Green marketing
New business opportunity
S. Jesukumar Eastern University, Batticaloa
The global changes in the environment are becoming critical not only
for the consumers but also for the businesses across the globe.
Businesses have begun to adapt their behaviour in an attempt to
address the society's new concerns. Some businesses have been quick to
accept concepts like environmental management systems and have
integrated environmental issues into all business activities. One
business area where environmental issues have received a great deal of
discussion is green marketing.
Many governments around the world have become so concerned about
green marketing activities that they have attempted to regulate them by
emphasizing what to use and what not to use.
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.
Here an important thing is that the potential consumers for green
marketing will view a product or service's greenness as a benefit and
base their buying decision accordingly. The not-so-obvious assumption of
green marketing is that consumers will be willing to pay more for green
products than they would for a less-green comparable alternative
product.
Actually, the green marketing evolution has evolved steadily over the
period of time into three phases. The first phase was known as the
ecological phase. In this phase, all the marketing activities were
carried out to assist the ever increasing environmental problems and
offer solutions for these problems. The second phase was called the
environmental phase as after the environmental problems, the entire
focus was shifted on the implementation of cleaner technologies. The
last phase is termed as the sustainable phase of green marketing which
is still prevalent.
Operating a green business is not only good for us and the
environment, but also good for one's business' bottom line, because
conserving resources and cutting down on waste saves a lot of money.
Consumers, for their part, have to play an important role in making
sure that these companies are responsible for preserving the
environment. They should stop buying products from the obstinate
companies which continue to pollute the environment with impunity. To
promote the environmentally friendly products, consumers should be
willing to pay extra money if a company incurs extra cost in
manufacturing such products. Marketeers must be genuine in marketing
activities. That is doing exactly what you claim to be doing in your
green marketing campaign and that the rest of business policies are also
consistent with your environmentally friendly claims.
As a green marketeer to grasp business opportunities do the
followings:
4 Procure and sell products that are natural.
4 Package and promote responsibly. The marketer can use recycled
materials, provide recycling stations for customers, recycle waste and
promote multi-use packaging.
4 Promote responsible transportation.
4 Set prices that encourage customers to try green products.
4 Encourage customers to buy green by donating part of business
profits to green causes.
4 Refrain from selling products that pollute or harm the customers
and deplete natural resources.
4 Conduct educational programs: conduct in-store testing or other
promotions and produce brochures and signage, to promote eco-friendly
products.
As consumers become more aware of the aspects of green marketing, a
marketeer who is conscious of the environment will have more
opportunities to retain existing customers and attract new customers to
his business. |