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There is a growing trend that sees consumers becoming more concerned about resource scarcity and the condition of the natural environment, as well as the social impact of business. As consumer demands have evolved over the years, many companies have come to view these changes as business opportunities to be exploited.

Green marketing refers to a company’s commitment towards pursuing environmentally and socially sound values within their operations. Although the term “green marketing” seems oriented more towards environmental concerns, it also includes social concerns.

In business, the pursuit of green marketing requires companies to provide more than just lip service about their concern for the environment or social issues. It encourages them to make a concerted effort, whether in designing products, offering services, or building a corporate culture that has both, significant positive and minimal detrimental impact upon the environment and the world around us.

Examples of “Green” Marketing

1) In 2014, Tide (Laundry Detergent) launched its #Turntocold marketing campaign. It encourages its consumers to switch from washing their clothes in hot water to washing in cold water. According to Tide, washing done with cold water is both an energy and cost saver, which additionally benefits the environment. In order to build on this, they developed Tide Coldwater Clean, formulated to work better in cold water washes.

2) TOMS (shoes) organized a holiday project campaign, with the objective of donating a pair of shoes to children in Ethiopia for every pair (up to 30 000) sold. The marketing initiative was so successful that TOMS surpassed its goal by more than 20% without spending any money on additional advertising.

3) Auto industry giant Toyota has made green practices not only part of its marketing, but its entire corporate culture. In addition to offering hybrid vehicles, Toyota has gone further by implementing green practices into its manufacturing practices and lets the public know about it. It features fast facts about its corporate environmental accountability on its website, including environmental performance statistics and on-going projects.

Effective marketing provides the information customers want—and need—to make informed purchasing decisions, in a message that communicates the benefits of the product or service to the customer. Green marketing however extends beyond this traditional, “Buy me!” type of advertising. It not only tells the consumer about the products and the benefits of purchasing it, but additionally presents why that product aligns with values and things that the consumer also identifies with. These might include factors like:

  • Recyclable, biodegradable, resource and environmentally friendly packaging
  • Sustainable design and production practices
  • All natural, organic, toxin and chemical free products
  • Products made from renewable materials
  • Recyclable product components and materials
  • Carbon footprint tracking of products
  • Fair trade sourcing of ingredients
  • Social initiatives targeted

Watch the following video of an insightful summary on the rules for going green in business:

Green marketing as such, takes a brand’s products or services and markets them in a way that calls attention to their positive environmental benefits. Like any marketing strategy, green marketing has its advantages and its drawbacks. Explore the tabs below to consider what these might be.

Advantages of Green Marketing

Companies that boast new products, services, processes, or procedures that shine a light on their attention to environmental or social issues are exposed to attain positive benefits such as:

Consumers who may not previously have been interested in a company’s products or services may show new interest now that they see the environmental benefits.

Access to new markets brings a boost to sales, as eco-savvy consumers make the switch from their usual brands to ones that boat more environmentally sound and aware practices. In addition, companies can often charge a price premium for products that include environment and social sustainability aspects.

In addition to a product’s price and value, the environmental and social benefits that it brings can be marketed to consumers. This allows the company to set itself apart from its peers within the same product industry.

Initial investment in environmentally friendly manufacturing processes would result in cost-savings on operations in the long run, through energy, water use and resource use efficiencies. Solar panels and storage batteries for example, may require substantial monetary investment but reduced grid energy consumption over time would see this investment recuperated easily.

Companies that embrace green marketing can play a greater role in fostering awareness on important environmental and social issues. For example, Coca-Cola has focused its green marketing on addressing the lack of access to clean drinking water in underdeveloped countries. This has created partnerships between Coca-Cola and others focused on trying to provide clean water sources to these communities.

Companies that are recognized for their “greenness” have the capabilities to function as responsible corporate influencers to the industry and to the wider community.

 

Green marketing provides companies with the opportunity to earn goodwill in the public eye. As more consumers engage and focus on environmentally conscious purchasing, green companies and their products become more appealing to them. This has the additional potential to build brand loyalty.

Disadvantages of Green Marketing

Though the benefits and advantages of green marketing may seem appealing, the efforts of engaging in green marketing does come with several notable disadvantages.

Changing operational processes and marketing tactics takes time, and the development of new strategies translates to increased costs. Though sustainable green initiatives and practices are designed to save money, these changes can only come at substantial upfront initial costs to technology and research and development which much be embraced to witness future savings.

To commercially promote products as “green”, companies may be required to undergo long and pricey processes to obtain necessary environmental certifications. These certifications, which governments, industry associations, professional associations, and consumer rights groups distribute, ensure that the company and its products meet the required environmental standards to be appropriately recognized within the industry and by the public.

The benefits brought by green marketing may entice companies to publicize themselves as “greener” than they actually are. This is known as greenwashing. Through greenwashing, a company can frame their product that is not sustainable, more environmentally friendly by focusing attention on little details. For example, bottled water companies have an extremely harmful impact on the environment. Yet you will see many that stating that their bottles and packaging is ”100% recyclable”, while the entire production process is so polluting that they are not actually a green business.

Despite growing appeal for environmentally friendly products, consumers are hesitant to pay a premium price for a green product that serves the same function as a less environmentally friendly product. It falls to the company to continually improve their green product and to educate their potential consumers about the value they get from going green.

Supplementary Resources

Polonsky (1994) “An introduction to Green Marketing” 

Annalect (2017) “Green Marketing Success: Nice Guys Finish First”

UN-ESCAP “Low Carbon Green Growth Roadmap for Asia and the Pacific: Green Marketing”