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Green Marketing -New Opportunities and Challenges

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DOI: 10.5958/2249-7315.2016.00508.6

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 Asian Journal
Asian Research Consortium of Research in
Social Sciences
and
Asian Journal of Research in Social Sciences and Humanities
Vol. 6, No. 7, July 2016, pp. 1238-1244. Humanities
ISSN 2249-7315 www.aijsh.com
A Journal Indexed in Indian Citation Index
DOI NUMBER:

Green Marketing - New Opportunities and Challenges

G. Mohanraj*; P. Karthikeyan**

*Assistant Professor,
Department of Management Studies,
Shree Venketeshwara Hi-Tech Engineering College,
Gobi, TamilNadu, India.
**Assistant Professor,
School of Management Studies,
Kongu Engineering College,
Perundurai, India.

Abstract
Most of the companies are preferring into green marketing because of the following reasons:
In India, around 25% of the consumers prefer Eco-friendly products, and around 28% may be
considered healthy conscious. Therefore, green marketers have diverse and fairly sizeable segments
to outfit. The Surf Excel detergent which saves waters (advertised with the message —" bucket
water is enough") and the energy-saving LG consumers durables are examples of green marketing.
We also include green buildings which are capable in their use of energy, water and construction
materials, and which reduce the contact on human health and the environment through better
design, construction, operation, safeguarding and waste disposal. In India, the green building
association, spearheaded by the Confederation of Indian industry (CII) - Godrej Green business
Center, has gained wonderful impetus over the last few years. From 20,000 sq ft in 2013, India's
green building track is now over 25 million sq ft.

Keywords: Eco-friendly products, Segment, Green marketing, Marketing Mix, Greenness.

1. Introduction
Marketing products that benefit the environment. The conservation properties of products are
important in order that companies make ecologically safer products, including recyclable and
biodegradable packing.

Social-Responsibility
Many companies have started realizes that they must behave in an Eco-friendly fashion. They
believe both in achieve environmental objectives in addition profit related objectives. The HSBC
became the world's first bank to go carbon-neutral last year. Other examples include Coca-Cola,
which has invest in a Varity of recycling activities. Walt Disney World in Florida, US, has a wide
ranging waste management program and infrastructure in place.
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 Mohanraj & Karthikeyan (2016). Asian Journal of Research in Social Sciences and Humanities,
Vol. 6, No.7, pp. 1238-1244.

Governmental-Pressure
Various regulations are framed by the government to guard consumers and the society at large. The
Indian government too has developed a framework of legislations to decrease the production of
harmful goods and by products. These decrease the industry's manufacture and consumers'
consumption of harmful goods, including those detrimental to the environment; for example, the
prohibit of plastic bags in Mumbai, prohibition of smoking in public areas, etc.

Competitive-Pressure
Many companies start green marketing to maintain their competitive edge. The green marketing
initiatives by niche companies such as Body Shop and Green & Black have encouraged many
mainline competitors to follow suit.

Cost-Reduction
Reduction of dangers waste may lead to substantial cost savings. Sometimes, many firms develop
symbiotic relationship whereby the waste generate by one company is used by another as a cost-
effective raw material. For example, the fly ash generate by thermal power plants, which would
otherwise contributed to a enormous quantum of solid waste, is used to manufacture fly ash bricks
for construction purposes.

2. Benefits of Green Marketing

Today's consumers are more aware about the environment and are also becoming socially
responsible. Therefore, more companies are responsible to consumers' aspiration for
environmentally less damaging or disinterested products. Many companies desire to have an early-
mover advantage as they have to ultimately move towards becoming green. Various advantages of
the green marketing are,

 It ensures sustained long-term expansion along with profitability.

 It saves money in the lengthy, thought initially the cost is extra.

 It helps companies market their products and services trust the environment aspects in mind. It
helps in access the new markets and enjoying competitive benefit.

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

3. Problems of Green Marketing

Many organizations want to turn green, as raising the number of consumers' and to associate
themselves with environmental-friendly products. A long side, one also witnesses
misunderstanding among the consumers regarding the products. In particular, one often finds doubt
regarding the credibility of green products. Therefore, to ensure consumer confidence, marketers of
green products want to be much more transparent, and refrain from breaching any law or principles
relating to products or business practices.

4. Paths to Greenness
Green marketing involves focus on promoting the consumption of green products. Therefore, it
becomes the responsibility of the companies to take on creativity and insight, and be dedicated to
the development of environment-friendly products. This will help the humanity in the long run.

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 Mohanraj & Karthikeyan (2016). Asian Journal of Research in Social Sciences and Humanities,
Vol. 6, No.7, pp. 1238-1244.

Companies which embark on green marketing should take on the following philosophy in their path
towards greenness.

 Adopt new technology/ Process or modify existing technology/ Process consequently to reduce
environmental impact.

 Establish a management control system that will lead to devotion of strict environmental safety
norms.

 Explore possibilities of recycling of the used products so that it can be used to offer similar or
other reimbursement with less wastage.

 Using more environment-friendly raw materials at the manufacture stage itself.

5. Green Marketing - New Opportunities and Challenges

Green marketing prefer to holistic marketing conception wherein the production, marketing
consumption an removal of products and services take place in a manner that is less damaging to
the environment with growing awareness regarding the implication of global warming, non-
biodegradable solid waste, harmful impact of pollutants etc., both marketers and consumers are
becoming more and more responsive to the need for switch in to green products and services. While
the shift to "green" may become visible to be expensive in the short term, it will definitely prove to
be indispensable and advantageous, cost-wise also, in the long run Green marketing was given
importance in the late 1980s and 1990s after the measures of the first workshop on Ecological
marketing held in Austin, Texas (US), in 1975. Many organizations would like to turn green, as an
rising number of consumers' and to associate themselves with environmental-friendly products.

It is really frightening to read these pieces of information as reported in the Times recently: "Air
pollution spoils to people, crops and wildlife in the US totals tens of billions of dollars each year".
"More than 12 other studies in the US, Europe , Mexico , Brazil South Korea and Taiwan have
established links between air pollutants and low birth weight early birth still birth and newborn
death".

As resources are incomplete and human wants are unlimited, it is important for the marketers to
make use of the resources professionally without waste as well as to achieve the organization's
objective. So green marketing is unavoidable.

There is increasing concentration among the consumers all over the world regarding protection of
environment. Worldwide evidence indicates people are concerned about the environment and are
altering their behavior. As a result of this, green marketing has emerged which speaks for rising
market for sustainable and socially responsible products and services.

Thus the rising awareness among the consumers all over the world on the subject of protection of
the impression in which they live, People do want to leave a unsoiled earth to their offspring.
Various studies by environmentalists indicate that people are concerned about the environment and
are altering their behavior pattern so as to be less aggressive towards it. Now we see that the
majority of the consumers, both individual and industrial, are attractive more concerned about
environment-friendly products. The majority of them feel that environment-friendly products are
protected to use. Consequently, green marketing has emerge, which aims at marketing sustainable
and socially-responsible products and services. Now is the time of recyclable, non-hazardous and
environment-friendly goods. This has become the new tune for marketers to satisfy the needs of
consumers and make better profits.

Green marketing is the course of action of developing products and services and encourage them to
satisfy the customers who favor products of good quality, presentation and convenience at
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 Mohanraj & Karthikeyan (2016). Asian Journal of Research in Social Sciences and Humanities,
Vol. 6, No.7, pp. 1238-1244.

reasonably priced, which at the equal time do not have a harmful impact on the environment. It
includes a wide variety of activities like product modification, changing the production process,
modified advertising, change in packaging, etc., aimed at reducing the harmful impact of products
and their consumption and discarding on the environment. Companies all over the world are
determined to reduce the impact of products and services on the climate and other environmental
parameter. Marketers are taking the prompt and are going green.

Green marketing was given substance in the late 1980s and 1990s after the proceedings of the first
workshop on Ecological marketing in custody in Austin, Texas (US), in 1975. Several books on
green marketing begin to be published thereafter. According to the Joel makeover green marketing
face a lot of challenges because of lack of standards and public compromise to what constitute
"Green". The green marketing has evolve over a period of time. According to Peattie (2001), the
evolution of green marketing has three stages. First stage was term as "Ecological" green
marketing, and during this period all marketing activities were disturbed to help environment
troubles and provide remedies for environmental problems. Second stage was "Environmental"
green selling and the focus shift on clean technology that involved designing of original new
products, which take care of pollution and dissipate issues. Third stage was "Sustainable" green
marketing. It came into importance in the late 1990s and early 2000.

Green marketing is a vital ingredient of the holistic marketing concept. It is mostly applicable to
businesses that are straight dependent on the physical environment; for example, industries like
fishing, processed foods, and visiting the attractions and adventure sports. Change in the physical
environment may create a threat to such industries. Many global players in diverse businesses are
now successfully implementing green marketing practices.

6. Marketing Mix Of Green marketing

Companies approach with new innovations similar to eco friendly products; they can access fresh
markets, enhance their market share, and increase profits. Just as we have 4Ps names are product,
prices, place and promotion in marketing, we have 4ps in green marketing also, but they are a small
piece different. They are buttressed by three additional Ps, namely people, earth and profits.

6.1. Green Product

The products have to be industrial depending on the needs of the customers who prefer
environment friendly products. Products can be made from second hand materials or from used
goods. Efficient products not only save water, energy and money, but also reduce deleterious
effects on the environment. Green chemistry forms the growing focus of product development. The
marketer's responsibility in product management includes providing product designers with market-
driven trends and customer requests for green product attribute such as energy saving, organic,
green chemicals, local sourcing, etc., For example, Nike is the first amongst the shoe company to
market itself as green. It is marketing its Air Jordan shoes as environment-friendly, as it has
extensively reduced the usage of harmful glue adhesives. It has designed this variety of shoes to
emphasize that it has reduced wastage and use environment-friendly materials.

6.2. Green Price

Green pricing takes interested in consideration the people, planet and profit in a way that takes care
of the health of employees and community and ensure efficient productivity. Value can be added to
it by changing its appearance, functionality and through customization, etc. Wal Mart unveiled its
first ecological cloth shopping bag. IKEA started charging consumers when they opt for plastic
bags and encouraged people to shop using its "Big Blue Bag".

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 Mohanraj & Karthikeyan (2016). Asian Journal of Research in Social Sciences and Humanities,
Vol. 6, No.7, pp. 1238-1244.

6.3. Green Place

Green place is about managing logistics to hack down on transportation emissions, thereby in effect
aim at reducing the carbon footprint. For example, as a substitute of marketing an imported mango
juice in India it can be licensed for local production. These avoid shipping of the product from far
away, thus falling shipping cost and more importantly, the consequent carbon emission by the ships
and other modes of transport.

6.4. Green Promotion

Green promotion involve configuring the tools of promotion, such as advertising, marketing
materials, signage, white papers, web sites, videos and presentation by keeping people, earth and
profits in mind. British petroleum (BP) displays gas station which its sunflower design and boast of
putting money into solar power. Indian Tobacco Company has introduced environmental-friendly
papers and boards, which are free of essential chlorine. Toyota is trying to push gas/electric hybrid
technology into much of its product line. It is also making the single largest R&D investment in the
every-elusive hydrogen car and promote itself as the first eco-friendly car company. International
business machines Corporation (IBM) has revealed a portfolio of green retail store technologies and
services to help retailers improve energy competence in their IT operations. The center piece of this
portfolio is the IBM Sure POS 700, a point-of-sale system that, according to IBM, reduces power
consumption by 36% or more. We even see the names of retail outlets like "Reliance Fresh", Fresh
at Namdhari Fresh and Desi, which while selling fresh vegetables and fruits, transmit an innate
communication of green marketing.

7. Golden Rules of Green Marketing

 Know you're Customer

 Educating your customers

 Being Genuine & Transparent

 Reassure the Buyer

 Consider Your Pricing

 Giving your customers an opportunity to participate

 Leading brands should recognize that consumer expectations have changed.

8. Reasons for using Green Marketing in Firms

There are several recommended reasons for firms increased use of Green Marketing. Five possible
reasons cite Organizations observe environmental marketing to be an opportunity that can be used
to achieve its objectives

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

achieve its objectives

2. Organizations consider they have a moral obligation to be more socially responsible

3. Governmental bodies are forcing firms to become additional responsible

4. Competitors' environmental activities weight firms to change their environmental marketing

activities

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 Mohanraj & Karthikeyan (2016). Asian Journal of Research in Social Sciences and Humanities,
Vol. 6, No.7, pp. 1238-1244.

5. Cost factors linked with waste disposal, or reductions in material usage forces firms to modify
their behaviour.

9. Difficulties in Green Marketing

While public opinion polls taken since the late 1980s have shown again and again that a significant
percentage of consumers in the U.S and elsewhere confess a strong willingness to favour
environmentally aware products and companies, consumers' efforts to do so in real life have
remained sketchy at best.

 Awareness that eco-friendly products are not as good as other products.

 Over use, everyone is rapidly trying to position their company as green and that their products
are eco-friendly.

 Lack of standards / public agreement. What is green?

 "Green wash"

10. Conclusion
Green salesperson can be a center of attention for customers on the foundation of presentation,
money savings, health and convenience, or just simple environmental friendliness, so as to target a
broad range of green consumers. Consumer awareness can be created by distribution the message
among consumers about the benefits of environmental-friendly goods. Positing of profiles
connected to green marketing on social networks creates responsiveness within and across online
peer groups. Marketing be able to also directly target the consumers from first to last
advertisements for product such as energy saving packed together fluorescent lamps, the battery –
powered Reva car, etc.

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