CHAPTER NO 1- INTRODUCTION

1.1 INTRODUCTION
According to the Indian 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.
So, in simple terms 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 itself or produced and/or packaged in an environmentally
friendly way.

The obvious assumption of green marketing is that potential consumers will view a
product or service's "greenness" as a benefit and base their buying decision accordingly.
The not-so-obvious assumption of green marketing is that consumers will be willing to
pay more for green products than they would for a less-green comparable alternative
product - an assumption that has not been proven conclusively, specially the mild effect
which it had had on consumers has washed away by the present recession (2008-09) only.
Green marketers though argue that it 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 products
such as biodegradable diapers, energy-efficient light bulbs, and environmentally safe
detergents.People buy billions of dollars worth of goods and services every year many
which harm the environment in how they are harvested, made, or used. Environmentalists
support green marketing to encourage people to use environmentally preferable
alternatives, and to offer incentives to manufacturers that develop more environmentally
beneficial products.
1.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
to understand role of green marketing in

producing eco-friendly products and proper resourse planning

wastage minimization

sustainability of environment

contributing for reduction in green house gas in environment

 to study consumer behavior perception about green products

To understand the awareness of consumers towards green marketing.

To assess the attitude of consumers towards green branding.

1.3 HYPOTHESIS
Ho- There are no sufficient opportunities for green marketing and green products
in india
H1- There are sufficient opportunities for green marketing and green products in
india
Ho- There is a negative relationship between environmental awareness
and purchasing behavior of green product.

H1- There is a significant and positive relationship between

environmental awareness and purchasing behavior of green product.

1.4 NEED OF THE STUDY

growing concern worldwide about the environment protection

consumers are becoming conservative that their consumption impact the

environment
manufacturers have recognized environmental as a source of competitive
advantage and CSR(corporate social responsibility)
need for studying green marketing also includes

satisfying human needs

opportunity for growth

cost reduction

1.5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The data will be collected from primary sources by providing a questionnaire to 30
respondents; data will be processed through percentage method
Sample size will be only 30
Data is also collected from secondary sources and has been taken from different websites,
newspapers and reference books.

1.6 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

Sample Size would be only of 30 respondents which would not represent the population
of senior citizens as a whole and Time Factor which could be a major constraint.some
consumers are also still not aware with green products.

1.7 CHAPTER SCHEME

This Project consists of the following chapters:
Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 Review of Literature
Chapter 3 Secondary Data
Chapter 4 Questionnaire

1.8- REVIEW OF LITERATURE

1) Jacquelyn A. Ottman the author of Green Marketing: Opportunity for

Innovation, has explained green marketing from an organizational standpoint,

environmental considerations should be integrated into all aspects of marketing new
product development and communications and all points in between. According to the
author environment should be balanced with primary customer needs. The so-called
"green consumer" movements in the U.S. and other countries have struggled to reach
critical mass and to remain in the forefront of shoppers' minds. The lack of consensus by
consumers, marketers, activists, regulators, and influential people has slowed the growth
of green products
2) Cateora Graham, in International Marketing, has drawn a parallel line between
green marketing and product development. The author has sited a variety of examples
where the importance of green marketing has been laid focus on. Green marketing is a
term used to identify concern with the environmental consequences of a variety of

marketing activities. It very evident from the authors research and examples the
packaging and solid waste rules are burdensome but there are successful cases of not only
meeting local standards but also being able to transfer this approach to other markets.
3) Philip Kotler and Kevin Lane Keller in Marketing Management has initiated the
topic by discussing about the relevance of green marketing in the past few decades and
has also discussed the explosion of environmentally friendly products. However,
according to the author from the branding perspective green marketing programs have not
been very successful. Marketers tried and failed with green sales pitches over the last
decade because of certain obstacles which the movement encountered. The consumer
behaviour is such that most consumers appear unwillingly to give up the benefits of other
alternatives to choose green products.
4 K.K.Shrivastava & Sujata Khandai, the author of Consumer Behaviour in Indian
Context, has discussed green marketing legislation in association with the multinational
corporations. These face a growing variety of legislation designed to address
environmental issues. Global concern for the environment extends beyond industrial
pollution, hazardous waste disposal and rampant deforestation to include issues that focus
directly on consumer products. [5]
5) Kenneth E. Clow & Donald Baack the authors of Integrated Advertising,
Promotion and Marketing Communication. According to the authors the marketers
need to be aware of the threats and opportunities associate with four trends in the natural
environment namely shortage of raw materials, increased cost of energy, increased
pollution levels and the changing roles of government. New regulations hit certain
industries very hard and also that consumers often appear conflicted about the natural
environment. [6]
6

6) Prof. Sanjit Kumar Dash author of Green Marketing: Opportunities & Challenges
has mentioned that 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. The evolution of green marketing
involves (three phases) from this article. 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.

CHAPTER NO 2- GREEN MARKETING:

2.1 IMPORTANCE OF GREEN MARKETING
Human beings have limited resources on the earth, with which they
must attempt to provide for the worlds' unlimited wants. There is
extensive debate as to whether the earth is a resource at man's
disposal. In market societies where there is "freedom of choice", it has
generally been accepted that individuals and organizations have the
right to attempt to have their wants satisfied. As firms face limited
natural resources, they must develop alternative ways of satisfying
these unlimited wants.
Ultimately green marketing looks at how marketing activities utilize
these limited resources, while satisfying consumers wants, both of
7

individuals and industry, as well as achieving the objectives of

organizations. There are several reasons for increased use of Green
Marketing.

Some

possible

reasons

are

as

follows-

Organizations perceive environmental marketing to be an

opportunity that can be used to achieve its objectives.

Organizations believe they have a moral obligation to be more

socially responsible.

Governmental bodies are forcing firms to become more

responsible towards the environment.

Competitors' environmental activities pressure firms to change

their environmental marketing activities.

2.2 ADOPTION OF GREEN MARKETING

There are basically five reasons for which a marketer should go for the adoption of green
marketing. They are 1) OPPORTUNITIES OR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
As demands change, many firms see these changes as an opportunity to be exploited and
have a competitive advantage over firms marketing non-environmentally responsible
alternatives. Some examples of firms who have strived to come more environmentally
responsible, in an attempt to better satisfy their consumer needs are:
McDonald's replaced its clam shell packaging with waxed paper because of increased
consumer concern relating to polystyrene production and Ozone depletion.
The Surf Excel detergent which saves water (advertised with the message"do bucket
paani roz bachana).
2) CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES (CSR)

Many firms are beginning to realize that they are members of the wider community and
therefore must behave in an environmentally responsible fashion. This translates into
firms that believe they must achieve environmental objectives as well as profit related
objectives. This results in environmental issues being integrated into the firm's corporate
culture. There are examples of firms adopting both strategies.
* Organizations like the Body Shop heavily promote the fact that they are
environmentally responsible.
* Fund managers and corporate developers too, are taking into account the environmental
viability of the company they invest in Venture Capitalists are investing in green business
because they believe it's a growth opportunity.
3) GOVERNMENT PRESSURE
They want to reduce production of harmful goods or by-products , modify consumer and
industry's use and/or consumption of harmful goods, ensure that all types of consumers
have the ability to evaluate the environmental composition of goods.
Governments establish regulations designed to control the amount of hazardous wastes
produced by firms. For example:
The ban of plastic bags in Mumbai, prohibition of smoking in public areas, etc.
Directive to completely adopt CNG in all public transport systems to curb pollution in
New Delhi.
As with all marketing related activities, governments want to "protect" consumers and
society; this protection has significant green marketing implications. Governmental
regulations relating to environmental marketing are designed to protect consumers in
several ways.
4) COMPETITIVE PRESSURE

Another major force in the environmental marketing area has been firms' desire to
maintain their competitive position. For example, it could be argued that Xerox's "Revive
100% Recycled paper" was introduced a few years ago in an attempt to address the
introduction of recycled photocopier paper by other manufacturers
5) COST OR PROFIT ISSUES
Reduction of harmful waste may lead to substantial cost savings. Sometimes, many firms
develop symbiotic relationship whereby the waste generated by one company is used by
another as a cost-effective raw material.
2.3 GREEN MARKETIN 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: * Advertisements that address a relationship between a product/service and the
biophysical environment
* Those that promote a green lifestyle by highlighting a product or service
* Advertisements 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.
2.4 GREEN WASHING

10

In spite of its growing popularity, the green marketing movement faced serious setbacks
in the late 1980s because many industries made false claims about their products and
services. For instance, the environmental organization Corp Watch , which issues
annually a list of the top ten "green washing" companies, included BP Amoco for
advertising its "Plug in the Sun" program, in which the company installed solar panels in
two hundred gas stations, while continuing to aggressively lobby to drill for oil in the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Green marketing can be a very powerful marketing
strategy though when it's done right. In a similar kind of case Chads green marketing
campaign bombed because he made the mistake of packaging his environmentally
friendly product in Styrofoam, emitting CFCs.
Without environmental labeling standards, consumers could not tell which products and
services were truly beneficial. Consumers ended up paying extra for misrepresented
products. The media came up with the term "green washing" to describe cases where
organizations misrepresented themselves as environmentally responsible.
So, While green marketing was growing greatly as increasing numbers of consumers were
willing to back their environmental consciousnesses with their dollars, it can be
dangerous. The public tends to be skeptical of green claims to begin with and companies
can seriously damage their brands and their sales if a green claim is discovered to be false
or contradicted by a company's other products or practices. Thus, in other words
presenting a product or service as green when it's not is called green washing.
In 2004 one print ad read, "Green vehicles. Cleaner factories. It's the right road for our
company, and we're well underway."
But it only planned on producing 20,000 of its Hybrid SUVs per year, while continuing to
produce almost 80,000 F-series trucks per month. That was one big green lie
of ford motor company

11

2.5 CONSUMERS CONFUSION

One challenge green marketers -- old and new -- are likely to face as green products and a
message become more common is confusion in the marketplace. "Consumers do not
really understand a lot about these issues, and there's a lot of confusion out there," says
Jacquelyn Ottman (founder of J. Ottman Consulting and author of "Green Marketing:
Opportunity for Innovation.") Marketers sometimes take advantage of this confusion, and
purposely make false or exaggerated "green" claims. Critics refer to this practice as
"green washing".
According to market researcher Mintel, about 12% of the Indian population can be
identified as True Greens, consumers who seek out and regularly buy so-called green
products. Another 68% can be classified as Light Greens, consumers who buy green
sometimes. "What chief marketing officers are always looking for is touch points with
consumers, and this is just a big, big, big touch point that's not being served," says Mintel
Research Director David Lockwood. "All the corporate executives that we talk to are
extremely convinced that being able to make some sort of strong case about the
environment is going to work down to their bottom line."

3.8 BIBLIOGRAPHY
Reference Books
1. Jacquelyn aottman ,2011 ,the new rules of green marketing
2. Donald Baack, 2007, Integrated Advertising, Promotion and Marketing
Communication
3. Belz F.,Peattie K.(2009): Sustainability Marketing: A Global Perspective. John Wiley &
Sons

4. Curtin, Emily (2006-09-14). "Lower East Side Green Market

Websites as on October, 2014

www.businessworld.in
12

www.outlookindia.com
www.scribd.com
http://ecopreneurist.com

CHAPTER 4- ANNEXURE
QUESTIONNARIE
1. Name of the Respondent
2. Gender
a Male

|
b. Female

3. Age
a. under 20

c. 21-30

b. 31-40

d. 41 and above

4. Education Level:
a. Secondary Level

c. Graduate

b. Undergraduate

d. Postgraduate

5. Occupation:
a. Self employed

c. Housewife
13

b. Employment

d. Retired

6. Are you aware of green products or Eco-friendly products?

a. Yes

b. No

c. A little

7. How you became aware of green products or Eco-friendly products?

a. Television

c. Class lectures

b. Magazines

d. Newspapers

8. Do you consider the environmental aspect of product before buying them?

a. sometimes

c. never

b. often

d. rarely

9 why do you prefer to buy green products?

a environmental friendly

c Quality products

b prevention of pollution

d Promotion

10. Which marketing element strongly influences your buying behaviour of green
products?
a. Product

c. Place

b. Package

d. Promotion

11. Why do you think green marketing is in headlines nowadays?

a. Consumers are being aware of green products
b. Company increasing its competitive edge
c. Companys attempt to address societys new concern
12.Do you agree that green marketing activities are good at addressing environmental
issues?
a. highly agree

c. neutral

b. agree

d. disagree

13. Do you think green marketing activities result in better products?

14

a. highly agree

c. neutral

b. agree

d. disagree

14. If green features increase the price of the product, are you willing to pay more?
a. Yes

b. No

c. A little

15.Why do companies opt for this strategy?

a. govt. Pressure

c. as a part of CSR

b. comp. Pressure

d. immense opportunity

16. Do you think that green marketing strategy will help to grow healthy environment?
a. yes

b. no

15