Reevaluating green marketing: a strategic approach

Abstract

A lot of companies today are asking, “Can we be green, clean, and profitable all at the same time?” While many have been trying to promote a greener image, some have been unable to live up to their claims. So consumer skepticism of “green hype” is an understandable reaction, especially when firms attempt to associate themselves with environmental issues without substantially improving their environmental performance or that of their products. Opportunistic tactical greening, notes Peattie (1999b), often results from a view that “Commodities which have no market are assumed to be worthless” and “Market mechanisms can correct environmental problems.” Although such opportunism is on the decline, its early use caused long-term damage to genuine environmentally responsible activities. Of course, this is not to suggest that all tactical greening is inappropriate or exploitative; rather, firms need to realize that there may be limited long-term benefit to this approach, unless tactical activities are supported by broader organizational greening. Additional complications with greening also arise from the fact that traditional marketing and management tools, such as the marketing audit or PEST (political/economic/social/technological) analysis, fail to fully integrate the environmental implications of actions into the marketing process. Even when marketers do attempt to include environmental issues in their activities, they rarely do so in a sustainable long-term approach. Responsible green marketing has evolved into a complex, integrated: strategic, and tactical process. As such, it is a holistic approach rather than the simple “marketing hype” or tactical opportunism practiced by some. It expands on the basic transaction concept by minimizing a transaction’s negative impact on the natural environment. At a fundamental level: green marketing becomes part of the “cultural fabric” that binds an organization together, flowing from the spirit A complex and integrated stfutegic too/, “true *’ green marketing has moved beyond the simple ecological posturing of 20 years ago. of the firm into its strategic approach and on into its tactical implementations. The altered corporate mindset that results is seen as presenting new opportunities to achieve sustainable competitive advantage in an entrepreneurial or “enviropreneurial” fashion. With the shift from marketing hype to this holistic mindset, one might exclaim: “Green marketing is dead. Long live green marketing!” When adopting the new mindset, a firm must reevaluate the very nature of the business-consumer transaction process, even questioning how to create value. As Peattie (1999a) notes, this might involve going so far as to challenge established assumptions and ways of thinking by asking: Do consumers need to actually “own “products, or are there other ways of delivering wantsatisfying capabilities? For example, working with the Japanese government, Toyota is trying out a program whereby people purchase “transportation” without owning a car. Instead, they buy access to an electronic automobile fleet that can be used to travel short distances to shops and/or connect with traditional public transportation, which is also accessed as part of the transportation package. In this fashion, Toyota is removing the need for individual ownership while still meeting consumers’ core need for transportation. Greening has provided the impetus for Toyota to develop new products and profits, as well as reducing their negative environmental impact. Why should firms engage in green marketing? What are the various levels of greening? What does implementation involve? And what are its