Green Marketing- To find out the green initiatives taken up by

Indian companies and to explore the customer’s perception, attitude and

awareness towards green marketing

Shriyanka Singh

A0101913208

What is Green Marketing ?

• “The concept of green marketing is the business practice that considers consumers concerns with regards to preservation and conservation of the natural environment.” (Coddington, 1993). Green marketing consist various actions under it such as modification of the product, applying changes to the present production process, packaging of the product, as well as changing the advertising which can be more attractive to the consumers and attract them towards the products.

• According to The American Marketing Association, ―Green Marketing has activities designed to generate and carry out any activity intended to satisfy human needs and wants, so that the satisfaction of such needs are minimal and also the negative impact on the natural environment.”

• It can rightly be said that Green Marketing involves: - Manufacturing and taking the products to the consumers which are of good quality and not harmful to the environment in any aspect starting from production to the end use and disposal.

• Green marketing is said to be a phenomenon which developed over the recent years particularly in the modern market. It has led to the re-marketing and packaging of existing products with modified properties and more environment sustaining processes.

The 4P’s of Green Marketing.

PRODUCTIdentify the environmental needs of the customer and then develop

products to satisfy these needs.

Develop an environmentally friendly product which is more sensitive

than the competitors.

To design and promote products which have wide variety in the market

and which are aligned with sustainable development and are in sync

and supportive of triple bottom line.

PRICE:

Pricing is a very important and sensitive element of the marketing mix. It is

assumed that most customers are prepared to pay an additional cost if there are

additional product value.

This extra value may be because of improved performance, function, design,

visual appeal, taste or any additional attribute. Environmental benefits are

important and are usually the deciding factor of products value , quality and

the add on feature which in turn decides the price.

PLACE:

Choices as to where to make the product available and at what time a product

should be available also have a significant impact on the customers and the demand

of the product.

Customers will not go out of the way and will make extra effort to buy green

products. Companies which want to introduce and sell their new green products,

they will have to position them in the market in such a way and at different markets

so that the products are not just appealing to a small targeted audience or previous

buyers but available widely to large segment to consumers.

The location should be streamlined with the image which a company projects to its

customers. The location must differentiating factor of the company from its

competitors. This can be achieved by various promotional activities such as in-

store promotions , visually appealing displays etc.

PROMOTION:

Promotion of products and services to the target markets must include paid

advertising, public relations, sales promotions, direct marketing etc.

Smart green marketers will always be reinforcing the environmental credibility by

using sustainable marketing techniques.

Techniques such as to reduce the usage of polybags and promote the green

commitment and to add on the promotional gimmick to the company as well as the

product being marketed.

NEED AND IMPORTANCE OF GREEN MARKETING

• Opportunity

• Government Pressure

• Pressure from competitors

• Social Responsibilities

• Cost-Effectiveness

• Early Mover Advantage

RULES OF GREEN MARKETING

• KNOWING THE CUSTOMER

• EDUCATING THE CUSTOMERS

• BEING GENUINE & TRANSPARENT

• REASSURE THE BUYER

• CONSIDER PRICING

• GIVING CUSTOMERS AN OPPORTUNITY TO PARTICIPATE

CHALLENGES OF GREEN MARKETING

• New Concept

• Cost Factor

• Convincing customers

• Sustainability

• Non Cooperation

• Avoiding Green Myopia

THE INDIAN SCENARIO

AMUL•Mass Tree plantation drive•Production by Green technology

HINDUSTAN UNILVER•Water Conservation

•Waste and packaging

ITC•Renewable energy

•Green Hotels

•Waste recycling

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY

OBJECTIVES:

To find out the various green initiatives taken consumer good companies.

To explore the customers perception towards Green marketing and products.

To measure the attitude of customers towards green marketing and products.

To find out the awareness of customers towards green marketing.

Tri –Component Model for Attitude measurement

Cognitive: The cognitive component of the respondents can be measured/analysed by the two questions in the questionnaire. The figure follows:

From the responses, it can be concluded that the cognitive component is high among the respondents i.e it can been seen that knowledge of the respondents about green products and marketing is high as majority of the respondents have marked ‘yes’ when asked whether they are aware of the concept of green marketing and there practices in India.

Affective: The affective component of the respondents can be measured/analysed by the following questions in the questionnaire. The figure follows:

The Affective component is high or positive among the respondents as it can be seen from the figure above. Most of the respondents feel that these products are good for the environment and also they feel that they have better performance as and when compared with the conventional products.

Conative: The conative component of the respondents can be measured/analysed by the following questions in the questionnaire. The figure follows:

The Conative component of tri component model is high/positive as can be analysed from the above figure. Respondents will prefer a green company over a company which is non green operation, this shows that the purchase decision of the respondent will differ if the company is green. Also the respondents agreed on the fact that their buying behaviour will change if the product is manufactured by green process.

Using the tri-component model of attitude measure it can be said that consumers/respondents attitude towards green marketing and green products are positive. The all three component of the model are positive i.e. consumers have responded positively when asked the question which were complementing the three components.

HYPOTHESES

I. H0 = Customers do not prefer goods produced by green process (Green Products) H1= Customers prefer goods produced by green process (Green Products)

One-Sample Statistics

N Mean Std. Deviation

Std. Error Mean

Will your buying behaviour change towards the product if you are informed that they are produced by Green process

51 2.10 .922 .129

Table 1

One-Sample Test

Test Value = 3

t Df Sig. (2-tailed)

Mean Difference

95% Confidence Interval of the Difference

Lower Upper

Will your buying behaviour change towards the product if you are informed that they are produced by Green process

-6.986 50 .000 -.902 -1.16 -.64

Table 2

After conducting one sample t-test with a sample size of 51 respondents (N= 51) as p < .05,

the Null Hypothesis is being rejected in favour of the Alternative Hypothesis i.e. Customers

prefer goods produced by green process (Green Products).

I. H0 = There is no significant difference between males and females when it comes to buying products to preserve the earth. H1= There is significant difference between males and females when it comes to buying products to preserve the earth.

Group Statistics

Gender N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean

Buying GP to preserve earth Male 33 1.79 .696 .121

Female 18 1.78 .548 .129

Table 3

Table 4

After conducting independent samples t-test with a sample size of 51 respondents (N= 51) as

p > .05,we do not have sufficient evidence to reject the null hypothesis hence we accept the

null hypothesis i.e. there is no significant difference between males and females when it

comes to buying products to preserve the earth.

I. H0 = Green Products are preferred because they make people feel good about themselves. H1= Green Products are not preferred because they make people feel good about themselves.

One-Sample Statistics

N Mean Std. Deviation

Std. Error Mean

Buying GP gives a good image of me

51 2.41 .876 .123

Table 5

One-Sample Test

Test Value = 2.5

t df Sig. (2-tailed)

Mean Difference

95% Confidence Interval of the Difference

Lower Upper

Buying GP gives a good image of me

-.719 50 .475 -.088 -.33 .16

Table 6

After conducting independent samples t-test with a sample size of 51 respondents (N= 51) as

p > .05, we do not have sufficient evidence to reject the null hypothesis hence we accept the

null hypothesis i.e. Green Products are preferred because they make people feel good about

themselves.

CROSS-TABULATION

1. Are you aware of the availability of Green Products * Annual Income

Count

Are you aware of the 1vailability of Green Products

Total

Yes No A little

Annual Income

5 lakh and below

3 1 1 5

5-10 lakh 3 5 6 14

10-15 lakh 0 3 7 10

15-20 lakh 4 6 4 14

20 lakh and above

3 1 4 8

Total 13 16 22 51

Table 8

Fig-3 As visible in the above graph, the respondents belonging to the income strata of 10 -15 lakhs/ annum are most aware of the availability of Green Products.

1. Are you willing to pay more for Green Products * Annual

Income

Count

Are you willing to pay more for Green Products

Total

Yes No A little

Annual Income

5 lakh and below 0 0 5 5

5-10 lakh 4 1 9 14

10-15 lakh 3 0 7 10

15-20 lakh 4 2 8 14

20 lakh and above

4 2 2 8

Total 15 5 31 51

Table 9

Fig-4

As visible in the above graph, there is no significant difference in the willingness to pay more

for Green Products between the respondents belonging to different income strata’s

1. I feel trendy when I purchase Green Products * Age

Count

I feel trendy when I purchase GP Total

Strongly Agree

Agree Neutral Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Age

16- 20 0 0 4 1 1 6

20-24 3 6 15 7 1 32

24-28 0 2 1 1 0 4

28-32 0 1 1 0 0 2

32-36 0 0 1 1 0 2

36 and above

0 2 2 0 1 5

Total 3 11 24 10 3 51

Table 10

Fig-5

As visible in the above graph, respondents aged between, 20-24 feel trendy when purchasing

a green product.

1. Many companies have green process and various environment friendly activities as a part of their operation or co-operate social responsibility do you know about them * Gender

Count

The companies have green processes and environmental activities as a part of the

operations as a part of CSR activities. Do you know about them

Total

Yes No A Little

Gender Male 5 11 17 33

Female 2 8 8 18 Total 7 19 25 51

Table 11

Fig-6 As visible in the above graph, Men are more aware than women regarding CSR activities of Green Companies.

FIGURE INTERPRETATIONS

CONCLUSION

Green marketing is a fast developing concept. It has been accepted and appreciated by both the consumers as well the companies. There are numerous projects and activities which the Indian companies have taken up to benefit the environment. These activities may directly or indirectly be related to the process of production. In today’s time markets are flooded with ‘green products’ which are being readily accepted by the consumers. Even though ‘green marketing’ is an expensive concept in the short run, but the consumers are ready to borne premium prices for such products, which shows the concern of the population towards environment. The participation and efforts put in by the companies towards green marketing are noteworthy; they are ready to put in extra efforts towards the cause and taking it up even when it may lower the profits.