3.3 Case 3: Green Marketing; Think Before You Act
3.3.1 Introduction
The report entitled Green Marketing: Think Before You Act; a primer for businesses ready to share their sustainability story is taken from Strategic Sustainability Consulting published in April 2012 which is written by Davinder Aulakh. The paper mainly focuses on green marketing and associated risks of greenwashing. It also provides the important role of different standards and certifications in green marketing. It offers an analytical framework to assist businesses choose among them. Certainly, it is very difficult to determine which tools are most beneficial and appropriate for which organizations, this article provides how to use larger collection of green marketing tools in appropriate way.
According to Terrachoice, greenwashing is, “the act of misleading consumers regarding the environmental practices of a company or the environmental benefits of a product or service” (Terrachoice, 2007). Green marketing is an important component of company general business operations and sustainability strategies. But on the other hand, if the organizations are not designed properly, a company’s green marketing efforts and sustainability attempts might be ruined by greenwashing allegations. Greenwashing creates negative impacts on company’s reputation and it damages relstionships with different stakeholders and organizaional behaviour. Hence, companies should select suitable standards and certifications to minimize
As we have seen an increase in awareness around sustainability and climate change, with the help of Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth documentary in 2006, we see organizations moving towards mitigating the effects of climate change in various ways (Al Gore, n.d). As this corporate social responsibility has become more prevalent, organizations are now pushing their green agenda by publishing sustainability reports, doing mass marketing and implementing sustainable business practices to portray the image that they too are working towards protecting the earth’s natural environment all the while focusing on their underlying goal of selling their products and
In recent years, when the concept of sustainability is raising up, there is high percentage of customers who aware about the green products (Rather & Rajendran 2014), they do not only consider about the product or
“The four Ps can contribute to a company’s positioning as focused on sustainability. If a product or service is competitive in terms of price, then a sustainability focus on product attributes, place, or promotion can give that product or service an advantage, particularly among those consumers most interested in sustainability, such as super or middle green consumers. Sustainable marketing often requires creativity in marketing different than with traditional products, but at its core is truthful about the ecological and social impacts of products and services. The consumers that will be most attracted to sustainable products and services will also tend to be the most scrutinizing about ecological and social impacts and most interested in the truth and transparency.”( Marketing Focus on the Triple Bottom Line: People, Planet, and Profit. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Apr.
In the article “Are You Being Green Washed?” Robbins (2008) states the image of “greenwashing” which is that numerous number of companies promote their services and their products as environmentally friendly but in reality it is harmful for the environment. The author illustrates that by giving some example of companies that claim they are eco- friendly such as Palm oil and Rayon. He states the impacts of such claim on the environment and consumers in some ways. However, in order to protect the environment form the negative impacts of globalization and consumerism, government and individual must make a joint effort by enact laws and educate people and companies about the impacts of such problem.
In a world focused on climate change and sustainable development, it is apparent that people have become more interested in the environmentally related behavior of corporations and have increased their demand for “green” products. In response to this growing demand, numerous corporations have shifted towards being more sustainable and have made several green marketing claims. While some of these companies are actually carrying out robust sustainability practices, most companies’ practices do not match up to the image they convey to the public and are guilty of greenwashing. The term greenwashing is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "disinformation disseminated by an organization so as to present an environmentally responsible public image." Advertising plays a major role in shaping consumer behavior and companies guilty of greenwashing are educating consumers with false or distorted information. This is significant because the general population’s desire to purchase products that are environmentally friendly is being hampered by the current cloud of greenwashing allegations, making it increasingly difficult for consumers to distinguish fact from fiction. Although the upward trend in green consumerism has affected several industries, it has had a noteworthy impact on the automotive industry, which has experienced a recent increase in the development of environmentally friendly options such as
Today, society is cluttered with marketing activities, and these activities surround us constantly. Among the issues of marketing, a vital part that influences human roles and activities is “environment”, more specifically the “green environment”. The green environment is now a leading concern for marketers. Moreover, on a global level, there is an increased awareness of global warming and adverse climatic conditions and as a result there is a spur in interest toward environmental protection and sustainable development. This study attempts to find out if Australian young consumers’ pro-environmental concerns, awareness and knowledge about environment related issues impact their buying behavior to prefer and buy eco-friendly products and pay a premium price for such products.
In this day and age companies have mastered the technique of misleading customers by fabricating false claims about a green product or service that they swear to provide. This insincere display of information is called ‘Greenwashing’, a spin-off of ‘Whitewashing’. Greenwashing could be said to be a global phenomenon and it’s commonly seen in advertisements, on products packing, websites, emails, speeches, and videos (just to name a few). Greenwashing is a thought out process, a planned and typically well designed campaign. There is a wide range of reasons why companies are eager to partake in greenwashing; divert attention for regulatory change, to persuade critics or consumers, expand the company's
We’ve all heard about whitewashing: trying to cover something up that is unsavoury or unwanted, and hoping that no one sees through the white paint. It’s a metaphor meaning to gloss over or cover up vices. It’s leaving out an important detail in a story, or distracting people from mistakes that have been made. Greenwashing, is cleverly derived from “whitewashing” to describe a more modern concept: pretending to be more environmentally friendly than you actually are – hence the “green”.
In today’s day and age, everyone is concerned about the environment. Our society is increasingly encouraged to “go green,” to do our part in making the world a cleaner, more eco-friendly place. Green marketing is one major strategy being used to promote such efforts, but is it effective? There is some debate about this concept, including the history of green marketing, the problems with green marketing so far, the effectiveness of marketing schemes like Sunchips and Toyota, and the strategies that could be used to increase the ability of green marketing. While protecting our planet is a noble concept, its execution seems to be a little vague. Of all the aspects concerning green marketing, one thing is clear: our planet still has a long
In the business world, companies compete for the lowest price because they want consumers to purchase their products. If consumers buy them, corporations generate money. Companies don’t care about the methods to obtain the lowest retail price for their products. They will do it even if it means that companies have to degrade working condition, paying worker less, or even ignoring regulation and unloading harmful waste straight into the environment. However, in recent times, more and more people are joining the “conscious consumerism” movement. People start to favor products and companies that are environmentally and socially friendly. This also propels the idea of “conscious capitalism”, which when companies choose to follow a path that can bring benefits to both the people and the environment. Some companies respond to conscious consumerism by producing more environmentally friendly products, while others respond by “greenwashing” their products and themselves. “Greenwashing” is when Companies start to shine their spotlight on their green side and hide their destructive and unpleasant side. Greenwashing is an easy way for the companies to associate themselves with an image of environmentally responsible and “conscious capitalism”. However, companies shouldn’t be allowed to “greenwash” their products because it prevents conscious consumerism from moving forward and harms the environment even more.
Identify new metrics which are cost effective while retaining existing ones and seek approval from senior management for redesigning the strategy.
This paper will outline the sustainable marketing plan for a client. As the marketing consultant I will first analyse the organisation and its stakeholders2 and will offer a market report on this company, before putting a final report together (which will follow this initial paper).
In 1979, Henion first presented the definition of greeen marketing. He assumed that the programs and activities of green markeintg are foucing on the environment –friendly sectors, According to Chamorro and Bañegil, green marketing is the way to conceive exchange relationships that goes beyond consumers’ current needs while taking social interest in protecting the natural environment into consideration (Chamorro & Bañegil, 2006, p. 12). Likewise,
The Marketing process is made up of simple concepts that involve lots of research on the part of the marketer. The process begins with understanding the consumer, without knowing what consumers need or want, it would be extremely hard for firms to both develop and sell a product. Knowing that consumers want more green products due to growing environmental concerns is a very important detail. Needs and wants are what fuel consumer purchases and marketers must perform research in order to best serve their customers. Through this research, marketers are led to the next step of the process and can now develop a customer driven marketing strategy. Here, the firm must decide how it will differentiate its product from others on the market.
Nowadays, the whole world is developing rapidly in a lot of sectors such as economics, infrastructure, production and industry. The field of marketing is mostly affiliated with the business sector, especially in the production, consumption and the public opinion about these activities. However, as reflected to this rapid development, mankind is polluting the environment in many ways and putting Mother Nature in grave danger. There are still many countries that use a production and consumption method that harms the environment because of their lack of technical equipment and knowledge. In order to maintain long-lasting development, the United Nations (UN) has established the sustainable development goals (SDG). One of these goals is "responsible production and consumption"(UN.org, 2015). From a perspective of a marketing person, the business sector has a great potential to contribute to this goal by promoting a green environment to the public, encouraging industrial sectors to consent green production and a campaign to plant more trees in the deserted areas.