OVERVIEW

Green revolution, going green, environmental protection, sustainable life style, sustainable
development, protecting our earth and many more have become a natural phenomenon in our
everyday life.
Green marketing is a tool used by many companies in various industries to follow this trend.
There have been a lot of literature review on green marketing over the years, this paper
analysis the impact of green marketing strategies on customer satisfaction and environmental
safety using comprehensive literature review. As a result, this paper can be used by
researchers who need to find out the impact of green marketing on customer satisfaction and
environmental safety.

Keywords: Green Marketing, Consumer Satisfaction, Environmental Safety.

1
2
GREEN CONSUMER- Green consumer is one who is very concerned about the
environment and therefore, purchases only those products that are environmentally
friendly or eco-friendly. Products with little or no packaging ,products made from
natural ingredients and products that are made without causing pollution are
examples of eco-friendly products.

GREEN CONSUMERISM-
Green marketers hope to capitalize on this by developing strategies that allow
consumers to integrate green products into their lifestyles which can be termed as
green consumerism. The organic industry which specializes in the sale of organically
produced foods health and nutritional supplements and other green lifestyle items
promote green consumerism

Green Consumer Purchase Behavior: In simple words, consumer behavior can be defined
as, “the study of how people or organizations behave while obtaining, using and disposing
off products and services by engaging in comparison while shopping for actual purchase of a
product, for e.g. whether or not to purchase a product and, if so, which brand and where,
while making purchase decision and their post purchase behavior.

Green Consumer Conservation Behavior: Limited use of scarce natural resources for the
purposes of environmental conservation can be called as green consumer conservation
behavior. Green Consumer Attitude: An attitude is a way one thinks, feels, and acts
favorably or unfavorably based on learning towards some aspect of market stimuli such as
retail store, product, and brand. Consumer attitudes are a composite of a consumer’s (1)
beliefs about, (2) feelings about, (3) and behavioral intentions toward some “object”- within
the context of marketing, usually a brand, product category, or retail store. Attitude and
Behavior Linkage: There is a linear linkage between behavior and attitude. They are
discussed Research has discovered that there are several conditions that lead to a strong
link between attitudes and behavior. These are discussed below Attitude Specificity: Some
researchers believe that an attitude is only related to behavior if they are both on the same
level of specificity in time, objects, scope and circumstances. Attitude Strength: Some
attitudes are extremely important, there is high degree of attitudes like enthusiastic or
horrible are strong attitudes and they correspond to behavior. While other attitudes are less
central or amenable to change that may not lead to behavior. Direct Experience: Attitudes
are often formed from our direct experience. Attitudes held with greater confidence, are
more specific, more easily recalled, more resistant to change, and more likely to influence
subsequent behavior.

3
 LITERATURE REVIEW

The concept of green marketing has evolved over the years. There are basically three stages
in which it has evolved.
1. The decade of the late 1980s marked the first stage of green marketing, when the concept of
“green marketing” was newly introduced and discussed in industry (Peattie and Crane, 2005).
Owing to the upsurge of this new concept many marketer tried to involve in green marketing
in order to generate positive consumer response which would be converted into goodwill,
market share and sales. However in spite of reports stating that the environmental problems
constituted one of the uppermost public concerns, market growth of these products fell short
of expectations.
2. The second stage started off as a consumer backlash. Many organizations “green washed”
the consumers. In order to improve their sales, thus creating cynical attitude of the consumers
towards the green concept.
Some of the marketing practices which lead to the failure of green marketing during this
period are (Peattie and Crane 2005):
a. Green spinning -> Taking a reactive stance of “green”, if accused of malpractice
b. Green Selling -> taking an opportunistic approach by adding some green claims to existing
products with an intention to boosts profits.
c. Green harvesting -> Becoming enthusiastic about the environment only when greening
would result in cost savings.
d. Entrepreneur marketing -> Developing innovative green products without actually
considering consumer needs.
e. Compliance marketing -> Just following the environmental standards as an opportunity to
promote the company’s green credentials rather than actually being involved
3. The evolution of the third stage is just a response to the anomalies occurring in the second
stage.
With the implementation of advanced technology, stricter state enforcement on deceptive
claims, govt. regulations and incentives and closer scrutiny from various environmental
organizations and media many green products have regained confidence in the 2000’s (Gurau
and Ranchhod, 2005; Ottoman, 2007). With green and sustainable development as the theme
of 21st century development, two trends have been predicted as inevitable in the near future
of green marketing. They are:
a) First the concept of an eco-friendly approach of doing business will be pushed into
mainstream (Hanas 2007)
b) Second, corporations from developed countries will initiate international green marketing in
order to expand their market, increase their sales and take advantage of the positive image of
their green brands established in their domestic markets (Gura˘u and Ranchhod, 2005; Johri
and Sahasakmontri, 1998; Pugh and Fletcher, 2002 .

4
 Objectives of Research
1 -To understand the level of awareness regarding green marketing among consumers
.

2-To understand the buying behaviour of consumers related to green marketing.

3-To understand how green marketing helps Company to build its image

.
4- To understand initiative taken by government towards green marketing.

5 -To understand the success of green marketing as a corporate social

responsibility.

6- To Eliminate the concept of waste

7-To Reinvent the concept of product

5
 INTRODUCTION

In the last decade, consumers have become more enlightened on environmental issues. Green
marketing refers to selling product or rendering services based on environmental benefit. It
came into existence in late 1980s and early 1990s. Green marketing is growing rapidly and
consumers are willing to pay a lot for green product.

There have been little analysis of the impact of this new market on the consumers and the
environment so far.

Green marketing affects all areas of our economy, it does not just lead to environmental
protection but it also create new market and job opportunities. Companies that are
environmental stewards stand a chance of gaining many satisfied and loyal customers.

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 renowned business
houses are concerned about the day to day deterioration of oxygen level in our atmosphere
but every common citizen of our country and the world is concerned about this common
threat of global warming.

So in this scenario of global concern, corporate houses has taken green-marketing as a part of
their strategy to promote products by employing environmental claims either about their
attributes or about the systems, policies and processes of the firms that manufacture or sell
them.

Clearly green marketing is part and parcel of overall corporate strategy; along with
manipulating the traditional marketing mix (product, price, promotion and place), it require
an understanding of public policy process. So we can say green marketing covers a broad
range .
 BIRTH OF GREEN MARKETING
The concept of green marketing has been around at least since the first Earth Day in 1970. But
the idea did not catch on until the 1980s, when rising public interest in the environment led to
a demand for more green products and services. Manufacturers responded to public interest by
labelling hundreds of new products "environmentally friendly"—making claims that products
were biodegradable, compostable, energy efficient, or the like. The term Green Marketing
came into prominence in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The American Marketing Association (AMA) held the first workshop on "Ecological
Marketing" in 1975. The proceedings of this workshop resulted in one of the first books on
green marketing entitled "Ecological Marketing". The first wave of Green Marketing occurred
in the 1980s. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Reports started with the ice cream seller
Ben & Jerry's where the financial report was supplemented by a greater view on the company's
environmental impact. In 1987 a document prepared by the World Commission on
Environment and Development defined sustainable development as meeting “the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own need”, this
became known as the Brundtland Report and was another step towards widespread thinking on
sustainability in everyday activity.

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
 Definition & Meaning: Green Marketing

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.
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.

Green marketing consists of 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 minimal detrimental impact on the natural environment.

Ecological
Humanitaria
Political
N

Corporate
Social
Equality
Responsibili
ty
GREEN

Sustainabilit Fair
Y Trade

New
Consumeris Conservation
M Non-
Profit

The many meanings of green

 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.

Importance of Green Marketing

Human Beings have limited resources on the earth, with which she/he 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 new or
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 individuals and industry, as well as achieving the selling organization's objectives.

When looking through the literature there are several suggested reasons for firms increased
use of Green Marketing. Five possible reasons cited are:

 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.
 Competitors' environmental activities pressure firms to change their
environmental marketing activities.
 Cost factors associated with waste disposal, or reductions in material usage forces
firms to modify their behaviour.
 GOALS OF GREEN MARKETING
 Eliminate the concept of waste.
 Reinvent the concept of product.
 Make prices reflect actual and environmental costs.
 Make environmentalism profitable.
 Bringing out product modifications.
 Changing in production processes.
 Packaging changes.
 Modifying advertising.

Need of Green Marketing: An Anthropological View

Issues like Global warming and depletion of ozone umbrella are the main for the healthy
survival. Every person rich or poor would be interested in quality life with full of health and
vigour and so would the corporate class. Financial gain and economic profit is the main aim
of any corporate business. But harm to environment cost by sustain business across the globe
is realized now though off late. This sense is building corporate citizenship in the business
class. So green marketing by the business class is still in the selfish anthological perspective
of long term sustainable business and to please the consumer and obtain the sanction license
by the governing body. Industries in Asian countries are catching the need of green marketing
from the developed countries but still there is a wide gap between their understanding and
implementation.
 WHAT ARE “GREEN PRODUCTS”
OR
“ENVIRONMENTAL PRODUCTS”

Although no consumer product has a zero impact on the environment, in business, the
terms “green product” and “environmental product” are used commonly to describe those that
strive to protect or enhance the natural environment by conserving energy and/or resources
and reducing or eliminating use of toxic agents, pollution, and waste.

Greener, more sustainable products need to dramatically increase the productivity of

natural resources, follow biological/ cyclical production models, encourage dematerialization,
and reinvest in and contribute to the planet’s “natural” capital. Escalating energy prices,
concerns over foreign oil dependency, and calls for energy conservation are creating business
opportunities for energy-efficient products, clean energy, and other environmentally sensitive
innovations and products.
ONE OF THE MOST COMMONLY USED GREEN PRODUCTS – THE PHILIPS CFL

WHY IS GREEN MARKETING IMPORTANT?

The question of why green marketing has increased in importance is quite simple and
relies on the basic definition of Economics:

“Economics is the study of how people use their limited resources to try to satisfy
unlimited wants.”

Thus mankind has limited resources on the earth, with which she/he must attempt to
provide for the worlds' unlimited wants. 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 new or
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
individuals and industry, as well as achieving the selling organization's objectives.
THE SYMBOL USED TO DENOTE RECYCLABLE ITEMS

BENEFITS OF GREEN MARKETING

 WHY ARE FIRMS USING GREEN MARKETING?

When looking through the literature there are several suggested reasons for firms
increased use of Green Marketing. Five possible reasons cited are:

1. Organizations perceive environmental marketing to be an opportunity that can be used

to achieve its objectives;
2. Organizations believe they have a moral obligation to be more socially responsible;
3. Governmental bodies are forcing firms to become more responsible;
4. Competitors' environmental activities pressure firms to change their environmental
marketing activities; and
5. Cost factors associated with waste disposal, or reductions in material usage forces
firms to modify their behaviour.

DELHI’S FAMOUS CNG AUTORICKSHAW

 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

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. Firms in this situation can take two perspectives;

1) They can use the fact that they are environmentally responsible as a marketing tool;

2) They can become responsible without promoting this fact.

There are examples of firms adopting both strategies. Organizations like the Body Shop
heavily promote the fact that they are environmentally responsible. While this behaviour is a
competitive advantage, the firm was established specifically to offer consumers environmentally
responsible alternatives to conventional cosmetic products. This philosophy is directly tied to the
overall corporate culture, rather than simply being a competitive tool.

An example of a firm that does not promote its environmental initiatives is Coca-Cola.
They have invested large sums of money in various recycling activities, as well as having
modified their packaging to minimize its environmental impact. While being concerned about the
environment, Coke has not used this concern as a marketing tool. Thus many consumers may not
realize that Coke is a very environmentally committed organization.

Another firm who is very environmentally responsible but does not promote this fact,
at least outside the organization, is Walt Disney World (WDW). WDW has an extensive
waste management program and infrastructure in place, yet these facilities are not highlighted
in their general tourist promotional activities.

SOME COMPANIES THAT USE GREEN MARKETING AS SOCIAL

RESPONSIBILITY.
]

Challenges in Green Marketing


Need For Standardization:
It is found that only 5% of the marketing messages from “Green” campaigns are entirely true
and there is a lack of standardization to authenticate these claims. There is no standardization
to authenticate these claims. There is no standardization currently in place to certify a product
as organic. Unless some regulatory bodies are involved in providing the certifications there
will not be any verifiable means. A standard quality control board needs to be in place for
such labeling and licensing.


New Concept:
Indian literate and urban consumer is getting more aware about the merits of Green products.
But it is still a new concept for the masses. The consumer needs to be educated and made
aware of the environmental threats. The new green movements need to reach the masses and
that will take a lot of time and effort. By India’s ayurvedic heritage, Indian consumers do
appreciate the importance of using natural and herbal beauty products. Indian consumer is
exposed to healthy living lifestyles such as yoga and natural food consumption. In those
aspects the consumer is already aware and will be inclined to accept the green products.


Patience and Perseverance:
The investors and corporate need to view the environment as a major long-term investment
opportunity, the marketers need to look at the long-term benefits from this new green
movement. It will require a lot of patience and no immediate results. Since it is a new concept
and idea, it will have its own acceptance period.


Avoiding Green Myopia:
The first rule of green marketing is focusing on customer benefits i.e. the primary reason why
consumers buy certain products in the first place. Do this right, and motivate consumers to
switch brands or even pay a premium for the greener alternative. It is not going to help if a
product is developed which is absolutely green in various aspects but does not pass the
customer satisfaction criteria. This will lead to green myopia. Also if the green products are
priced very high then again it will lose its market acceptability.
Some Other Challenges Ahead In Green Marketing Are:
* 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.

“Green” Logistics

Is in the process of coming onto corporate radar screens, but companies need to see a cause
and effect on profitability before they commit much more than superficial efforts toward green
logistics. Everyone knows how important this is, but market analysts and investors likely won’t
add much about green logistics into the “plus” column until it starts to impact overall
profitability.

It continues activity and hype around “green” supply chains. From a supply chain perspective,
most companies are focusing on the low-hanging fruit: optimizing their transportation operations,
LEED certified buildings, minimizing/eliminating packaging, and considering
carbon-footprint in network design (Llama soft, Ilog, Infor, Carbon View, Maersk Logistics,
and IBM all have solutions in this area). However, a lot more work is required on the standards
front, which is starting to occur. Also, in my opinion, large-scale progress in this area won’t
occur in the US and elsewhere without government intervention (e.g., regulations, tax/financial
incentives, etc).

Green Washing
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 Welfare Refuge. Green
marketing can be a very powerful marketing strategy though when it's done right. In a similar
kind of case Chad’s green marketing campaign bombed because he made the mistake of
packaging his environmentally friendly product in Styrofoam, emitting CFC’s.
 The Green Dilemma
The past decade has shown that harnessing consumer power to effect positive environmental
change is far easier said than done. The so-called "green consumer" movements in the
country have struggled to reach critical mass and to remain in the forefront of shoppers'
minds. One of green marketing's challenges is the lack of standards or public consensus about
what constitutes "green". This lack of consensus -- by consumers, marketers, activists,
regulators, and influential people -- has slowed the growth of green products, says Makeover,
because companies are often reluctant to promote their green attributes, and consumers are
often skeptical about claims.
Despite these challenges, green marketing has continued to gain adherents,
particularly in light of growing global concern about climate change. This concern has led
more companies to advertise their commitment to reduce their climate impacts, and the effect
this is having on their products and services.

GREEN MARKETING: SWOT ANALYSIS

As in formulation of green strategy, a firm may evolve it from a SWOT analysis
Environmental Audit.
STRENGTHS:
1. Marketers get access to new markets and gain an advantage over competitors that
are not focusing on “greenness.”
2. Marketers can charge a premium on products that are seen as more eco-
responsible.
3. Organizations that adopt green marketing are perceived to be more socially
responsible.
4. Green marketing builds brand equity and wins brand loyalty among customers.
E.g. research and development capabilities for clean processes and green products
and human resources committed to environmental protection.

WEAKNESS:

1. Most customers choose to satisfy their personal needs before caring for environment. 2.
Overemphasizing greenness rather than customer needs can prove devastating for a product.
3. Many customers keep away from products labelled “Green” because they see such labeling
as a marketing gimmick, and they may lose trust in an organization that suddenly claims to be
green.
E.g. products cannot be recycled, and hazardous wastes) of a company.
OPPORTUNITIES:
1. Marketing to segment which are becoming more environmentally aware and concerned.
These consumers are demanding products that conform to these new attitudes.
2. Organizations perceive green marketing to be a competitive advantage, relative to the
competitors. Firms, therefore, strive to improve upon their societal awareness. This
complements the increase in consumers’ socially conscious behaviour and will therefore give
them an advantage over competitors who do not address these issues.
E.g. offering an environmental friendly product and saving resources, and relating them to
internal strengths.

THREATS:
1. Uncertainty as to the environmental impact of present activities, including that is perceived
to be less environmentally harmful.
2. Uncertainty as to which green marketing activities are acceptable from a government
perspective.
3. The possibility of a backlash from consumers or government based on existing green
marketing claims, threat one and two above may cause backlash to arise.

E.g. competitors gain market shares with green products and increased environmental
regulations).

ENVIRONMENTAL AUDIT
It is a management tool which can be used to assess the environmental performance of the
company and its units and to identify the weak points. Environmental Audit is comprised of a
systematic, documented, periodic and objective environmental performance evaluation and
facilities.

GREEN PRODUCTS: ITS CHARACTERISTICS

These products that are manufactured through green technology and that caused no
environmental hazards are called green products. Promotion of green technology and green
products is necessary for conservation of natural resources and sustainable development. We
can define green products by following measures:
 Products those are recyclable, reusable and biodegradable

Products with natural ingredients

Products containing recycled contents, non-toxic chemical

Products contents under approved chemical

Products that do not harm or pollute the environment

Products that will not be tested on animals

Products that have eco-friendly packaging i.e. reusable, refillable containers etc.

Benefits of Green Marketing

Today’s consumers are becoming more and more conscious about the environment and are also
becoming socially responsible. Therefore, more companies are responsible to consumer’s
aspirations for environmentally less damaging or neutral products. Many companies want to have
an early mover advantage as they have to eventually move towards becoming green.

Some of the advantages of green marketing are:

 It ensures sustained long term growth along with profitability.

 It saves money in the long run, though initially the cost is more.
 It helps the companies market their products and services keeping the
environment aspects in mind.
 It helps in accessing the new markets and enjoying the competitive advantage.

 Most of the employees also feel proud and responsible to be working for an
environmentally responsible company.

Role of Information Technology in Green Marketing

IT departments are under increasing scrutiny and pressure to deliver environmentally sound
solutions. Large data centers are one of the most significant energy consumers in an
organizations IT infrastructure, so any measures that the organization can take to reduce this
consumption (and therefore also carbon dioxide emissions) will have a positive impact on the
organization’s environmental footprint.
Gartner reveals that during the last five years, the power demands of equipm

ents have grown by five or more times. Additionally, a report issued by the environmental
Protection Agency in US indicates that environmental issues have placed IT departments
under pressure to develop ‘green’ data centers.

A green data centre is defined as one in which the mechanical, lighting, electrical and
computer systems are designed for maximum energy efficiency and minimum environmental
impact. The construction and operation of a green data centre involved in advanced
technologies and strategies.

Some examples include:

 Reducing the power consumption of the data center.

 Minimizing the footprints of the buildings.
 Maximizing cooling efficiency.
 Using Low-emission building materials, carpets and paints.
 Installing catalytic converters on backup generators.
 Using alternative energy technologies such as photovoltaic electrical heat
pumps and evaporating cooling.

 The consumption of energy is considered the dominant- and often the only-
factor in defining whether or not a facility is green. IT executives therefore need to
start investigating alternative ways of building energy-efficient data centers. This
paper focuses on “How a Green Data Centre can be a Great Marketing Tool”

Corporate Environmental Management, Strategy and Practices

Environmental Management

There are three categories of Environmental Management

Crisis-oriented
Cost-oriented, and
Enlightened

The firms with crisis-oriented management handle environmental conflicts on a “fire-

fighting’” basis. These firms have no environmental policy strategy for compliance with laws
and regulations and have no separate environmental unit in the firm.
The firms with cost-oriented management accept environmental regulations as a cost of doing
business, and make efforts to comply with them as efficiently as possible. These firms establish
company policy, separate units, and procedures for environmental compliance.

The most important factors that led towards the development of “enlightened” environmental
management are: strong commitment of the top corporate responsibility for the environment
can affect short-term as well as long-term profits; and the realization of the fact that costs for
environmental responsibility can be minimized and even some profits can be made.

Five development stages of environmental management as given below:

The “beginner” who provides no protection from environmental risk

The “fire-fighter” who provides minimal protection

The “concerned citizen” who provides moderate protection

The “pragmatist” who provides comprehensive protection

The “pro-activist” who provides maximum protection

NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL SCENARIO

In 1989, 67 percent of Americans stated that they were willing to pay 5-10 percent more for
ecologically compatible products. By 1991, environmentally conscious individuals were
willing to pay between 15-20 percent more for green products. Today, more than one-third of
Americans say they would pay a little extra for green products.

An important challenge facing marketers is to identify which consumers are willing to pay
more for environmentally friendly products. It is apparent that an enhanced knowledge of the
profile of this segment of consumers would be extremely useful.

Everett Rogers, communication scholar and author of “Diffusion of Innovations”, claims that
the following five factors can help determine whether a new idea will be adopted or not,
including the idealism of the shift towards “green”:

1. Relative advantage: is the degree to which the new behaviour is believed to accrue
more beneficial outcomes than current practice.
 2. Observability: is how easy it is to witness the outcomes of the new behaviour.
3. Trial ability: is the ease with which the new behaviour can be tested by an individual
without making a full commitment.
4. Compatibility: is the degree to which the new behaviour is consistent with current
practice.
5. Complexity: is how difficult the new behaviour is to implement.

GPNI is an evolving network of professionals interested and active in the general area
of sustainable consumption and production- more specifically: Green Purchasing and
Public Procurement. It is currently a loose informal network of professionals
primarily operating as an internet based electronic forum.

The objectives of the GPNI are:

1. To create awareness amongst Indian industry and other stakeholders about Green
Purchasing and Procurement (GPP).

2. To encourage and facilitate implementation of GPP and Greening Supply Chains

(GSC) projects to enhance the competitiveness of the Indian industries.

The New “Green” Revolution

Global Warming is the phenomenon of increase in Earth’s temperature caused by burning of

fossil fuels and other pollutants in the air. As per the predictions by IPCC (Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change) it is predicted that the global temperature is likely to increase by
1.1 to 6.4 degrees Celsius “between” 1990 to 2100.

The key causes of global warming are summarized below:


Carbon dioxide emitted from the Power Plants, Cars, airplanes and other industries.

Methane emitted from landfill, petrochemical factories and steel and fertilizer plants.

Nitrogen dioxide emitted from waste combustion, agriculture water pollution and
sewage.

Other harmful gases emitted by industries, and manufacturing units, which are
causing depletion of Earth’s ozone, layer.
 
Deforestation is another major contributor towards global warming. The destruction
of tropical forests is throwing millions of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
These forests are the main source of absorption of carbon dioxide, which we are
losing at a great speed each year with increased deforestation.

For a long time now the effect of man’s industrialization and technological progress ha s quietly
yet continuously eked away at the delicate balance of the planet’s atmosphere and ecosystem, but
within the last 30 or so years the place of this damage has markedly accelerated.

It is presently estimated that 700 tons of carbon dioxide are pumped into the earth’s
atmosphere every second of the day. Carbon dioxide is the chief contributor to the
greenhouse gases. It is these greenhouse gases, which cause global warming.

Green Warming – Proposed Solution

The solution to this problem lies in “Going Green” in our thoughts, behaviour and actions.

The consumers and corporations need to focus on clean and environment friendly products
and services. To elaborate on the “Green” terminology:

1. “Green Product” is non-toxic and is made from recycled material. There is no absolute
green product. However the products, which consume less energy, cause less pollution
and are biodegradable, belong to this category. Thus “Green” is a relative term.
2. “Green Service” fulfills the philosophy of sustainable development, improving and
maintain the quality of life for people without compromising the environment.
3. “Green washing” is the process of making products and services “Green” in all
respects.
To make products and services green the businesses need to focus on bringing the green in
various aspects such as:

 Supply Chain
 Packaging
 Raw Material
 Product Innovations

It is not enough just to develop a brand or a logo, or invest in an advertising campaign, and
then position a product as Green before consumers.

Like any other new concept, marketers must first educate the public about going green,
ensure product credibility, and establish trust. Moreover, since “Green” aspect of the product
is not a tangible attribute that the consumers receive the consumer has to be convinced about
the benefits of the green benefits of the product.

It is also important to understand how companies across the globe are innovating and creating
“Green” products.

“GREEN RAW MATERIAL”

This refers to using recycled material or using material, which does not have a negative
impact on natural resources like resulting in problems such as deforestation and pollution.

Example: Gridcore Systems International – demonstrated the use of Recycled Building

Material. The company was looking for an alternative building material in-order to reduce the
impact on environment. While researching they discovered space board, a new type of
building panel developed by the Forest Products laboratory. Space board can be
manufactured from various recycled or agricultural fibers, and due to a honeycomb the
interior design is just as strong as and several times lighter than conventional fiberboard.
 “GREEN” IN MANUFACTURING

This focuses on using renewable energy for production and minimizing air and water
pollution during the manufacturing process.

Example: Energy Star is helping businesses and consumers save money and check
pollution. Energy star has its own pre-defined parameters and gadgets which conform to the
energy efficiency standards. The businesses that join hands with energy star sign an MOU
and upgrade their facility as per the requirement outlined by Energy Star. There are about
2,400 corporations, hospitals, schools and other organizations, which are energy star
compliant in the US today.

The real estate developers, architects and environmentalists across the globe are working
together to create the next wave of modern eco-friendly projects: green buildings and
manufacturing facilities. They are using energy conservation appliances and recycling
building products and water harvesting techniques in their projects.

“GREEN” IN PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

This refers to either environment friendly or environment efficient products as demonstrated

by the following examples.

Example: Kodak’s Recyclable Camera When Kodak created its first disposable camera it
also solved the waste disposal problem by initiating a ‘camera take back’ scheme during
picture processing. This not only reduced the waste disposable problem, it also saved Kodak
the manufacturing costs for new cameras. This made it completely recycled camera.

Example: Philips Earthlight Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs With relentless efforts on
research and development the company was successful in producing compact fluorescent
light bulbs, which are the most energy efficient bulbs.
 GREEN MARKETING

“GREEN” BY USING ALTERNATIVE INGREDIENTS

TO REDUCE HEALTH RISKS

Example: AFM Safecoat and Safechoice Paints to meet the markets demand for non-toxic
paints, the California based company invested in Research and Development and developed a
full line of non-toxic coatings, paints, stains and adhesives.

“GREEN” IN SUPPLY CHAIN

Example: McDonald’s is often blamed for polluting the environment because much of their
packaging finishes up as roadside waste. It must be remembered that it is the uncaring
consumer who chooses to dispose of their waste in an inappropriate fashion.

With the intent to cut costs and work on eco-friendly image and practices McDonald’s tried
to reduce the amount of material disposed by its stores. McDonalds asked the supplier to do
away with the cartons for napkins. The supplier suggested a better way and came up with
dimpling pattern on napkins, which enabled the supplier to pack 25% more napkins in one
box and reduction in shipping cost accordingly. McDonalds also allied with Environment
Defense Fund (EDF) and created a waste reduction plan. It also made a Paper Task Force to
focus on paper waste reduction and better solid waste management.

Some food chain retailers are working on Green Procurement program to help purchasing
officers to buy products and services that have a lower environmental impact than
comparable products and services.

“GREEN” IN PACKAGING

Packaging is a key element of marketing mix for promoting “Green washing”. It can also be
an effective tool to display the “Green” component of the product.

Natural Package for a Natural Product

When creating product materials, markets need to remember that a “Green” product is appealing
to consumers for its benefits to the environment and for its roots in natural resources.
There should be a consistent look for the product package, or materials that appear natural,
not glossy or extravagant.

“Green” consumers tend to appreciate consistence in package and product. They will
appreciate the usage of recycled paper and other environment friendly materials. That will
help manufacturers/suppliers gain customer loyalty and product credibility.

Third Party Certification Seal on Package

In order to win consumer trust and for product credibility many companies go in for a third
party certification. This helps build trust and acceptability by the consumer.

A third party seal guarantees the consumer that the product fulfills its promise and is true to
his claim. One such third party in the USA is the Green-e Program of the Center for Resource
Solutions. Certification provides an independent third-party review of the program similar to
the ISO 9000 or CMMI Six Sigma level of certifications, which mat help build consumer
confidence. Once a green product earns certification, they can publicize this achievement and
promote their certification through the use of the Green-e logo on their marketing materials
and website.

“GREEN” IN SERVICES

With increased demand for value-based marketing, there is also growing demand of “Green”
services. Global customers are not only interested in cost cutting through outsourcing but are
also looking for energy efficient IT operations.

Example: ITC Infotech is a good example to understand how to package the services “Green”
ITC Infotech is a Bangalore based independent Subsidiary of ITC Ltd. At corporate level ITC
is working to establish itself as a carbon free company. The company is working on “Triple
Bottom Line” i.e. social, economic and environmental capital. The company is involved in
many community driven initiatives. It is one of the 10 companies globally and first one from
India to start publishing sustainability report in compliance with G3 guidelines of Global
Reporting Initiative. The company is investing in large-scale plantations to wash away its
carbon positive image. It is also focusing on water harvesting and working towards zero solid
waste by recycling.

36 Cigarette warehouses were converted to make ITC Infotech’s global development campus
in the heart of Bangalore. The company has used recycled material and virtualization tools for
optimizing energy usage in its data centers. It is also working on digital infrastructure to
connect the rural farmers to the Internet using solar panels for power, so that the Indian farmers
can get information on crop research and monitor weather trends. The company is using these
as a service differentiator and positioning itself as Green service Provide. The corporate image
of ITC Ltd. is further enhancing the True Green Image.

PRESENT TREND IN GREEN MARKETING

GREEN Code

Generalizes with care. Consumer behaviour will not necessarily be consistent across different
product types, and particular market segments may respond to certain issues on the green
agenda but not others.

Remembers, the validity of a piece of market research is not related to the degree to which it
supports your preferred option.

Explores the context from which market research data comes. Be clear on the nature of the
sample used, the questions asked, the way in which responses were recorded and the time and
place from which the responses come.

Ensures that where market research is crossing international borderlines, that the terminology
and interpretation remains consistent. Terms like ‘environment’, ‘green’ and ‘conservation’
do not always translate precisely between languages.

Neutrality is important. Ensure that when you pose questions to consumers, that they can
make any response without being made to feel guilty or uncomfortable, and ensure that your
own preconceptions about the green agenda (such as an assumption that green products will
cost extra) are not encoded within the questions.
Organizations Perceive Environmental Marketing To Be An Opportunity That Can Be Used
To Achieve Its Objectives:
Firms have realized that consumers prefer products that do not harm the natural environment
as also the human health. Firms marketing such green products are preferred over the others
not doing so and thus develop a competitive advantage, simultaneously meeting their
business objectives.
• Organizations Believe They Have A Moral Obligation To Be More Socially Responsible:
This is in keeping with the philosophy of CSR which has been successfully adopted by many
business houses to improve their corporate image. Firms in this situation can take two
approaches:
Use the fact that they are environmentally responsible as a marketing tool.
Become responsible without prompting this fact.
Governmental Bodies Are Forcing Firms To Become More Responsible:
In most cases the government forces the firm to adopt policy which protects the interests
of the consumers. It does so in following ways:
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.

• Competitors’ Environmental Activities Pressure Firms To Change Their

Environmental Marketing Activities:
In order to get even with competitors claim to being environmentally friendly, firms change
over to green marketing. Result is green marketing percolates entire industry.

• Cost Factors Associated With Waste Disposal Or Reductions In Material Usage

Forces Firms to Modify Their Behaviour:
With cost cutting becoming part of the strategy of the firms it adopts green marketing in
relation to these activities. It may pursue these as follows:
A Firm develops a technology for reducing waste and sells it to other firms.
A waste recycling or removal industry develops.

Environmentally Conscious Consumer Behaviour

‘Environmentally Conscious Behaviour’ (ECCB) is consumer behaviour based on some

awareness of the environmental impacts associated with a product or service, and a desire to
reduce those impacts. Many researchers in the field of consumer’s psychology and market
research have demonstrated a substantial growth in ECCB across a range of markets. It has
been demonstrated through case studies that how product developers and marketers have
capitalized on this positive attitude and effectively differentiated their product in terms of their
‘environmentally friendly’ character.
The term environmental consciousness does not have a standardized definition in the body of
academic literature; the reason can be due to arousal of the term out of political and everyday
language. Environmental consciousness is the desire to protect flora and fauna, a willingness
to scrutinize the consequences of economic activity and a willingness to combine long-term
with short-term planning.

What drives Environmentally Conscious Consumer Behaviour?

It has been proved through research across a wide range of academic disciplines including
economics, psychology and sociology, that there are many different motivations and
influences that drive consumer behaviour. For every individual, the ultimate purchasing
decisions and rationale to reinforce what is environmentally “correct” will vary. While
individuals have deferring levels of need, values and knowledge related to various resources
and their uses, no single answer on ‘what is better” will satisfy the value and beliefs of all
people. Purchasing habits fluctuate over time with every generation, but because of increased
access to new technology and uncertainty due to world events and insecure futures, the
consumer trends of generations have changed. In order for businesses to appeal to these
Environmentally Conscious Consumers, it is important to understand

Who are environmentally conscious consumers?

What are the factors influencing their purchasing decisions and behaviour.
What are the buying habits and how they have changed?

The proposed framework presents Environmentally Consciousness Consumer Behaviour

(ECCB) as a process involving consumer environment, constructs, mediators and outcomes.
The underlying influencers of ECCB are complex and different approaches to consumer
motivation account for them in various ways.
 GREEN MARKETING

CONSUMER ENVIRONMENT

INPUT
Social Stimuli, Marketer’s Efforts

INFORMATION PROCESSING
Exposure, Attention, Comprehension, New Knowledge and Belief, Integration

CONSTRUCTS MEDIATORS OUTCOME

Values and Beliefs, Product Knowledge, Attention, Product
Motivation, Involvement, Habit, Comprehension,
Attitude, Cost, Opportunity,
Purchase
Knowledge Availability, Avoidance
Convenience
EXTERNAL FACTORS
Cultural Norms, Group Influence, Family Influence, Unexpected Circumstances

CONSUMER ENVIRONMENT

Green Buyer and Green Consumers

Research about the identity and nature of green consumer has been the central character in
the development of green marketing, as business attempt to understand and respond to
external pressures to improve their environmental performance. Marketing practitioners and
academics are attempting to identify and understand green consumers and their needs, and to
develop market offerings that meet these needs.

SEGMENTATION OF GREEN CONSUMERS

True-Blue Greens- The most environmentally active segment of the society.

Greenback Greens- Those most willing to pay the highest premium for green
products. Spouts- Fence-sitters who have embraced environmentalism more slowly.
Grousers- Uninvolved or disinterested in environmental issues, who feel the issues
are too big for them to solve.
Apathetic- The least engaged group who believe that the environmental indifference
is main stream.
Apart from this Natural Marketing Institute (NMI) divides the market into following
categories:

Lohas- Very progressive on environment and society, looking for ways to do more;
not too concerned about price.
Naturalites- Primarily concerned about personal health and wellness, and use many
natural products; would like to do more to protect the environment.
Conventional- Practical, like to see the results of what they do; interested in green
products that make sense in the long run.
Drifters- Not too concerned about the environment, figuring we’ve got time to fix the
environmental problems; don’t necessarily buy a lot of green products.
Unconcerned- Have other priorities, not really sure what green products are available
and probably wouldn’t be interested anyway; they buy products strictly on price,
value, quality and convenience.

Consumer Information and Education

If managers believe that consumers view greenness as a motivating variable, they should
invest in conveying information through advertising, direct mailing, brand labels, in-store
displays and pamphlets. The important points to be noted here are:

a) Firms willing to provide clear, comprehensive and credible information must ensure
that consumers have low cost to access it.
b) Governmental policies and stakeholder initiatives can be important in reducing
consumers’ search, information or transaction costs.
c) Regulators can publish and disseminate it to the media by press releases and post it on
the internet.
d) Stakeholders can use the media as well as use their organization-specific vehicles
such as newsletters.

Green marketing can be successfully implemented by use of ICT in cost effective way:
By developing compelling, concise messages, plan innovative ways to
repeatedly deliver, identify appropriate links within network of political,
legislative, non-profit organization and media, develop concept based programs
and events.
 Utilize extensive relationship with local and national media to get a client’s
message to the right media targets.
Identify venues, plan tours, identify audiences, and organize meals, speakers
and press.
Strategies and plan joint PR initiatives as well as joint advertising campaigns
and events to cross-promote companies and organization campaigns.
Help develop identify and branding for print, broadcast and digital mediums.
Consulting and creation of a corporate design, brochures, leaflets, info
materials.
Develop web sites, e-mail campaigns, and banner advertising.
Develop creative print, broadcast and digital advertising, identify advertising
targets and purchase appropriate media slots.

Towards a Green Marketing Partnership – ICT and cost Management is the Key

Worldwide evidence indicates people are concerned about the environment and are changing
their behaviour accordingly. As a result there is a growing market for sustainable and socially
responsible products and services. The types of businesses that exist, the products that they
produce and their approaches to marketing are changing. Successful green marketers will
reap the rewards of healthy profits and improved shareholder value and help in making the
world a better place for future generations.

Identify and Close the Green Gap

Right now, gaps exist on both sides of the market, between where customers are today and
the preferences that will help sustain a future market. There is also a gap, between today’s
products and green designs of tomorrow. Greening the market means closing the gaps.

A process must be established that progressively closes these gaps, so that the market can
evolve into one that meets all customer needs while delivering vastly superior environmental
performance. Here Environmental Values would mean care about health, air quality, toxics
and concerns for future generations.
The focus on the market – oriented mechanisms is also required along with R&D to close the
gaps. These gaps cab be closed by innovatively addressing the following area:

a) Green product: This includes identifying customer’s environmental needs,

developing environmentally responsible green products like-products made from
recycled goods, products which save water, energy, gasoline, money, etc.
b) Green Value and lesser Price: It has been analyzed that most customers will only be
prepared to pay a premium if there is a perception of additional product value.
Environmentally responsible products are often less expensive when product life
cycle costs are taken into consideration even though their purchase cost is high. For
example fuel efficient vehicles, water efficient printing and non-hazardous products
decrease overall costs.
Over a period of time due to research and advancement in technologies the companies
will manage to produce environment friendly product at low costs and will even sell
at low price.
c) Customer Information: “Idea of Green” needs to be communicated to the customers
through campaigns and advertisements.
d) Special and Green Place: the location must differentiate green marketers from
competitors. This can be achieved by in-store promotions and visually appealing displays
or using recycled materials to emphasize the environmental and other benefits.
e) Green promotion Aided by ICT: smart green marketers will be able to reinforce
environmental credibility by using sustainable marketing and communication tools
and practices. E-marketing is rapidly replacing more traditional marketing methods.
For example, many companies are providing electronic statements by e-mail.
 GREEN MARKETING

Greening the Market Means Closing the Gaps

Demand Supply

Consumer Preference Product Plans

Future Market

Environmental Values Green Design

f) Partnership: The companies should recognize the value of alliances with other
companies, environmental groups and research organizations when promoting their
environment commitment.
g) Trust: Corporate should never overstate environmental claims or establish unrealistic
expectations, and communicate simply and through sources that people trust.
h) Publicize Stories of the Company’s and Employees’ Green Initiatives: This can be
done through networks to promote green credentials and achievements.
i) Compete for Environmental Awards: The companies should try to enter into
environmental award programs to enhance their environmental profile/credentials
before customers and stakeholders.
 GREEN MARKETING

Identify and Target the Green Consumer

According to David Wheeler, the green consumers are distributed somehow like this: Green
Consumer, who no matter what will only buy the green product. Green Activists that may
not be able or willing to pay more, or to travel the distance to the specialist store where the
offered product is, but try to promote the product and try to buy it any time they can, when
the budget and the opportunity allow them. Latent Greens, who are willing to pay more for
the product if the properties of the product, are same as of the others. Inactive, who only
would buy a green or social product if the price and properties are the same that the non-
Denominational ones.

Green Activists 10% Green Consumers 27%

Inactive 23% Latent Green 40%

Fig: Types of Green Consumers

Thus to take the advantage of the emerging green market,

a) It is important to understand who green consumers are and the factors influencing
their purchasing decisions and behaviour.
b) Target products to women who generally buy on behalf of men and families.
c) Use the influence of children (green consumers of the future) to encourage parents to
try green products.
d) Offer samples and incentives to try products, effectively communicate assurance of
quality-for example quality of performance, look, feel, fit, comfort, durability, etc.
e) Linking environmental attributes (energy efficiency or toxic substance reduction) with
other benefits such as lower price, convenience or quality of life improvements,
emphasis on personal benefits by using terms such as ‘safe’, ‘non-toxic’, ‘cost
 GREEN MARKETING

effective’, rather than ‘biodegradable’ or ‘ozone friendly’, making use of the

product simple- for example, minimize or eliminate refilling bottles, select
mainstream distributors where possible, offer one-stop shopping and eye-appealing
displays, reinforce product benefits with evidence of corporate environmental
performance and improvements.

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.

Let's put the three essential elements of a successful green marketing campaign together by
looking at an example.

Suppose that you have decided that your business will no longer use plastic bags to wrap
customer purchases. You know that the traditional plastic bag takes about one thousand years
to decompose (cbc.ca) and want to do your part to stop the proliferation of plastic bags in
landfills. You feel that this is the kind of environmental action that will be popular with
potential customers and a good opportunity to do some green marketing.
To be genuine, you have to ensure that none of your business practices contradict your decision
not to use plastic bags. What if customers who happen to walk behind your store see an
overflowing trash bin filled with paper, cardboard and plastic bottles? Obviously, he or she will
decide that you don't care as much about recycling as you say you do in your green marketing.

Not using plastic bags appears to be environmental no-brainer, but you will still need to
educate your target market. Did you know that a single use plastic bag takes about one
thousand years to decompose? I didn’t until I researched this article and probably a fair
number of otherwise environmentally conscious people don't either. This one little factoid
about plastic bags could be used as part of your green marketing campaign - all by itself it lets
the public know why single use plastic bags are environmentally disastrous and that you and
your business care about the environment.

And the third element? By shopping at your store, the customer is taking action to protect the
environment by preventing at least one single use plastic bag from going into a landfill. It
doesn't sound like much, but he or she gets the satisfaction of physically doing something that
fulfills their beliefs. You can also reinforce your customers’ green decisions and increase
their participation by offering them additional related actions, such as buying cloth bags to
use for future purchases.

Sometimes the best thing to do with a bandwagon is jump on it. You have to walk the talk
and actually implement green policies and act in environmentally friendly ways for green
marketing to work, but if you do, you've got a powerful selling point with those who are
environmentally conscious and want to act to make the world a greener place - a market that's
growing exponentially right now.

Golden Rules of Green Marketing

1. Know your customer: If you want to sell a greener product to consumers, you first need
to make sure that the consumer is aware of and concerned about the issues that your product
attempts to address. (Whirlpool learned the hard way that consumers wouldn’t pay a premium
for a CFC-free refrigerator because consumers didn’t know what CFCs were!).
2. Empower consumers: Make sure that consumers feel, by themselves or in concert with all
the other users of your product, that they can make a difference. This is called
“empowerment” and it’s the main reason why consumers buy greener products.

3. Be transparent: Consumers must believe in the legitimacy of your product and the
specific claims you are making. Caution: There’s a lot of skepticism out there that is fueled
by the raft of spurious claims made in the “go-go” era of green marketing that occurred
during the late 80s–early90s — one brand of household cleaner claimed to have been
“environmentally friendly since 1884”!

4. Reassure the buyer: Consumers need to believe that your product performs the job it’s
supposed to do — they won't forego product quality in the name of the environment.
(Besides, products that don’t work will likely wind up in the trash bin, and that’s not very
kind to the environment.)

4. Consider your pricing: If you're charging a premium for your product — and many
environmentally preferable products cost more due to economies of scale and use of
higher-quality ingredients — make sure that consumers can afford the premium and
feel it’s worth it. Many consumers, of course, cannot afford premiums for any type of
product these days, much less greener ones, so keep this in mind as you develop your
target audience and product specifications.
 GREEN MARKETING

Green Marketing Strategies V/S Conventional Marketing

Green Marketing Conventional Marketing

Consumers Human beings with Consumers with lifestyles

lives

Products “Cradle-to cradle” “cradle-to-gave” one size

flexible services fits for all products

Marketing And Educational values Selling oriented and benefits

Communication

Corporate Proactive, Receptive, independent,

interdependent, competitive,
cooperative, holistic, departmentalized, short term
long term oriented profit maximizing.

GREEN MARKETING MIX

PRODUCT

Entrepreneurs wanting to exploit emerging green markets either: Identify customers’

environmental needs and develop products to address these needs or will develop
environmentally responsible products to have less impact than competitors.
The increasingly wide variety of products on the market that support sustainable
developments are:

 Products made from recycled goods, such as Quick’ N Tuff housing materials
made from recycled broccoli boxes.
 Products that can be recycled or reused.

 Efficient products, which save water, energy or gasoline, save money and reduce
environmental impact.
 Products with environmentally responsible packaging, McDonalds, for example,
changed their packaging from polystyrene clamshells to paper.
 Products with green labels, as long as they offer substantiation.
 Certified products, which meet or exceed environmentally responsible criteria.
  Organic products-many customers are prepared to pay a premium for organic
products, which offer promise of quality. Organic butchers, for example, promote the
added qualities such as taste and tenderness.
 A service that rents or loans products-toy libraries.

Whatever the product or service, it is vital to ensure that products meet or exceed the quality
expectation of customers and is thoroughly tested.
PRICE
Pricing is the critical element of the marketing mix. Most customers will only be prepared to
pay a premium if there is a perception of additional product value. This value may be
improved performance, function, design, visual appeal or taste. Environmental benefits will
be often being the deciding factor between products of equal value or quality.
Environmentally responsible products, however are often less expensive when product life
cycle coast are taken into consideration, for example fuel-efficient vehicles, water efficient
printing and non-hazardous products.
PLACE
The choice of where and when to make products available will have significant impact on the
customers you attract. Very few customers go out of their way to buy green products merely
for the sake of it. Marketers looking to successfully introduce new green products should
position them broadly in the market place so they are not just appealing to a small green
niche market.
The location must also be consistent with the image you want to project and allow you to
project your own image rather than being dominated or compromised by the image of venue.
The location must differentiate you from the competitors. This can be achieved by in-store
promotions and visually appealing displays or using recycled materials to emphasize the
environmental and other benefits.
PROMOTION
Promoting products and services to target markets include paid advertising, public relations,
sales promotions, direct marketing and on-site promotions. Smart green marketers will be
able to reinforce environmental credibility by using sustainable marketing and
communication tools and practices. For example, many companies in the financial industry
are providing electronic statements by email; e-marketing is rapidly replacing more
traditional marketing methods and printed materials can be produced using recycled materials
and efficient processes such as waterless printing.

Retailers, for example are recognizing the value of alliances with other companies,
environmental groups and research organizations. When promoting their environmental
commitment to reduce the use of plastic bags and promote their green commitment, some
retailers sell shopping bags and promote their green commitments.
 Green Marketing Process

Green marketing process comprises with external and internal P’s. After integrating external
and internal P’s, green success will automatically come through four S’s. Here external 7 P’s
consists of Paying customers, Providers, Politicians, Pressure groups, Problems, Predictions
and Partners; internal 7P’s consists of Products, Promotion, Price, Place, Providing
information, Processes and Policies. After integrating external and internal 7P’s, we can find
out the green successes through 4 S’s such as Satisfaction – of stakeholder needs, Safety – of
products and processes, Social acceptability – of the company and Sustainability – of its
activities.

External Green P’s Internal Green P’s

Paying customers Products
Providers Promotion
Politician’s Price
Pressure groups Place
Problems Providing information
Predictions Processes
Partners Policies

Green Marketing

The S’s of Green Success

· Satisfaction – of stakeholder needs
· Safety – of products and processes
· Social acceptability – of the company
· Sustainability – of its activities
 Green Marketing: A Corporate Initiative

Green Marketing is important in today’s world because mankind has limited resources on the
earth and if we want long term sustainability of human life on this earth’s surface, then
companies has to learn to conserve these scarce natural resources and create products that
have less environmental damage. Otherwise the very existence of humankind will be under
question mark.
Corporate are going green from the grassroots level to sustain and win the customers’
expectations. The environment is becoming increasingly important part of the corporate
reputations and they are actively participating in greening the corporate strategy. Companies
have converted almost all the products to make them eco-friendly products. Following are the
recent environment friendly initiatives taken by the companies.

Sony: Green “ODO” Line Products

Sony has recently launched developed and launched a range of innovative products named as
“ODO” line products also called as Eco-chic. These products do not require AC adapter as
they were powered by kinetic or solar energy. Sony has used simplified packaging and
recycled plastic in the manufacturing of ODO products as a “Sustainable Product” initiative.
The ODO line products comprise of five products:
1. Spin N Snap: The spin and snap is a digital camera. It has two holes which are used
as viewfinder and chargers. On spinning the camera on ones fingers generates kinetic
energy and charges the device.
 2. Push Power Play: Push power play is a display device with a roller on the base. The
rollers are used to charge the device by the friction of the device with hard surface.
3. Crank N’ Capture: Crank and Capture is a digital video camera with a crank used to
operate and generate power.
4. Pull and Play: The pull and play is a stereo headphone with a cord to simply pull and
use.
5. Juice Box: The juice box is a credit card sized object used to recharge the other ODO
products.

Sony has also added a new Twirl N Take hand powered digital camera to the odo line series.
Twirl N take digital camera has a sleek stem circle design. It is recharged by rolling the round
wheel on the hard surface.

Sony’s ODO line product series are the most innovative eco-friendly products which are very
safe and handy. Even children can also use these products.

IFC: Green Mutual Fun for Asia

The European countries are innovative new supports for actively involving the Asian countries in
green movement. Green Movement in Asian countries is growing at slow pace as compare to
other European and American countries. To support the environment in Asian countries, IFC
(International Finance Corporation), a member of the World Bank, has recently announced a first
investment plan of €15 million for third party environment – focused private equity fund.
Along with the IFC, Swedish government risk capital company Swedfund and French
development company Prooarco will also invest euro 8 million and euro 5 million respectively
in the same fund. The fund will be managed by Aloe Private Equity. The funds will support
the companies in India and China which will focus on clean and renewable energy, waste
recycling, emissions controls, and eco-processes.

Cipla: CFC-free Inhaler

Fig: Two of Cipla’s major products, the Rotahaler and the Asthalin inhaler
Cipla-India’s second largest drug company by market share has planned and started replacing
all its CFC contained drugs to meet the international standard and Montreal Protocol ban
deadline. The CFC depletes the ozone layer and also is a
major cause of global warming. Cipla has updated the
necessary technology to avoid the CFC and has also done
its clinical trial in India and overseas. The Rotahaler and the
Asthalin inhaler are environment – friendly inhalers, used
by asthma and bronchitis patients. These inhalers are using
HFA (Hydro Fluro Alkaline) technology. The Rotahaler is a
powder based inhaler, different from regular inhaler which
contains propellants.
 Maruti Suzuki

The company has remained ahead of regulatory requirements in pursuit of environment

protection and energy conservation at its manufacturing facilities, and in development of
products that use fewer natural resources and are environment friendly. The company
credited the 'Just-in-Time' philosophy adopted and internalized by the employees as the prime
reason that helped to excel in this direction.

The company has been promoting 3R

since its inception. As a result the
company has not only been able to
recycle 100% of treated waste water but
also reduced fresh water consumption.
The company has implemented rain water
harvesting to recharge the aquifers. Also,
recyclable packing for bought out
components is being actively promoted.
The company has been facilitating implementation of Environment Management System
(EMS) at its suppliers' end. Regular training programs are conducted for all the suppliers on
EMS. Surveys are conducted to assess the vendors who need more guidance. The systems
and the environmental performance of suppliers are audited. The green co-efficient of this
system is much better than the conventional system.
The Country’s largest car manufacturer had managed to slash energy consumption per car at
its Gurgaon factory by 26 per cent over the past six years, while its carbon dioxide (CO2)
emissions during car manufacturing processes has come down 39 per cent in the past five
years. The model with gas as fuel was adopted by Maruti Suzuki India Limited as their Green
Marketing practices.

Bharat Petroleum

Bharat Petroleum launched a campaign to

position itself as a responsible corporate
‘green’ entity. Foraying into renewable
energy-solar and wind power-it installed
solar panels on its service stations. It also
ran a program to cut production of
greenhouse gases by 10% across its units
worldwide and achieved it much ahead of
schedule. Cleaner fuels such as Greener
Diesel (ultra low sulphur content) and BP
Auotgas were developed. Almost all of its plants are ISO 14001 certified. Currently it is
running a program to contain its net emissions at current levels for ten years.
 Hindustan Petroleum

Hindustan petroleum owns a massive e-waste recycling plants, where enormous shredders and
granulators reduce four million pounds of computer detritus each month to bite-sized chunks-the
first step in reclaiming not just steel and plastic but also toxic chemicals like mercury and even
some precious metals. HP will take back any brand of equipment; its own machines are 100
percent recyclable. It has promised to cut energy consumption by 20 percent by 2010.

Proctor & Gamble

Laundry detergents are also touting energy

savings. Proctor & Gamble’s (P&G) newest
market entry, Tide Coldwater, is designed to
clean clothes effectively in cold water. About
80 to 85 percent of the energy used to wash
clothes from heating water. Working with
utility companies, P and G found that
consumers could save energy and resources by
using cold rather than warm water. As energy
and resource prices continue to soar,
opportunities for products offering efficiency
and savings are destined for market growth.

ITC

ITC has been 'Carbon Positive’ for three years in a row sequestering/storing twice the amount
of CO2 than the Company emits. It has been 'Water Positive' six years in a row creating three
times more Rainwater Harvesting potential than ITC's net consumption. It has obtained close
to 100% solid waste recycling. All Environment, Health and Safety Management Systems in
ITC conform to the best international standards. ITC's businesses generate livelihoods for
over 5 million people.
ITC's globally recognized E-Choupal initiative is the world's largest rural digital
infrastructure benefiting over 4 million farming families. ITC's Social and Farm Forestry
initiative has greened over 80,000 hectares creating an estimated 35 million person days of
employment among the disadvantaged. ITC's Watershed Development Initiative brings
precious water to nearly 35,000 hectares of dry lands and moisture-stressed areas. ITC's
Sustainable Community Development initiatives include women empowerment,
supplementary education, integrated animal husbandry programs.

HCL’S: ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT & ECOSAFE POLICY

In building a system to identify, develop and sustain the maintenance of an environment
management system at corporate level we have formulated a program that we proudly refer as
HCL's ecosafe.
• The aim is to encapsulate knowledge, awareness, and key developments on all
environmental issues faced by today's world and to incorporate these in HCL's operations
assuring our commitment in delivering quality products, solutions and services.
• The key objective under HCL ecoSafe is targeted at integrating environmental management
procedures into its business processes thereby protecting the environment, health, and safety
of all its stakeholders. HCL commits to manufacture products that areenvironment friendly in
all respects and are free from hazardous chemicals.
• HCL ecoSafe focuses on product lifecycle management to ensure that our products right
from when they are manufactured, bought by customers, recovered at their end- of-life and
recycled after useful life are done in an environmentally responsible manner.

GREEN MARKETING CASES

PHILIPS LIGHT'S CFL:
Philips Lighting's first shot at marketing a standalone compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulb was
Earth Light, at $15 each versus 75 cents for incandescent bulbs. The product had difficulty
climbing out of its deep green niche. The company re-launched the product as 17 "Marathon,"
underscoring its new "super long life" positioning and promise of saving $26 in energy costs over
its five-year lifetime Finally, with the U.S. EPA's Energy Star label to add credibility as
well as new sensitivity to rising utility costs and electricity shortages, sales climbed 12 percent
in an otherwise flat market.

CAR SHARING SERVICES:

Car-sharing services address the longer-term solutions to consumer needs for better fuel
savings and fewer traffic tie-ups and parking nightmares, to complement the environmental
benefit of more open space and reduction of greenhouse gases. They may be thought of as a
"time-sharing" system for cars. Consumers who drive less than 7,500 miles a year and do not
need a car for work can save thousands of dollars annually by joining one of the many services
springing up, including ZipCar (East Coast), Flex Car (Washington State), and Hour Car (Twin
Cities).
ELECTRONIC SECTOR:
The consumer electronics sector provides room for using green marketing to attract new
customers. One example of this is HP's promise to cut its global energy use 20 percent by the
year 2010. To accomplish this reduction below 2005 levels, The Hewlett-Packard Company
announced plans to deliver energy-efficient products and services and institute energy-efficient
operating practices in its facilities worldwide.
-INTRODUCTION OF CNG IN DELHI:
New Delhi, capital of India, was being polluted at a very fast pace until Supreme Court of India
forced a change to alternative fuels. In 2002, a directive was issued to completely adopt CNG
in all public transport systems to curb pollution.

Initiatives Taken By Government

Development of ISO 14000 Series of Standards.

ISO has been developed to help any company in any country to meet the goal of sustainable
development and environmental friendliness. The ISO 14000 family of standards (i.e. ISO
14001, 14004, 14010, 14011 and 1412) were published as an official document in 1996. The
ISO series aims to provide guidance for developing a comprehensive approach to
environmental management and for standardizing some key environmental tools of analysis
such as labeling and life cycle assessment.
Eco-Labeling Initiatives
Eco label provide information regarding the environmental performance of products. The
objective of eco-labeling is to provide authentication to genuine claims regarding the
environmental impact of products and processes by manufacturers. In India the government
has introduced the eco-mark scheme since 1981. The objectives of the scheme are:
• To provide incentives to manufacturers and importers to reduce the adverse environmental
impact of products.
• To reward genuine initiatives by companies to reduce adverse impact of environmental
impact of products.
• To assist consumers to become environmentally responsible in their daily lives by providing
them information to take account of environmental factors in their daily lives.
• To encourage citizens to purchase products which have less environmental impact.

Eco-Labeling Schemes in India

The Ministry of environment and forest of government of India has prescribed the following
criteria for products that:
• They cause substantially less pollution than comparable products in production, usage and
disposal.
• They are recycled and/or recyclable whereas comparable products are not.
• They contribute to a reduction on adverse environmental health consequences.
• They comply with laws, standards and regulations pertaining to the environment.
• Their price is not exorbitantly higher than comparable products.

Eco-Mark in India
Under the concept, products which are less harmful to the environment or have benign impact on
environment through the various stages of development-manufacture, packaging, distribution, use
and disposal or recycling may be awarded the Eco-Mark. An earthen pot has been chosen as the
logo for Eco-Mark scheme in India. The familiar earthen pot has renewable resource like earth,
does not produce hazardous waste and consume little energy in making. As a symbol it puts
across its environmental message. Its image has the ability to reach people and help to promote a
greater awareness of the need to be kind to the environment. The logo Eco-Mark scheme signifies
that the product which carries it does least damage to the environment.
 Reasons for adoption of Green Marketing by the Firms

Green marketing has been widely adopted by the firms worldwide and the following are the
possible reasons cited for this wide adoption:

1) Opportunities - 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 become 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.
concernTuna manufacturers modified their fishing techniques because of the increased
over driftnet fishing, and the resulting death of dolphins.
 Xerox introduced a "high quality" recycled photocopier paper in an attempt to
satisfy the demands of firms for less environmentally harmful products.

2) Governmental Pressure - 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:
1. Reduce production of harmful goods or by-products.
2. Modify consumer and industry's use and/or consumption of harmful goods.
3. 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.

3) Competitive Pressure - Another major force in the environmental marketing area has
been firms' desire to maintain their competitive position. In many cases firms observe
competitors promoting their environmental behaviours and attempt to emulate this behaviour.
In some instances this competitive pressure has caused an entire industry to modify and thus
reduce its detrimental environmental behaviour. 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. In another example when
one tuna manufacture stopped using driftnets the others followed suit.
4) Cost or Profit Issues - Firms may also use green marketing in an attempt to address cost
or profit related issues. Disposing of environmentally harmful by-products, such as
polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contaminated oil are becoming increasingly costly and in
some cases difficult.
Therefore firms that can reduce harmful wastes may incur substantial cost savings. When
attempting to minimize waste, firms are often forced to re-examine their production
processes. In these cases they often develop more effective production processes that not only
reduce waste, but reduce the need for some raw materials. This serves as a double cost
savings, since both waste and raw material are reduced.

GREEN CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

Environmentally Conscious Consumer Behaviour

‘Environmentally Conscious Behaviour’ (ECCB) is consumer behaviour based on some

awareness of the environmental impacts associated with a product or service, and a desire to
reduce those impacts. Many researchers in the field of consumer’s psychology and market
research have demonstrated a substantial growth in ECCB across a range of markets. It has been
demonstrated through case studies that how product developers and marketers have capitalized on
this positive attitude and effectively differentiated their product in terms of their
‘environmentally friendly’ character.
The term environmental consciousness does not have a standardized definition in the body of
academic literature; the reason can be due to arousal of the term out of political and everyday
language. Environmental consciousness is the desire to protect flora and fauna, a willingness
to scrutinize the consequences of economic activity and a willingness to combine long-term
with short-term planning.
 Attributes of the Green Consumers

To take the advantage of the emerging green market, it is important to understand who green
customers are and the factors influencing their purchasing decisions and behaviour.
Attributes Of Environmentally
Implication for Green Marketers
Conscious Consumers

Likel Use the influence of children to encourage parents

Will most y be well educated,
to try green products. The green consumers of the
young adult women who have more
future are generally knowledgeable about
money to spend?
environmental issues. They should be offered
samples and increments to try products.
Will expect green products to function Effectively communicate assurance of quality for
as non-green products and won’t pay example quality of performances, look, feel, fit,
much extra or sacrifice quality for comfort, durability.
greener products.
Will not buy green products on the Like environmental attributes such as energy
basis of environmental benefits alone. efficiency or toxic substance reduction with other
Products choice is still based on benefits such as lower price, convenience, or
whether it meets their basic want or quality of life improvements.
need. Environmental features are added
selling points.
Will be more likely to respond to Emphasize personal benefits by using terms such as
product attribute that will personally ‘safe’, ‘non-toxic’, ‘cost effective’ rather than more
benefit them. generalized green messages such as
‘biodegradable’ or ‘ozone friendly’.
Will Tolerate only minimal Making the use of product simple- e.g. minimize or
inconvenience in using green products eliminate refilling bottles. Select mainstream
and don’t want to go out of their way to distributors wherever possible. Offer one-stop
buy them. shopping and eye appealing displays.

Will be analytical, eager to learn, and
can be cynical about corporate claims
for green product unless they have
independent verification.
Will not expect companies to have
perfect green credentials, but will look
for a commitment to improve and
evidence backed by facts.
Reinforce product benefits with evidence of
corporate performance and improvements. Educate
consumers about environmental issues and your
efforts through a variety of means. Provide credible
environmental endorsements. Use labels in
compliance with government labeling guidelines,
to convey precise, detailed information about your
product and its packaging.
Communicate your steps towards sustainability and
commitments to improvement. Seek feedback and
promote your efforts to respond to customer
concerns.
 FUTURE GROWTH OF GREEN MARKETING

There are many lessons to be learned to avoid green marketing myopia, the short version of all
this is that effective green marketing requires applying good marketing principles to make green
products desirable for consumers. The question that remains, however, is, what is green
marketing’s future? Business scholars have viewed it as a “fringe” topic, given that
environmentalism’s acceptance of limits and conservation does not mesh well with marketing’s
traditional axioms of “give customer what they want” and “sell as much as you can”.

Evidence indicates that successful green products have avoided green marketing myopia by
following three important principles:

Consumer Value Positioning:

 Design environmental products to perform as well as (or better than)

alternatives.
 Promote and deliver the consumer desired value of environmental products and
target relevant consumer market segments.
 Broaden mainstream appeal by bundling consumer desired value into
environmental products.

Calibration of Consumer Knowledge:

 Educate consumers with marketing messages that connect environmental

attributes with desired consumer value.
 Frame environmental product attributes as “solutions” for consumer needs.

 Create engaging and educational internet sites about environmental products

desired consumer value.

Credibility of Product Claims:

 Employ environmental product and consumer benefit claims that are specific and
meaningful.

 Procure product endorsements or eco-certifications from trustworthy third

parties and educate consumers about the meaning behind those endorsements and eco-
certifications.
 Encourage consumer evangelism via consumers social and internet
communication network with compelling, interesting and entertaining information
about environmental products.
 THE SEVEN STRATEGIES OF GREEN MARKETING SUCCESS

The currency of the green business world is innovation, flexibility, change and heart.
New rules have emerged from the cloud of green marketing dust kicked up in the late 1980s
and early 1990s. We know better what works - and what does not. Seven strategies that work
are listed as follows:

OTTMAN CONSULTING’S SEVEN STRATEGIES

 STRATEGIES TO BE IMPLEMENTED IN GREEN MARKETING
I. PRODUCT DIFFERENTIATION
Organizations are putting continuous efforts to differentiate their products and services using
green marketing practice. In a wide range of markets including retailing etc companies have
used eco performance to differentiate and to compete. Products with poor eco performance can
become targets for new substitution, as a result of this many organizations are coming up with
greener ideas to differentiate their products from competitors.
CONSUMER VALUE POSITIONING- organizations can design environmental products to
perform as well as provide alternatives. In addition to this promoting and delivering the
consumer desired value of environmental products and target relevant consumer market
segments can help the organization to differentiate.
CALIBERATION OF CONSUMER KNOWLEDGE-Educates customers with marketing
messages that connect environmental product attributes with desired consumer value.

II. DESIGNING BIO-DEGRADABLE PACKAGING

It is seen that promotion of green products strongly influences the consumers buying decisions.
It is one of the most important factors of product attractiveness. Thus it has been indicated that
bio-degradable packaging will affect in a strong and moderate way respectively on their buying
decisions.
As a marketing strategy the companies should modify the product packaging by using only
the recycle as well as handmade paper in packaging. Instead of being more mechanized the
companies must find creative ways reusing the waste products which are harmful to the
environment. Manufacturing companies which are using plastic for packaging should meet
certain standardization. For example Bisleri plastic bottles or the water bottles can last only
for 15 days and after that it generates certain chemicals which are harmful and there is no
reusability of this kind of plastic. Companies should modify these kinds of packaging styles
and find out some innovative ways to recycle it.

III. PRODUCT STRATEGY

In this strategy marketers can identify customer’s environmental needs and develop products
to address this issue, produce more environmentally responsible packages and insure that
products meet or exceed the quality expectation of customers. In addition to that marketer can
charge higher price with highlighting eco-friendliness of the products.
IV. DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY
In case of this strategy obtaining dealer support to green marketing practice is essential. The
location must differentiate from competitors and it can be achieved by in-store promotions and
displays by using recycle materials to emphasize the environmental and other benefits.
Even though distribution has no big involvement in green marketing, few consumers
are willing to get the services from places and distribution channels which are not cause to
environmental pollution.
V. LIFE-CYCLE ANALYSIS
Brands which aspire to be sustainable must “get their house in order” before they start planning
any green marketing initiatives. The best brands are performing life cycle analysis- complex
assessments which provide critical data on social, environmental and economic impact of
products through the supply chain production process and after the purchase. Life cycle
analysis tells a brand just how far it needs to go before it claims to be sustainable.

VI. INCENTIVES AND STRUCTURAL FACTORS

Commercialization programs and incentives help get new technologies introduced examples
include fleet programs to cultivate strategic niche markets and by providing financial
incentives such as the advanced vehicle tax credit proposal in case of green vehicle purchase.
Consumers can be motivated by incentives and awards to:
Curtail – Reduce the impact on the environment by modifying extant living patterns.
Maintain – Keep equipment in good working order.
Be efficient – Undertake structural changes such as buying environmental friendly
equipment.

ANALYSIS OF EFFECTS OF GREEN MARKETING

Size of sample:
This refers to the numbers of items to be selected from universe to constitute a sample. An
optimum sample is one, which fulfills the requirements of efficiency, representativeness,
reliability and flexibility.
Sample size - 64 consumers
Sample design:
A sample design is definite plan for obtaining a sample from a given population. It refers to
the technique or the procedure the researcher would adopt in selecting items for the samples.
Sample design – consumers
Sample type:
Convenience sampling: - when population elements are selected for inclusion in the sample
based on the case of access; it can be called convenience sampling.

This study is based on stratified sampling and a structured questionnaire has been used to
gather data from about 50 respondents to analyse effects of green marketing. By analysing
respondents’ answers towards the questions helps to understand the various aspects related to
green marketing. The study attempts to expand research on exploring how many people have
positive attitude towards green marketing and what are their thoughts on it.

RESULTS
According to the analysis of questionnaire most of the respondents were not aware about
green marketing but after reading the questionnaire they realized what it is all about. Of the
64 respondents 37 were male and 27 female. The respondents were between the age group of
25-27 and 28-30 yrs.


Are you aware of the term “green marketing”?

12

10

6 YES
NO
4

0
25-27 yrs. 28-30 yrs. 25-27 28-30 yrs.
Male Male yrs.Female Female

The above bar graph indicates that 56% of respondents are familiar with the term Green
Marketing.

Have you heard of any campaign related to Green Marketing?
12

10

6 Yes

No
4

0
25-27 yrs 28-30 yrs 25-27 yrs 28-30 yrs
of male of male of female of female
The above bar graph indicates that 44% of respondents are aware of the campaign related to
Green Marketing. Rest 56% does not know about any campaign related to Green marketing.

Have you been part of any such campaign?

18

16 The above
graph indicates
14
that only 17%
12 of the total has
been a part of
10
Yes Green
8 Marketing
No
campaigns.
6

0
25-27 28-30 25-27 28-30
Males Males Females Females
 
Do you consider the environmental aspects of the products before buying them?

14

12

10

8 YES
NO
6
SOMETIMES
4

0
25-27 28-30 25-27 28-30
Males Males Females Females

The above graph indicates that only 58% i.e. the majority of respondents consider the
environmental aspect sometimes. And, only 23% consider the environmental aspect of the
product while buying it.
  Do you think that green marketing and advertising are good sources of
information about green products and services?

14

12

10

8 Yes
No
6
Sometimes
4

0
25-27 28-30 25-27 28-30
Males Males Females Females

The above graph indicates that only 69% i.e. the majority of respondents consider green
marketing and advertising as good sources of information for green products and services.
And, only 10% do not consider it.
 Do you think that Green Marketing activities are good at addressing
environmental issues?
18

16

14

12

10
Yes

8
No

0
25-27 yrs of 28-30 yrs of 25-27 yrs of 28-30 yrs of
male male female female
The above graph indicates that 87% of the respondents feel that Green Marketing activities
are good at addressing environmental issues while 13% respondents do not.

Do you think Green Marketing activities results in better product quality?
16

14

12

10

8 Yes

6 No

0
25-27 yrs 28-30 yrs 25-27 yrs 28-30 yrs
of male of male of female of female
The above graph indicates that 70% of the respondents think that Green Marketing activities
results in better product quality.

 Do you think that Green Marketing strengthen company’s image in the mind of
consumer?
18
16
14
12
10
Yes
8
6 No

4
2
0
25-27 yrs 28-30 yrs 25-27 yrs 28-30 yrs
of male of male of female of female
The above graph indicates that majority of the respondents i.e. 86% think that Green
Marketing strengthen company’s image in the mind of consumer.
 Do you think that companies that focus on environmental concerns persuade
consumers to buy products?
12

10

6 Yes

No
4

0
25-27 yrs 28-30 yrs 25-27 yrs 28-30 yrs
of male of male of female of female
The above graph indicates that the respondents the companies initiative towards environment
do influence the consumers to buy product. 63% of respondents agree to it.

Are you aware of the eco-labeling initiatives of the government?
14
12
10
8
6 Yes

4 No
2
0
25-27 yrs 28-30 yrs 25-27 yrs 28-30 yrs
of male of male of of
female female
The above graph indicates that majority of the respondents i.e. 69% of the respondents are
not aware of the eco-labeling initiatives of the government.
 RECOMMENDATIONS

Finite resources such as oil, metal, and even fresh water will become scarcer and more
expensive. If businesses do not become more efficient in using these resources it will have a
huge impact on the bottom line. Investing in Green Products thus changes from ‘beyond
doing good’ to ultimately ‘good business sense’. Thus they should:
 Invest in research and create clean and environment friendly products.
 Clean energy sources such as solar, wind, bio-fuels and hydra power.
 Water harvesting.
 Recycle at every level.
 Move towards paperless office.
 Educate masses of the environment issues because they are going to be the bulk
consumers.
 Socially responsible investing in environment driven projects.
 Plant more trees.
The corporations must rethink:

 Their raw material and procurement strategies.

 They should develop new products
 They should redesign existing products and service.
 They should realize that pollution prevention can be a cost saving activity.
 They should steer their product and packaging designs to use less material.

Conclusion

As the demand for green products undoubtedly exists, Green Marketing provides an
opportunity to the companies to increase their market-share by introducing eco-friendly
products. Stricter environmental regulations across the world, growing consumer preference
for eco-friendly companies, and the inherent cost advantages in lowering toxic waste, are
encouraging industries big and small to clean up.
Result of a survey conducted showed that, consumers are not overly committed to improving
their environment and may be looking to lay too much responsibility on industry and
government. Though it’s the responsibility of the firm to produce products, which are having
minimum impact on the environment, but ultimately it’s the consumer who is having
responsibility to use eco-friendly products. Consumers are not too much concerned about the
environment but as they have become more sophisticated, they require clear information
about how choosing one product over another will benefit the environment. Consumer
education results in their empowerment. Empowered consumers choose environmentally
preferable products when all else is equal.
Ultimately green marketing requires that consumers ‘Think Green, Think clean, Think
Eco-friendly’ i.e. they want a cleaner environment and are willing to "pay" for it, possibly
through higher priced goods, modified individual lifestyles, or even governmental
intervention. Until this occurs it will be difficult for firms alone to lead the green marketing
revolution.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS & JOURNALS

I. Kothari C.R. (2004), “Research Methodology Methods and Techniques”, N.

Delhi, New Age International Publication
ii. Green, Paul, Tull (2002) “Research for Marketing Decisions”, N. Delhi,
Prentice-Hall of India
iii. Sharma D.D. (2008), “Marketing Research: Principle Application & Cases” N. Delhi,
Sultan Chand & Sons
iv. Kotler P. (1999), “Marketing Management”, N. Delhi, Prentice-Hall of India.
v. Rajagpalan R. (2003), “Environment Studies”, N. Delhi, Himalayan Publishing
House.
vi. Certo, S.C. (1997), Modern Management, Englewood Cliffs, Prentice-Hall
 Kotler Philips & G. Armstrong. Principles of marketing. New Delhi, Prentice
Hall.

2000) Richa Agrawal, Green Marketing: An Emerging Trend (PJMR, Vol. 5,April

 Excerpts from the survey report conducted by BT-TERI.

WEBSITES
 www.ecomall.com
 www.greenmarketingcorner.com
 www.greenpeace.org
 http://www.businessworld.in
 http://www.greenmarketing.com/green_marketing_book
 http://egj.lib.uidaho.edu/egj02/polon01.html
 http://www.awea.org/policy/greenprins.html
 http://www.sustainablemarketing.com/
 http://www.onpoint-marketing.com/green-marketing.htm
 http://www.ecomall.com/greenshopping/greencorner.htm
 http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2006/11/03/bright_green_marketing_challenge.php
 http://www.plentymag.com/features/2006/11/green_marketing_machine.php
 ANNEXURE

Questionnaire
Consumer Awareness towards Green Marketing
Name:
Age:
Gender:
Q1-Are you aware of the term “green marketing”?

Yes

No

Q2-What do you understand by the term “Green Marketing”?

Q3-Have you heard of any campaign related to Green Marketing?

Yes

No

Q4-Have you been part of any such campaign?

Yes

No

Q5-Do you consider the environmental aspects of the products before buying them?

Yes

No

Sometimes

Q6-Do you think that green marketing and advertising are good sources of information
about green products and services?

Yes

No

Sometimes
 Q7-Do you think that Green Marketing activities are good at addressing environmental
issues?

Yes

No

Q8-Do you think Green Marketing activities results in better product quality?

Yes

No

Q9-Do you think that Green Marketing strengthen company’s image in the mind of consumer?

Yes

No

Q10- Doyou think that companies that focus on environment al concerns persuade
consumers to buy products?

Yes

No

Q11-Are you aware of the eco-labeling initiatives of the government?

Yes

No
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Terms like "Green Marketing" and "Environmental Marketing" appear frequently in the
popular press. Many governments around the world have become so concerned about green
marketing activities that they have attempted to regulate them. Other similar terms used are
Environmental Marketing and Ecological Marketing.
American Marketing Association Define: - 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
To succeed, any green strategy must fulfill three criteria:

 FIRSTLY, it must be a sustainable and credible programmed, which brings real

benefits to the environment.
business.Secondly, it must deliver sound economic ROI and competitive advantage to the
 Thirdly, it must be supported by relevant green messages, which resonate with
customers and prospects.

Basically the main aim of the project is to analyse the developments which are taking place
throughout the world to promote green products and green marketing.
 Limitations of the study

Demographic Constraints - will be a main issue of concern. This is

due to the reason that the data collection will be restricted from

Borivali to Santa Cruz region.

Unawareness - people are unaware of the i.e. Green marketing.

Time Constraint - the time duration for doing the complete research

on green marketing is very limited. Green Marketing a broad topic

which requires an in-depth research and analysis. Due to the time

period given for research is very limited.

 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research Methodology is a way to systematically solve the research problem. It may be

understood as a science of studying how research is done scientifically. When we talk of
research methodology we not only talk of the research methods but also consider the logic
behind the methods we use in the context of our research study and explain why we are using
a particular method or technique and why we are not using others.

The major steps involved in research process are:

 Formulating the Research Problem

 Choice of Research Design
 Sources of Data
 Processing and analyzing the data

 Formulating the Research Problem:

The problem well defined is half solved. The formulation of a general topic into a specific
research problem constitutes the first step of specific enquiry.
 Unit of analysis: Consumers between age group of 25 to 30 yrs.
 Characteristics of Interest: Awareness of Green Marketing.
 Choice of Research Design:
Every project requires an action plan and method for conducting a study. This project is
more prone to single cross-sectional descriptive research design.
 Sources of Data:
The data presented are both primary data and secondary data.

 Primary Data:
The primary data are those which are collected afresh and for the first time, and thus
happen to be original in character. We collect primary data during the course of doing
experiments in an experimental research but in case we do research of the descriptive
type and performs surveys. Here the Primary data will be collected by means of
preparing a questionnaire and getting it filled by a large sample space. These
questionnaires will help in drawing conclusions about the case.

 Secondary Data:
Secondary data means data that are already available i.e. they refer to the data
which have already been collected and analyzed by someone else. When the
researcher utilizes secondary data then he has to look into various sources from
where he can obtain them. In this case he is certainly not confronted with the
problems that are usually associated with the collection of original data.
Secondary data may either be published data or unpublished data.