and globally, involvement of all departments within the firm (Kotler et al, 2001). It is hard to find any signs of green considerations in all those definitions.
Until recently, the fact that businesses are physical systems existing within a finite and vulnerable natural environment has been largely ignored in the management and marketing discipline .The emergence of the physical environment as a strategic marketing issue has evolved through several stages. In the 1970s a wave of local environmental concern linked to the oil ‘shocks’ of the period, several major pollution incidents and evidence of the human and environmental impacts of chemicals such as DDT and pollutants such as airborne lead, spawned the concept of ‘ecological marketing’ (Hennison and Kinnear, 1976). Later on with the advent of Industrialization with its large-scale production and consumption society has put pressure on the earth’s ecosystem, businesses started to consume the Earth’s natural capital at an unsustainable rate and this increased the risks for significant social and environmental consequences. The world cannot maintain its recent trends of growth in consumption and production without future consumers, and the billions living outside the consumer economy, bearing the cost ( Peattie, 2008).
The concept of sustainability was found in Brundtland Report 1987, Our Common Future‟ (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987, p. 8) as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (Bridges and Wilhelm, 2008, p. 34). Sustainable development is a notion on a macro-level and a kind of vision, ambition or guide to a more sustainable future society included in the concept of green marketing. Developing a sustainable global economy is a challenge and an opportunity. Companies have a responsibility to drive the development towards greater sustainability and becoming environment friendly, so that a company’s main goal is to develop markets for more environmentally friendly products and services and educate and influence customers to change (Hart, 1997, p. 67). According to Hart (1997), many companies implement policies of environmental sustainability in order to make profit by sustaining the environment. Basically, it is possible for a company to prevent pollution by eliminating or minimizing waste before it is created. Companies that have put importance on prevention have responded with green marketing programs, such as developing ecological safer products, recyclable and biodegradable packaging, better pollution controls and more energy-efficient processes (Armstrong and Kotler, 2007, p. 509). The nature of green marketing can therefore be summarized as ‘The holistic management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying the needs of customers and society, in a profitable and sustainable way’ (Peattie, 1995).
According to Prakash(2002), the marketing discipline, the public policy process and the natural environment are interrelated and they can be defined in many terms: ecological marketing (Henion and Kinnear, 1976), environmental marketing (Coddington, 1993), green marketing (Peattie, 1995; Ottman, 1992), sustainable marketing (Fuler, 1999), and greener marketing (Charter and Polonsky, 1999). Unfortunately, most people believe that green marketing refers solely to the promotion or advertising of products with environmental characteristics (Polonsky, 1994). when companies use the environment as an additional promotional dimension without attempting to analyze, or modify the underlying product itself and its environmental impact then the green marketing strategies of companies doesn’t not become effective (King, 1985). Green marketing incorporates a broad range of activities, starting from product modification, changes to the production, packaging changes, as well as modifying advertising (Polonsky, 1994). Yet defining green marketing is a difficult task.
Different authors has defined green marketing in different ways
Henion and Kinnear was first to define ecological markeing in 1976 as “The study of the positive and negative aspects of marketing activities on pollution, energy depletion and non-energy resource depletion” (Henion and Kinnear quoted by Polonsky 1994, p2). Polonsky’s (1994) definition is a useful starting point, Polonsky defines green marketing as: “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 the minimal detrimental impact on the natural environment” (Polonsky 1994, p2). He points out some important elements in his definition. He mentioned that the green marketing is process of dividing overall marketing activity into activities such as positive and negative activities and investigate a narrow range of environmental issues. According to the Queensland Government (2006) the green marketing is: “To develop and promote products and services that satisfy customers wants and needs for quality, performance, affordable pricing and convenience without having a detrimental impact on the environment” (Polonsky 1994,p1). But to the recent date no definition or terminology has been accepted universally.
Reasons to adopt Green Marketing
Green businesses continue to emerge, and new companies are joining the trend, green economy is estimated to be valued at more than $209 billion annually and is expected to reach $1 trillion by 2020 according to the LOHAS (Lifestyles of health and sustainability) Journal, which researches and tracks green economic trends. According to Miller (2008), on the basis of this information it appears useful to focus on the reasons and explain the behavioral change of these companies, however, in some cases the change is optional but in other cases it is not. Polonsky (1994) has explained five reasons for the company to adopt green marketing.
Opportunities or competitive advantage
Environmental friendly goods and services demand is going to increase with society becoming more concerned about environment. In order to address the latest needs of the society, marketing is required to turn greener, leading companies and other organizations are approaching towards the field of sustainable management (Peattie, 1992). The goal of green marketing is to make changes and make green alternatives appear normal and acceptable, it is an opportunity to innovate and attain the success of business through green marketing objectives (Grant, 2007, p. 10). The recent global trend is indicative of individual as well as industries being more concerned about the environment and as a result ready to change their activities. The market is growing for sustainable and socially conscious products and services and due to this change in demand, a good number of companies become concerned about the exploitable scope in the market (Polonsky, 1994).
In general, customers all over the world have the intention to do the right thing therefore, the challenge and opportunity for the green marketer lies in the way to make the process easier for them (Queensland Government, 2006). In comparison with the traditional one if the green product provides equal quality, price, performance and availability then the consumer will choose the product with environmental benefit, based on this fact it can be concluded that product with environmental characteristics has a competitive advantage (Polonsky,1994).
Corporate social responsibilities.
The organizations consider that it is an ethical duty for them to become more concerned about social responsibility. The awareness is increasing over the fact that companies must respond in a responsible way as long as environment is concerned since their corporate responsibility has a major impact as an active participant of the society (Polonsky, 1994). In this way the new sustainability agencies have been created environment manager positions in order to meet requirements. Companies try to care about their image, when the company is hit by poor performance or negative rumors it realize the need to become green since a negative impression of the company can result in weakening the trust of consumers and in some cases to a loss of consumers
Government pressure
Company may decide to green their systems, policies and products because of economic and non economic pressures from their consumers, business partners, regulators, citizen groups and other stakeholders (Prakash, 2002). The responsibility of the government is to look after its citizens and society and in this way the role of the government has significant impact on green marketing. In a various ways the government provides protection to its citizens by Implementing rules and regulation on harmful consumption through reduction and modification, confirming that the rules are followed, etc (Polonsky,1994). The governmental bodies are forcing firms to become more responsible (NAAG, 1990)
Competitive pressure
Competitors’ environmental activities pursue firms to change their environmental marketing activities (NAAG, 1990). The firms have a tendency to follow competitors promoting their environmental behaviors in order to maintain their competitive position (Polonsky, 1994).
Cost or profit issues
Eventually, the cost factors associated with waste disposal or reductions in material usage forces companies to modify their behavior. For an instance, the cost of installing solar energy is an investment in future energy cost savings therefore, sometimes investments is required in order to modify the production process though it can save money in the long run (Queensland Government,2006). In addition, according to Miller (2008), the practice of environmental marketing practices is beneficial not only for cost reduction but also for the customer relationship management and finally return on investment. Peattie and Crane (2005) noticed that due to short-term cost savings (packaging reduction, cost savings) companies can show enthusiasm about green marketing. Polonsky (1994) added that in an attempt to waste minimization, companies are often required to re-examine their production processes and most of the time that leads to processes more effective in reducing waste as well as the need for raw materials. Companies may also benefit from alternative usage or market for their waste materials (Polonsky,1994).
Ways to become green
Many green marketing theories have been evolved over time but it is quite difficult to pick a single theory clearly explaining how to go green. Everyone add his piece to the construction by recommending some elements. Because of this reason, it is important to examine how to make it work in a business environment, and which is a difficult job given the situation that the business marketer disagrees on exactly what it means by ‘go green’. However, according to Miller (2008), green businesses continue to emerge, and new companies are joining the trend.
Since different authors have different opinions about green marketing it is difficult to determine how to apply an effective green marketing and what are the rules
Polonsky (1994) claims that the green marketing incorporates a broad range of activities including product modification, changes to the production, packaging changes, as well as advertising.
Prakash (2002) consider it as an approach where companies have three options to green themselves among them the first two are in the firm level which is the method of value addition by redesigning, eliminating or modifying technology as well as introducing new ones – all with the aim of cutting down the environmental impact collectively for all stages, second one is management systems by adopting systems that facilitate the company for cutting down the environmental impact of value-addition processes and eventually products in product level by repairing, reconditioning, remanufacturing, reusing, recycling and reducing the use of raw materials .
Traditionally marketing has focused on the marketing mix and the four P’s of marketing, product, price, place and promotion (Kotler, 2005). Bradley (2007) primarily integrated these 4Ps into the green marketing activities and came up with the idea of Green Marketing Mix.
The Environmental Protection Agency of the Queensland Government (2006) consider green marketing like the traditional marketing with the 4Ps. By analyzing the characteristics of the Ps this organization created the 4Ps in a considerably green way and defined the green marketing as “developing and promoting products and services that satisfy customers wants and needs for quality, performance, affordable pricing and convenience without having a detrimental impact on the environment” (Queensland Government 2006, p1).
A product is not limited to only the final object but also by other elements such as the production or process, the package, the materials, etc and because the green marketing focuses a lot on all these, it was decided to divide this Product into 3 subcategories to use the most common model and just to play with 5 Ps adding people as a fifth one given they are an inseparable part of green marketing .
Product
According to Ottman (2003) products and its marketing are very much noticeable to the customers. As with a tangible characteristics product is the most important element to people needs. Products and their marketing are highly visible to the general public (Ottman, 2003). Companies try to take advantage of emerging green markets by identifying environmental needs of consumers and to develop environmentally responsible products which have less impact than the product of their competitors (Queensland Government, 2006). On the other hand, companies should also avoid the common mistake of making an environment friendly product which has no demand from customers.
Efficient product which save money and reduce environmental impact requires reduced raw materials but delivers more benefits than its previous version or rival products Bradley (2007) and Queensland Government (2006).
Process:
The process of greening the production relates to protection of environment which includes preservation of natural resources, both renewable and non-renewable types and minimization of pollutants. Because of the past years remarkable change in the supply chain management due to the pressure of globalization many companies have integrated environment management in their supply chain, suppliers are now selected in terms of environmental criteria, quality and pricing are being reconsidered, environmental aspect into the production level is being incorporated, and waste is being managed in an environment-friendly way. Legislation is being approved both inside and outside the country to safeguard environment such as eco-labeling and quality maintain program by government. Prakash (2002) recommend redesigning, removing and upgrading a number of the process of the technology used with an aim of cutting down the environmental impact at every stages which is to green the value addition processes. Basically, with the use of less resources companies will have minimum environmental impact and this reduction can take place in different ways and one of which is to minimize the waste materials amount in the whole product life cycle Bradly(2007). And authors like Miller (2008) advice for the improvement of waste material recycling process as well as the use of recycled materials.
Recycle
For green marketing recycling is an important issue. According to Prakash (2002) recycling refers to development of products that can be remanufactured and transformed back into raw material for the use of different or the same product.
Reuse
Prakash(2002) claims to reuse. To discourage a society of consumption where products are being discarded after their first use companies should design products that can be used for multiple times.
Labels
Labels are one of the main tools for green marketing with the growing concern over environment regulations have been created to safeguard customers as well as society and as a result of these rules many labels have been created. Label can protect the environment through an independent third party certification that the product concerned meet the predefined standards, ensuring strict and continuous compliance with the standards by procedures. Products should use green labels, as long as they offer substantiation (Queensland Government, 2004).
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Eco label
In order to move towards more sustainable and environmentally friendly approaches, several efforts have been made and eco-labeling being one with increasing importance. Eco labels inform consumers about the products effects on the environment from production, consumption and waste phases. Eco labels are a major tool of green marketing and are a means for customers in order to make choices to cut down environmental impact and inform them about the fact of how products are made. Due to a great deal of interest in the field of eco labels a good number of researches have been carried out to make eco label more effective.
Eco labels aim to identify products with less environmental impact throughout the entire life cycle. Attributes of eco labels are that they are based on a criterion set by third parties and are voluntary. Independent experts select and determine the product categories and criterion, which consider interest groups and technical inputs and are openly obtainable. Moreover, products fulfilling the criteria and companies paying the fee and application costs may use the eco logo for a fixed period of time
For example, a mandatory label is the EU energy label which assesses the energy consumption for household appliances.
There are three types of voluntary labels and are categorized by the ISO standard which are intended to encourage a shift towards environmentally friendly consumption habits. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) developed a series of standards, called the ISO 14000 as an international standard series in order to promote environmental protection and sustainable development. Since the introduction of the environmental management system (EMS) – ISO 14001 in September 1996, it has attracted a great deal of attention from organizations in various industries.
Type I labels which is certified by a third party and are aimed at certifying products and their production processes according to criteria relating to the whole product life cycle are usually supported by the government. Type I are intended to encourage a shift towards environmentally friendly consumption habits. Examples of such voluntary labels are the EU eco label. Type II refer to specific attributes of the product which are self-declared environmental claims made by manufacturers, importers or distributor. Example of such labels are the labels for CFC free products. Finally, type III labels are environmental product declarations, where quantified environmental information is presented in a standardized way(ISO Homepage_______________). Eco labels are used by a variety of stakeholders, such as policymakers, consumers, sellers and other groups.
Studies have been conducted to find out if or not customers can recognize different labels, whether they understand the meaning and trust the message on the labels (Rex and Baumann, 2006). With the help of labels companies protect and legitimate business practice and gain competitive advantage. On the other hand customer’s expectation is that labels help them to find product that is less detrimental for the environment. Over the last thirty years individual companies, non-governmental organizations, local and international organizations have developed a reasonable number of eco-labels.
Extended product life
Prakash (2002) argues the need for product life cycle extension by repairing and renovation. In order to obtain this it is necessary to offer an effective after sales service and to stop people from discarding their products. On the other hand it is imperative to inspire them to repair or recondition them.
Packaging
To protect the environment and to incorporate green marketing companies can play a major role through product packaging The package is the ultimate opportunity for a product to attract the customers eye when the customer is in front of the retail shelf and is about to choose. The package can provide customer information about the brand and the product even before it is opened. Off late, the variation of the same product category is so great that the packaging must stand out and clearly get the attention of customers. The green features should be clearly and trustworthy marked because though customer’s desires to be environment friendly but they lack time and energy to scrutinize package. Moreover, a package is often the most successful which communicate simply and clearly what it contains and what it promises to deliver, (Adamson, 2007). Packaging highlights the differences between brands.
The Queensland Government (2006) suggest to minimize the usage of non-environment friendly materials and to change if possible. Bradley (2007) promotes biodegradable packaging, he suggests not to use packages made of artificial materials and oversized as it reduces both packaging and shipment cost.
Price
In a world of free trade and severe competition customers and professionals are meant to analyze the price differences among products and services. According to Prakash (2002) Pricing is a major part of the marketing mix. Customers are reluctant to pay a premium price for green product apart from a growing number of niche markets He also mentions that the tendency of the customers often are to get the benefits of a cleaner environment without directly paying for them. And with similar quality, price, performance and place, the customers tend to prefer the product with environmental benefits (Ottman, 2003; Prakash, 2002) According to Queensland Government (2006),consumers want green products to perform as efficiently as non-green products and without any premium or compromise quality for environment friendlier products (Queensland Government, 2006). Prakash (2002) also argues that competitive advantage can be obtained by adding green features at a low cost notices that if a firm can add green attributes to a product at low costs it gives a competitive advantage.
Promotion
The promotion of products and services to target markets includes all kinds of contact with the public:advertising, public relations, promotions, direct marketing. Usually the promotion is facilitated with a short term use of material, which in some cases can even be considered as waste. Therefore, new tools and practices for communication can be put in place, like email instead of postal mail, recycled materials and electronic means of communication should be prioritized ( Queensland Government,2006).
The success of green marketing depends on its credibility. Try to communicate simply and through sources that people trust. Never overstate environmental claims or establish unrealistic expectations, (Queensland Government, 2006). Company should promote its green credentials and achievements . Publicize stories of the company’s and employees’ green initiatives (ibid, 2006). Arrange environmental awards programs to profile environmental credentials to customers and stakeholders.
Ottman (2008) identifies some basic rules of the green marketing a company should apply to communicate with its consumers. she integrates the main principle of conventional marketing into her green marketing theory by putting customer’s benefit as a primary concern. She argues that if customer finds a benefit in the purchase, he or she would be motivated to actually buy. She also argues that green marketing can increase marketability through product improvements, improve overall performance and can turn into an effective new source of innovation. She describes green marketing into five plain rules and according to Ottman (2008) a company must succeed if played by its rules. In her five rules the primary concern is consumers and the main objective is consumer’s satisfaction.
Know your customer. in order to sell a greener product the first thing to make sure is that the customers are aware and concerned about the benefits that the product or service attempts to address
Empower consumers. the main reason that the customers buy greener products is because of empowerment where they feel by themselves or in accord with all the other users of the product that they can make a difference
Be transparent. Consumers must accept the truth about the authenticity of the product and the
specific claims that the company is making. Skepticism can occur in the case of spurious claim made by the company about the environmental attributes of the product
Reassure the buyer. Consumers need to be assured that company’s product performs the job
It is meant to. They are not expected to compromise quality of the product in the name of environment. Moreover, product with poor performance is likely to fail and it is not fair for the environment
Consider your pricing. Due to economies of scale and use of superior-quality ingredients many desired green products cost more and because of that reason If the company is charging a premium for the product the it must consider the fact that consumers can afford the premium and feel it is worth it. However, these days there are a lot of customers who are unable to afford premiums for any type of product even for the much less greener ones. Therefore, companies should keep this in mind as they develop their target audience and product specifications.
Place
The choice of where and when to make a product available has a significant impact on the
customers being attracted.The selection of the location of the sale of the product, where the company will make it available for the public will have a significant impact on the consumers being attracted. Usually a customer will not do extra kilometers even if he is keen buying a green product. According to Queensland Government (2006) in most cases companies trying to successfully market new green products should position them largely in the market place so that they are not just attractive to a small green niche market. inside the store the use of environmental friendly materials is also recommended (Queensland Government, 2006). A link should be visible between the image the brand wants to portray and the location and it is a means to differentiate from competitors. It is necessary for a company to be located in a convenient place, an impressive store with quality displays and promotions inside the store.
Queensland Government (2006) suggest environmental friendly materials to be used inside the store .The distribution system can play a major role and with simple changes it can help to make a company greener. Firstly, vehicles operating within the distribution channels must be ecological. In recent times it is easy to find vehicles that are both ecological and practical at the same time (Bradley,1989). Bradley also suggest that it is necessary to ensure that distributors are environment friendly and are engaged with the responsibility of the product. A good distribution planning to organize the transports can reduce the product movement and therefore the emission of gas
People
To become an environmental friendly company it is essential that the leaders of the company feel concerned about the problem. Once these company people of influence feel responsible of it, they will be able to spread their concerns to the other employees. Moreover, in order to generate a moral code inside the company the role of company’s directors are very important. The sales Helpant definitely need to be educated about the green stakes as they serve on the front line front line and in direct contact with the customers that the company wants to convince. It is a positive sign that all employees feel concerned and responsible. If the staffs are conscious about the green stakes then they will be more committed to their environmental duties in everyday life at work. The managers are responsible to make sure that the employees follow the company’s rules (Ottman 2003)
this research is on supermarket and supermarkets fresh items namely meat, fish and dairy products are sold in large quantity on a regular basis, the meat and dairy industry is responsible for a fifth of the world’s climate-changing emissions according to the recent survey of Friends of Earth_____ therefore it would be appropriate to consider this category as a sample product besides other products and put more importance on this stocks when conducting this research
Menon and Menon (1997) recommends green marketing as a complete corporate strategy which manipulate product, price, place and promotion of the traditional marketing mix.
Johnson and Scholes (2006) define strategy as “Strategy is the direction and scope of an organization over the long-term: which achieves advantage for the organization through its configuration of resources within a challenging environment, to meet the needs of markets and to fulfill stakeholder expectations”.
Peattie and Crane (2005) think green marketing needs to be reflected throughout the company and the pursuit of sustainability needs to go beyond long-term to become open-ended. Green marketing requires that customers view all parts of a company becoming green not only its products or brands. In order to support this claim Mendleson and Polonsky (1995) came up with four different marketing strategies.
The second framework illustrates marketing strategies differentiating between tactical, quasi-strategic and strategic environmental marketing orientation.
Tactical environmental marketing is motivated by changes and opportunities in the marketplace, demands only inter-functional coordination and has short terms effects that can be changed and re-changed easily.
Quasi-strategic environmental marketing strategies tries to change the production process and products of a company to reduce the negative consequences of the environment by preventing pollution and require coordination within its functional unit.
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