Green Marketing
Green Marketing — a promotion of products based on their environmental sustainability. Green marketing pays attention to the safety of manufacturing or recycling of the product. Some companies donate funds spent on certain products to ecological organizations.
What Is Green Marketing
Green marketing has appeared as a part of growing awareness of the ecological problems and conscious consumption. That's why companies position themselves as environmentally-conscious companies. They try to reduce expenses, use recyclable packaging and manufacture the products without environmental damage.
The green marketing mix includes several important components:
Green product — a product made without harm to the environment. Such a product should be made of recyclable material, have no toxic substances, and include organic ingredients.
Green price — a price including the expenditures on the environmentally safe product. Such a price is usually higher because it includes the additional costs of eco-friendly packaging or raw materials.
Green promotion — advertising based on the underlining of the ecological qualities of a product. It can be a special mark confirming that the product complies with the ESG criteria.
Green place — a distribution without environmental damage. Often, this means cooperation with the local producers or farmers. Such cooperation reduces transportation costs and carbon dioxide emissions.
The principles of green marketing correspond to the ESG criteria. The major goal of these principles is to find a compromise between the satisfaction of human needs and environmental protection. Green marketing aims to create an association between environmental care and a specific company.
Principles of green marketing:
Consumer orientation. A company should take a look at the product from the perspective of the consumer to create a stable relationship. The consumer should be aware of the eco-friendly qualities of the product.
Care for the client. A company should invest more in the production or services instead of investing in the packaging or advertising. The improvement of the product’s quality is a real concern for the client.
Innovations. A company should constantly search for a new method to make the product better. Technical innovations help to create products without damaging nature, and companies should use these innovations.
Social mission. The mission of a company should include the aim to make society better in a certain way. In such a way, the customer will feel proud to contact the company to be a part of the social mission.
Ethical mission. The advertising campaign should consider cultural diversity among the consumers and avoid discrimination. It is necessary to consider the background of customers.
There are many reasons why companies use green marketing. Some do it to attract customers, others do it due to the appearance of new technologies. All this shows that the expectations of society concerning business are changing.
Reasons to adopt green marketing:
- Changed expectations of customers. They pay more attention to environmental problems and try to live a sustainable lifestyle.
- Governmental pressure. Governments become more strict in terms of compliance with ESG. They try to reduce the negative impact on the environment.
- Competition. Sustainability becomes an important competitive differentiator. The eco-friendly products show a higher level of sales.
- Reduction of expenditures. The usage of dangerous materials like polychlorinated biphenyls becomes unprofitable due to environmental taxes. Otherwise, the recycling companies get tax deductions.
Green Marketing and Greenwashing
Greenwashing is positioning a company as eco-friendly when in reality it doesn’t. The trend toward sustainability is omnipresent, and some companies try to use it. They create an impression of a socially responsible business and mislead the customers. Greenwashing includes the irresponsible usage of words like “natural”, “organic”, and “environmental-friendly”. Also, this practice involves the marking by the non-existent certificates and the usage of images related to nature like trees and leaves.
The identification of greenwashing can be difficult for the average consumer because it’s often necessary to investigate the whole supply chain to identify this practice. Also, it is necessary to understand the processes of production.
The company should use clear language to avoid greenwashing. Also, it should have a strategy for sustainable development and regularly report about its implementation. The unnecessary packaging becomes additional pollution, that’s why it shouldn’t be used.
The utilization of the right materials is another important question. It is necessary to use only the recyclable plastic that can be reused. This type of plastic should be sorted and then brought to the waste recycling plant. The most recycled types of plastic are PET, HDPE, and PP. Types of plastics that can be recycled with special facilities are PVC, LDPE, and PS.
