GREEN MARKETING

- A CHANGING CONCEPT IN CHANGING TIME.-

Prof

Moloy Ghoshal

(This research paper titled, has already been

published by GHS-IMR, Kanpur for it’sesteemed management journal “IMR-Mgt- Speak., Vol 2, No-1,Jan-June 2008” issue. )

Abstract:

Although environmental issues has influenced all activities but very few academicdisciplines have inculcated green issues into their literature. Even till dated it has notbeen inculcated a must be taught subject in all most all management and related highereducation level but one business area where environment issues have received a greatdeal of importance is marketing. Smart business houses have accepted green marketing asa part of their strategy. Though our understanding about green marketing still in the stageof infancy, in this paper the author is trying to identify key ideas in relation to promotegreen product that may be most relevant to both scholars and the practitioners of greenmarketing.This paper will attempt to introduce – the terms and concept of green-marketing; aboutthe importance of green marketing; examine some reasons that make the organizationsinterested to adopt green marketing philosophy; it also highlights some problems thatorganization may face to implement green marketing and it’s managerial implicationsalong with few case points. Last but not the least the paper “Green Marketing – AChanging Concept In Changing Times”, is a conceptual paper on green marketing, whichis an emerging area of interest. There is a need of paradigm shift in the way the

2management institutes and business- houses think about their role in attaining sustainabledevelopment.

1. Introduction

1.1 What is Green Marketing?

Environmental issues have gained importance in business as well as in public life throughout the world. It is not like that a few leaders of different countries or few big renownedbusiness houses are concerned about the day to day deterioration of oxygen level in ouratmosphere but every common citizen of our country and the world is concerned aboutthis common threat of global warming.So in this scenario of global concern, corporate houses has taken green-marketing as apart of their strategy to promote products by employing environmental claims eitherabout their attributes or about the systems, policies and processes of the firms thatmanufacture or sell them. Clearly green marketing is part and parcel of over all corporatestrategy; along with manipulating the traditional marketing mix(product, price, promotionand place) , it require an understanding of public policy process. So we can say greenmarketing covers a broad range of activities. Different writers has given differentdefinition about green marketing which tried to cover all major components of greenmarketingAccording to Polonsky(1994)- green or environmental marketing consists of all activities,designed to generate and facilitate any exchange indented to satisfy human needs andwants, such that the satisfaction of these needs and wants occur with minimumdetrimental impact on the natural environment.

3Mintu and Lozada(1993) defined green marketing as the application of marketing tools tofacilitate exchanges that satisfy organizational and individual goals in such a way that thepreservation, protection and conservation of the physical environment is upheld”.According to Stanton and Futrell(1987)-all activities designed to generate and facilitateany exchanges intended to satisfy human needs and wants; therefore it ensures that theinterest of the organization and all it consumers are protected, as voluntary exchange willnot take place unless the buyers and sellers are mutually benefited.The definition also includes the protection of natural environment by attempting tominimize the detrimental impact, this exchange has on the environment.This second point is very important for human consumption by its very nature isdestructive to the natural environment. To be more accurate products making greenclaims should state they are “ less environmentally harmful” rather than “ environmentalfriendly.” Thus green marketing should look at minimizing environmental harm, notnecessarily eliminating it.The industrial houses has recognised that the entire system of production andconsumption determines environmental quality. Environmental impacts are a function of the way services are provided and the way goods are produced, delivered, used anddisposed off. Production and consumption are considered together because gains made bycontrolling, reducing or minimizing pollution from production can be soon overshadowedby the impacts from concurrent increases in the scale of demand for those services andgoods from growing consumer base.