Green Marketing

The term Green Marketing came into dominance in the late 1980s and early 1990s, began in Europe in the early 1980s when certain products were found to be harmful to the environment and society as a whole. Consequently new types of products were created, called "green" products, that would cause less damage to the environment.

According to Peattie (2001), the evolution of green marketing can be divided into three phases, first phase was termed as "Ecological" green marketing, to help solve environment problems through remedies. Second phase was "Environmental" green marketing with focus on clean technology that involved designing of innovative new products, which take care of pollution and waste issues. Third phase was "Sustainable" green marketing came into prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000 where it becomes necessary for companies to produce environment friendly products as the awareness for such products is on the rise as customers are demanding eco-friendly products and technologies.

INTRODUCTION TO GREEN PRODUCTS:

The majority of green products have one or more of the following health or environmental attributes:

• They promote clean air quality (typically through reduced emissions)
• They are durable and have low maintenance requirements.
• They are recyclable and reusable.
• They are made using natural, renewable or environment friendly resources.
• They do not contain any ozone-depleting substances like green house gases.
• They do not contain highly toxic compounds, and their production does not result in highly toxic by-products or waste products harmful to society and environment.
• For wood or bio-based products, they employ "sustainable harvesting" practices
• They are biodegradable.

INITIATIVES TAKEN UP BY BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS TOWARDS GREEN MARKETING:

India is growing at 9% annually and expected to double its energy consumption between 2005 and 2030, is under pressure to take action for providing clean environment for all future generations to come.

Many Indian companies have come forward for the cause of environmental concerns and issues requiring immediate attention like: global warming, Water and Air pollution, E-waste.

NTPC Limited has decided to allocate 0.5% of distributable profit annually for its "Research and Development Fund for Sustainable Energy," for undertaking research activities in development of green and pollution free technologies.

In India, around 25% of the consumers prefer environmental-friendly products, and around 28% may be considered healthy conscious. Therefore, there is a lot of diverse and fairly sizeable untapped segment in India which green marketers can serve through offering eco-friendly products for profitability and survival in the era of globalization.

For example, Mahindra Group has formally announced the launch of project Mahindra Hariyali in which 1 million trees will be planted nation-wide by Mahindra employees and other stakeholders including customers, vendors, dealers, etc. by October 2008. Of these, 1,50,000 trees have already been planted by Mahindra employees since September 2007.

Nokia's environmental work is based on life cycle thinking. This means that we aim to minimize the environmental impact of our products throughout our operations, beginning with the extraction of raw materials and ending with recycling, treatment of waste, and recovery of used materials.

India is a world leader in green IT potential, according to a recently released global enterprise survey. Indian respondents scored over respondents from 10 other countries in expecting to pay 5% or more for green technology if its benefits for the environment and return on investment (ROI) are proven in a survey conducted by GreenFactor, which researches and highlights green marketing opportunities. Among the companies that have succeeded thus far in their green marketing strategies are Apple, HP, Microsoft, IBM, Intel, Sony and Dell. HCL has a comprehensive policy designed to drive its environment management program ensuring sustainable development. HCL is duty bound to manufacture environmentally responsible products and comply with environment management processes right from the time products are sourced, manufactured, bought by customers, recovered at their end-of-life and recycled.

Potato starch trays made by Dutch PaperFoam protect the new iPhone just launched by Apple Computer which equals 90 percent reduction in the carbon footprint compared to the plastic tray used in the past. Indian Oil also aims at developing techno-economically viable and environment-friendly products & services for the benefit of millions of its consumers, while at the same time ensuring the highest standards of safety and environment protection in its operations

GLOBAL SCENARIO OF GREEN MARKETING

According to Paul Stoneman, financial incentives are necessary if the market

for green products is to improve and grow.

Consumers in the United States are expected to double their spending on green products and services in the next year to an estimated $500 billion, according to an annual consumer survey by Landor Associates.

According to market researcher Mintel, about 12% of the U.S. population can be identified as True Greens, consumers who seek out and regularly buy so-called green products. The European Commission's new "Green Package" of legislation on climate change and renewable energy represents a significant potential opportunity for European utilities, according to a report released by The Brattle Group and Trilemma UK. The Green Package sets targets that represent a step change in the energy market: save 20% of energy, increase the share of renewable energy to 20%, and cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20%, all by 2020.

According to Mintel's report, 66% of consumers in United States do not buy green products because of high cost, while 34% say there is lack of availability of green products in the market. This shows the huge potential for untapped market and customer demand and requirement for eco-friendly products which the companies can exploit for capturing the market share and thereby enhancing the profitability and sustainability of the organisation in the global competitive scenario. Global Companies like Federal Express has taken up several initiatives that help to protect the environment including greenhouse gas reduction, renewable energy and noise reduction, recycling and using alternative fuels in its own transportation fleet for increasing their accountability towards the environment and the society as a whole. Businesses have an impact on the environment as a whole. Plantation and cultivation activities taken up by Intel India is an example of socially responsible firms contributing to preservation of environment. Recycling used products also acts as a step towards minimizing wastes. Many other firms are contributing to conservation of environment through Biodiversity, producing environmentally friendly products, conservation of energy, water and natural resources, climate protection, maintenance of schools, roads, parks, providing assistance for upliftment of the rural sector and the underprivileged, and so on. The Kyoto Protocol is an example of societies coming together to discuss climatic changes issues so that some solutions get incorporated into the negotiating process to create a new agreement that would come into effect 2012.

Author: Mrs. Shaili Vadera, Asst Prof. Amity Business School,

Amity University, Lucknow Campus