Literature review

The main objective of this study is to know the perception/ reaction of customers about the green products/ green marketing and to understand the different measures and strategies followed by companies and government for green marketing. In the last two decades the concern for environment has raised spreading awareness among all. This is the result of terms like Ozone depletion, Greenhouse effect and Acid rain, coming to surface and the increase in the level of awareness all over (Walker, 2000) A green brand is one that offers a significant eco-advantage over the incumbents and which hence appeals to those who are willing to making green a high priority. There are strong green brands targeting both retail consumers and also B2B customers. Charter and Polonsky (1999) - state that green marketing is the marketing or promotion of a product based on its environmental performance or an improvement thereof. The decade of the late 1980s was marked the first stage of green marketing. When the concept of Green marketing entered its second stage in the 1990s, marketers started to experience a backlash (Wong et al., 1996). Gradually, marketers realized that consumer concern for the environment and a desire for green products did not much affected into purchasing behavior (Schrum et al., 1995).And thus green marketing was one of the failure Peattie and Crane (2005) have identified five marketing practices which led to the failure of green marketing during this period. They are: 1. Green spinning. Taking a reactive approach by using public relations to deny or discredit the public's criticisms against the company's practices. 2. Green selling. Taking an opportunistic approach by adding some green claims to existing products with the intention to boost sales. 3. Green harvesting. Becoming enthusiastic about the environment only when greening could result in cost savings (e.g., in terms of energy and material input inefficiencies, package reductions, etc.).

4. Entrepreneur marketing. Developing innovative green products to market without really understanding what the consumers actually want. 5. Compliance marketing. Using simple compliance with implemented or expected environmental legislation as an opportunity to promote the company's green credentials without taking initiatives to go beyond responding to regulations. So these were the main factors which led to the failure of green marketing at that time. Since 2000, green marketing has evolved into a third stage. With the implementation of more advanced technology, government regulations and incentives as well as closer scrutiny from various environmental organizations and the media, many green products have greatly improved and regained consumer confidence in the 2000s (Guru and Ranchhod, 2005; Ottman, 2007). Together, with the continuous rise of growing global concern about the environmental quality, green marketing has gradually picked up momentum again. Some researchers postulate (Stafford, 2003) that green marketing is now making a comeback (Ottman et al., 2006, p. 26). There is also an influence of stakeholders on green marketing strategy (GMS). Stakeholders play a significant role in influencing organizations and markets, but have not targeted a single integrated approach to examine the relationship between stakeholder management and GMS. Consumers make product choices based on which combination of product attributes best meets their needs based on dimensions of value, cost, and prior satisfaction. Products are defined as environmentally-friendly if in some way they aim at reducing a product's negative environmental impact. This is usually specified as providing measurable improvements throughout the entire product lifecycle (Hindle et al., 1993; Pujari and Wright, 1996, 1999).