Green Marketing
The concept of green marketing emerged in the late 1980s (Peattie & Crane, 2005). Green marketing means designing, advertising, pricing, and distributing goods that have no negative environmental impact. It is an integral plan for minimizing the claim of the consumer and society on the environment in a sustainable way (Peattie, 1995; Welford, 2000). It is referred to as a process where goods/services are manufactured, processed, and delivered in an eco-friendly manner (Shil 2012). A suitable notion of green marketing must include changes that create value for consumers, society, and the environment. Consumers are provided with information about the ecological impact of the product which can influence their purchase intention (Polonsky, 2011). Sadly, people believe that only the products that have environmental characteristics are green products. Some of the most common terms that consumers associate with green marketing are Recyclable, Refillable, sustainable, Ozone Safe, Phosphate Free, and Eco-Friendly. In the hotel and resort industry, all those practices that focus on minimizing the detrimental impact on the environment are considered to be environment friendly, for instance, energy-saving programs by executing renewable energy programs, introducing energy-efficient appliances, etc., minimizing water consumption, placing recycling bins in the hotel guest room, supporting environment-friendly transport and carbon set-off programs, promoting reuse of sheets and towels, using eco-friendly cleaning products, supporting sourcing of food locally, promoting sustainable resort wear and also sustainable yoga (“green marketing practices in hotels – Google Search,” 2021). For instance, a lot of resorts and hotels are promoting themselves as eco-friendly resorts or hotels providing ecotourism i.e., providing facilities that allow the tourist to experience nature and travel in a way that causes minimal impact concerning the environment (May 1991, Ingram & Durst 1989, Troumbis 1991).
Need for Green Marketing
We have very limited resources, but human desires are limitless; if one gets satisfied, the next greater need will come up (Maslow‟s need hierarchy theory). The world is facing very critical problems in the form of global warming and loss of ozone cover. Anybody, irrespective of being rich or poor, should be concerned about having a healthy life, and so should the business class. Business classes operate to earn economic profit and financial benefits and not social service. But the harm caused to the environment by rigorous business practices and unconscious consumption since centuries is now being seen and understood, as it has started to affect society. As a result, it is crucial for marketers to use the resources in a sustainable way so that objective is achieved and that too without wastage. Various studies by environmentalists indicate that consumers all across the world are becoming more aware and concerned about environmental conservation and thus are modifying their behaviour, as they do not want to leave barren earth for their offspring. Consequently, there is a rising demand for environmentally conscious and sustainable goods and services. So, business classes are now moving towards green commercialization to sustain their business, satisfy the consumer and gain license from the government. Asian countries, especially India, are now understanding the importance of green marketing by following the footsteps of advanced nations, but there is still a gap between interpretation and application.
Though people are aware about green marketing in the manufacturing industry, yet in India, they are still unaware of green practices in the hotel and resort industry. Global warming depletion of the ozone layer is a global problem. Every unconscious production or consumption of any sort of good or service can lead to exaggeration in the problem. Thus, giant blooming service industries like hotels and resorts need to be wary of their actions and must work towards minimizing the harm to the environment.
Reasons for Green Marketing
1. Opportunities available and competitive advantage: As the awareness among consumers is increasing regarding environmental protection, marketers are grabbing the opportunity to implement green marketing strategies in all sectors. Marketers are also adopting green marketing to be competitive against non-green firms. When firms observe the competitors adopting and promoting eco-friendly behaviour, they try to imitate and match them. In so many circumstances, competitiveness has pushed a whole industry to shift and adapt to the changes. The hotel industry is adopting eco-friendly practices to have a competitive edge in the market and attract tourists.
2. Corporate social responsibility on the part of companies: Businesses can not operate in isolation, they are a part of society, and they use the resources of the community to earn profits. Therefore, it becomes their moral obligation to lessen their negative environmental impact. Thus, saving the environment must be taken as corporate social responsibility by the firms. Firms must integrate environmental issues into their corporate culture and must operate with the objective of achieving environmental protection along with economic profit. For instance, cosmetic firms extensively promote themselves as being eco-friendly. Cosmetic firms now offer environmentally responsible products as an alternative to conventional ones to satisfy the consumers as well as gain a competitive edge. It is not just a competitive tool but has now become their corporate culture. HSBC, a Britain-based bank has became the world‟s first eco-friendly bank by turning itself carbon neutral last year. It is now taking a step forward by turning 11000 buildings into energy-efficient worldwide in 76 countries. Likewise, many hotels and resorts are also turning eco-friendly.
3. Government Regulations: Governments also want to protect the consumers and the environment as well. From time to time, the government has made several regulations to protect the environment and consumers from unconscious business activities. These regulations have important implications. Some of the government regulations are:
- Minimize the manufacturing of detrimental items or by-products
- Transform consumer’s and industry‟s usage and consumption of detrimental products
- Prohibition of plastic bags in Mumbai
- Ban on smoking cigarettes in public places, etc.
4. Competition with other responsible companies: Another critical aspect of environmental marketing is the expectation of enterprises to maintain their competitive position in the market. In much of cases, firms look upon competitors that promote eco-friendly behaviour and try to follow this behaviour. So, to compete with many other organizations, it is much needed to go green along with profit-making. In some cases, this pressure of competition has caused a complete industry to make modifications and then reduce its negative impact on the environment. For example, it may be legitimately said that Xerox’s “Revive 100% Recycled paper” was launched a few years back in an effort to welcome the introduction of recycled copying paper by other producers.
5. Environment-conscious consumers: One of the reasons for adopting eco-friendly marketing is the environmental awakening of the customers. In today‟s time, consumers of every kind are being so responsible in the environment-friendly aspect. Because the globe is polluted and contains a range of harmful elements, making it more sustainable would be a positive step forward. Eco-friendliness improves the quality of life in terms of life span, age, health, etc. People definitely will have a healthy life if they opt to go eco-friendly. Also, it can be seen that tourists prefer to visit green resorts or hotels to live a quality life and to make the environment sustainable and clean.
6. For conserving scarce natural resources: The resources on the earth are limited while human wants, as known, are unlimited. We need to save the resources for our future generations also. So, adopting green marketing practices is a better option to save natural resources. Sustainable environmental resource conservation is process of skillful management and preservation of the natural environment‟s resources. This will enhance, preserve and guard the environment‟s natural resources for the betterment of mankind.
The conservation of natural resources which are in scarcity can be done by practising reducing, reusing, and recycling of the natural resources. It can also be done by conserving water at home, to take part in cleaning the community by ourselves and shop wisely according to the needs only.
Green Marketing Definitions
Ecological Marketing is “concerned with all marketing activities that have served to provide a remedy for environmental problems. The study of the positive and negative aspects of marketing activities on pollution, energy depletion, and non-energy resource depletion.” – Henion and Kinnear (1976)
Green Marketing is “the marketing response to the environmental effects of the designing, producing, packaging, labeling, using, and disposing of goods or services.” – Lampe and Gazda (1995)
“Green Marketing is a company‟s strategic effort that intends to supply customers with green Products.” – D‟Souza et al. (2015)
Green Marketing is “the holistic management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying the needs of customers and society, in a profitable and sustainable way.” – Peattie (1995)
Green Marketing can be defined in three ways.
- Retailing Definition: The marketing of goods that are considered to be environmentally friendly.
- Socially Marketing Definition: Product manufacturing and marketing aimed at reducing the negative effects of the physical environment or refining its quality.
- Environmental Definition: An organization endeavours to create, promote, package, and reclaim goods in a way that is sympathetic or receptive to environmental concerns.
Challenges in Green Marketing
Many companies choose to become green because of the change in human awareness, as many customers choose to join up with environmentally friendly products. In addition, the user often encounters confusion about the goods. In particular, the reputation of green goods is sometimes distrusted. Therefore, marketers of green products must be much more open in order to maintain consumer trust and avoid violating any laws or regulations connected to commodities or organizational tactics. There are abundant challenges in the area of green marketing. Some of them are given bellow.
For Citing this article use:
- Jameel, S. T. (2022). Impact of green marketing strategies on tourist behaviour a study of select resorts of kerala.
