Definition:

As per Mr. J. Polonsky, green marketing can bedefined as, "All activities designed to generate and facilitate any exchange intended to satisfyhuman needs or wants such that satisfying of these needs and wants occur with and minimaldetrimental services based input on the national or

environment."Marketing products

on environmental

factors

awareness. Companies involved in green marketing make decisions relating to the entire process of the companys products, such as methods of processing, packaging and distribution. Green marketing companies seek to go above and beyond traditional marketing by promoting environmental core values in the hope that consumers will associate these values with their company or brand.

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.

Introduction:
While green marketing is growing greatly as increasing numbers of consumers are willing to back their environmental consciousnesses with their dollars, it can be dangerous. The public tends to be skeptical of green claims to begin with and companies can seriously damage their brands and their sales if a green claim is discovered to be false or contradicted by a company's other products or practices. Presenting a product or service as green when it's not is called greenwashing. While green marketing is growing greatly as increasing numbers of consumers are willing to back their environmental consciousnesses with their dollars, it can be dangerous. The public tends to be skeptical of green claims to begin with and companies can seriously damage their brands and their sales if a green claim is discovered to be false or contradicted by a company's

other products or practices. Presenting a product or service as green when it's not is called greenwashing.

Concept evolution and history:

the promotion of environmentally safe or beneficial products, green marketing began in europe in the early 1980s. when specific products were being identified as being harmfuil to earths atmosphere. As a result, new green poducts were introduced that were less damaging to the ennvironment. the ocncept caugt on in the united states and has been gaining steadily ever since. As todays consumers become more conscious of the natural environment, businesses are beginning to modify their own thoughts and behaviour in an attempt to address the concern for consumers. The green marketing has evolved over a period of time. According to Peattie (2001), theevolution of green marketing has three phases. First phase was termed as"Ecological"green marketing, and during this period all marketing activities were concerned to helpenvironment problems and provide remedies for environmental problems. Second phase was "Environmental"green marketing and the focus shifted on clean technology that involveddesigning of innovative new products, which take care of pollution and waste issues. Thirdphase was "Sustainable"green marketing. It came into prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000.

Green code:
G:Generalise with care R:Remember E: Explore

E:Ensure N:Neutrality is important.

Importance of going green:

As resources are limited and human wants are unlimited, it is important for the marketers toutilize the resources efficiently without waste as well as to achieve the

organization'sobjective. So green marketing is inevitable.There is growing interest among the consumers all over the world regarding protection of environment. Worldwide evidence indicates people are concerned about the environment andare changing their behavior. As a result of this, green marketing has emerged which speaksfor growing market for sustainable and socially responsible products and services.

Benefits of Green Marketing

Companies that develop new and improved products and services with environment inputs inmind give themselves access to new markets, increase their profit sustainability, and enjoy a competitive advantage over the companies which are notconcerned for the environment.

Green Marketing Mix

Every company has its own favorite marketing mix. Some have 4 P's and some have 7 P's of marketing mix. The 4 P's of green marketing are that of a conventional marketing but thechallenge before marketers is to use 4 P's in an innovative manner.

Product
The ecological objectives in planning products are to reduce resource consumption andpollution and to increase conservation of scarce resources (Keller man, 1978).

Price
Price is a critical and important factor of green marketing mix. Most consumers will only beprepared to pay additional value if there is a perception of extra product value. This value maybe improved performance, function, design, visual appeal, or taste. Green marketing shouldtake all these facts into consideration while charging a premium price.

Promotion
There are three types of green advertising: Ads that address a relationship between a product/service and the biophysical environmentThose that promote a green lifestyle by highlighting a product or service Ads that present a corporate image of environmental responsibility

Place
The choice of where and when to make a product available will have significant impact on thecustomers. Very few customers will go out of their way to buy green products.

Challenges Ahead
Green products require renewable and recyclable material, which is costly Requires a technology, which requires huge investment in R & D.

Water treatment technology, which is too costly Majority of the people are not aware of green products and their uses Majority of the consumers are not willing to pay a premium for green products

Examples: McDonald's restaurant's napkins, bags are made of recycled paper.

Coca-Cola pumped syrup directly from tank instead of plastic which saved 68 millionpound/year. Badarpur Thermal Power station of NTPC in Delhi is devising ways to utilize coal-ash thathas been a major source of air and water pollution. Barauni refinery of IOC is taken steps for restricting air and water pollutants.

Green marketing strategies:

Manufacturing and material use. Smaller packaging. Toxic substances removal. Designing energy effieicne tproducts. Power management Product Recyclability

Green Marketing MyopiaDefined

Green marketing must satisfy twoobjectives: improved environmental qualityand customer satisfaction. Misjudgingeither or overemphasizing the former atthe expense of the latter can be termedgreen marketing myopia. In 1960, Harvardbusiness professor Theodore

Levittintroduced the concept of marketingmyopia in a now-famous and influentialarticle in the

The Future of Green Marketing

Clearly, there are many lessons to belearned to avoid green marketing myopia(see the box on this page)the shortversion of all this is that effective greenmarketing requires applying good marketingprinciples to make green productsdesirable for consumers. The questionthat remains, however, is, what is greenmarketings future? Historically, greenmarketing has been a misunderstood concept.Business scholars have viewed it asa fringe topic, given that environmentalismsacceptance of limits and conservationdoes not mesh well with marketingstraditional axioms of give customerswhat they want and sell as much as youcan. In practice, green marketing myopia has led to ineffective products andconsumer reluctance. Sustainability, however,is destined to dominate twenty-firstcentury commerce. Rising energy prices, Evidence indicates that successful greenproducts have avoided green marketingmyopia by following three importantprinciples: consumer value positioning,calibration of consumer knowledge, andthe credibility of product claims.

Consumer Value Positioning:

Design environmental products to perform as well as (or better than) alternatives. Promote and deliver the consumer-desired value of environmentalproducts and target relevant consumermarket segments (such as market health benefits among health conscious consumers). Broaden mainstream appeal bybundling (or adding) consumer-desired value into

environmental products(such as fixed pricing for subscribers of renewable energy).

Calibration of ConsumerKnowledge
Educate consumers with marketingmessages that connect environmentalproduct attributes with desired consumervalue (for example, pesticide-freeproduce is healthier; energyefficiencysaves money; or solar poweris convenient). Frame environmental product attributesas solutions for consumer needs(for example, rechargeable batteriesoffer longer performance). Create engaging and educationalInternet sites about environmentalproducts desired consumer value (forexample, Tide Coldwaters interactiveWeb site allows visitors to calculate theirlikely annual money savings based ontheir laundry habits, utility source (gasor electricity), and zip code location).

Credibility of Product Claims

Employ environmental productand consumer benefit claims that arespecific, meaningful, unpretentious,and qualified (that is, compared withcomparable alternatives or likely usagescenarios). Procure product endorsements oreco-certifications from trustworthy thirdparties, and educate consumers aboutthe meaning behind those endorsementsand ecocertifications. Encourage consumer evangelismvia consumers social and Internet

communicationnetworks with compelling,interesting, and/or entertaining informationabout environmental products (forexample, Tides Coldwater ChallengeWeb site included a map of

the UnitedStates so visitors could track and watchtheir personal influence spread whentheir friends requested a free sample).