GREEN MARKETING IN INDIA: EMERGING OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES

Definition of green marketing

According to the American Marketing Association, green marketing is the marketing of products that are presumed to be environmentally safe. Polonsky (1998) defines green marketing as all activities designed to generate and facilitate any exchanges intended to satisfy human needs or wants, such that the satisfaction of these needs and wants occurs, with minimal harmful impact on the natural environment. This paper attempts To study the reasons behind adoption of green marketing philosophy by the organizations To study the challenges and opportunities in green marketing in India. To analyse the problems faced by the companies with green marketing

GREEN MARKETING MIX

A model of a green marketing-mix should of course contain all 4Ps: Product: The ecological objectives in planning products are to reduce resource consumption and pollution and to increase conservation of scarce resources. Price: Prices for such products may be a little higher than other products because of higher quality of ingredients. Place: The choice of where and when to make a product available will have significant impact on the customers. Very few customers will go out of their way to buy green products. Promotion: There are three types of green advertising: Ads that present a corporate image of environmental responsibility Those that promote a green lifestyle by highlighting a product or service Ads that address a relationship between a product / service and the biophysical environment Additional Green Marketing "Ps" that is used in this process is as followed: Publics: Public is multiple groups of people, both external & internal comes in its preview. External publics include the target audience, secondary audiences, policymakers, and gatekeepers, while the internal publics are those who are involved in some way with either approval or implementation of the green marketing program. Partnership: For one person taking green initiatives is too complex to handle. Associating with other groups and teams strengthens the chance of efficacy. Policy: Social marketing programs can do well in motivating individual behavior change, but that is difficult to sustain unless the change has been made for the long run. Often, policy change is needed, and media advocacy programs can be an effective complement to a green marketing program. Purse Strings: How much will this strategic effort cost? Who is funding the effort?

WHY GREEN MARKETING?

As resources are limited and human wants are unlimited, it is important for the marketers to utilize the resources efficiently without waste as well as to achieve the organization's objective. 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 and are changing their behavior. As a result of this, green marketing has emerged which speaks for growing market for sustainable and socially responsible products and services. Thus the growing awareness among the consumers all over the world regarding protection of the environment in which they live, People do want to give a clean earth to their children. Various studies by environmentalists indicate that people are concerned about the environment and are changing their behavior pattern so as to be less hostile towards it. Now we see that most of the consumers, both individual and industrial, are becoming more concerned about environment friendly products.

GREEN PRODUCTS AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS

The products those are manufactured through green technology and that caused no environmental hazards are called green products. Promotion of green technology and green products is necessary for conservation of natural resources and sustainable development. We can define green products by following measures: Products those are originally grown, Products those are recyclable, reusable and biodegradable, Products with natural ingredients, Products containing recycled contents, non-toxic chemical, Products contents under approved chemical, Products that do not harm or pollute the environment, Products that will not be tested on animals, Products that have eco-friendly packaging i.e. reusable, refillable containers etc. example
CFL light bulbs - Save money, last longer , Organic produce - Safety, better taste

GREEN MARKETING REASONS FOR ADOPTION BY THE FIRMS

Opportunity in India, around 25 percent of the consumers prefers environmental-friendly products and appears that all types of consumers, both individual and industrial are becoming more concerned and aware about the natural environment. Nowadays, firms marketing goods with environmental characteristics have realized a competitive advantage over firms marketing nonenvironmentally responsible alternatives. There are numerous examples of firms who have strived to become more environmentally responsible, in an attempt to better satisfy their consumer needs. For example the surf excel detergent which saves water (advertised with the message"do bucket paani roz bachana") and the energy-saving LG consumers durables are examples of green marketing.

 Competitive Pressure Another major power in the environmental marketing area has been a firms want to maintain its competitive position. In many cases, firms observe competitors promoting their environmental behaviors and attempt to follow this behavior. It is only in some instances that this competitive pressure causes an entire industry to modify and thus reduce its detrimental environmental behavior. For example, it could be argued that Xerox's "Revive 100% Recycled paper" was introduced a few years ago in an attempt to address the introduction of recycled photocopier paper by other manufacturers. Many companies take up green marketing to maintain their competitive edge. The green marketing initiatives by niche companies such as Body Shop and Green & Black have prompted many mainline competitors to follow suit.

Governmental Pressure Governmental regulations relating to environmental marketing are designed to protect consumers in several ways: (1) reduce production of harmful goods (2) modify consumer and industry's use and/or consumption of harmful goods (3) ensure that all types of consumers have the ability to evaluate the environmental composition of goods. These governmental regulations are designed to control the amount of hazardous wastes produced by firms. In some cases governments try to "induce" final consumers to become more responsible. For example, some governments have introduced voluntary curb-side recycling programs, making it easier for consumers to act responsibly. In other cases governments tax individuals who act in an irresponsible fashion. The Indian government too has developed a framework of legislations to reduce the production of harmful goods and by products. These reduce the industry's production and consumers' consumption of harmful goods, including those detrimental to the environment; for example, the ban of plastic bags in Mumbai, prohibition of smoking in public areas and the ban of tobaccos in Gujarat etc.

 Social Responsibility many firms are beginning to realize that they are members of the wider community and therefore must behave in an environmentally responsible fashion. This translates into firms that believe they must achieve environmental objectives as well as profit related objectives. Firms in this situation can take two perspectives: (1) they can use the fact that they are environmentally responsible as a marketing tool; or (2) They can become responsible without promoting this fact. Coca-Cola which has invested in various recycling activities other examples include The HSBC became the world's first bank to go carbon-neutral previous last year Walt Disney World in Florida, US, has an extensive waste management program and infrastructure in place.

 Cost Reduction Reduction of harmful waste may lead to significant cost savings. Sometimes, many firms develop symbiotic relationship whereby the waste generated by one company is used by another as a cost-effective raw material. For example, the fly ash generated by thermal power plants, which would otherwise contributed to a gigantic quantum of solid waste, is used to manufacture fly ash bricks for construction purposes. Tata Steel, HLL, Jindal Vijaynagar Steel, Essar Power and Gujarat Fluro chemicals Ltd. etc have got clearance from the CDM (clean development mechanism) body to undertake specifically designed projects in order to gain benefits from carbon trading (Kyoto Protocol).

CHALLENGES IN GREEN MARKETING

Implementing Green marketing is not going to be a simple job. The firm has to face many troubles while treading the way of Green marketing.

Challenges which have to be faced are listed as under: It is found that only 5% of the marketing messages from Green campaigns are entirely true and there is a lack of standardization to verify these claims. There is no standardization to confirm these claims. There is no standardization currently in place to certify a product as organic. Unless some regulatory bodies are involved in providing the certifications there will not be any provable means. A standard quality control board needs to be in place for such labeling and licensing. Green marketing encourages green products, technology, energy; a lot of money has to be useless on R&D programmes. Thus practicing green marketing originally will be an expensive event. So initially the profits will be very low and Green marketing will be successful only in long run.

 Indian literate and urban consumer is getting more aware about the merits of Green products. But it is still a new concept for the masses. The consumer needs to be educated and made aware of the environmental threats. By India's ayurvedic heritage, Indian consumers do appreciate the importance of using natural and herbal beauty products. Indian consumer is exposed to healthy living lifestyles such as yoga and natural food consumption. In those aspects the consumer is already aware and will be prone to accept the green products. The customers may not believe in the firms strategy of Green marketing, the firm therefore should ensure that they convince the customer about their green product, this can be done by implementing Eco-labeling schemes. Eco-labeling schemes offer its approval To environmentally less riskfree products has been very popular in Japan and Europe. In fact the first eco-label program was initiated by Germany in 1978. Many customers may not be willing to pay a higher price for green products which may affect the sales of the company.

The first rule of green marketing is focusing on customer benefits i.e. the primary reason why consumers buy certain products in the first place. Do this right, and encourage consumers to switch brands or even pay a premium for the greener substitute. It is not going to help if a product is developed which is absolutely green in various aspects but does not pass the customer satisfaction criteria. This will lead to green myopia. The firms practicing Green marketing have to struggle hard in convincing the stakeholders and many a times there may be some who simply may not believe and co-operate.

LEADING EXAMPLES OF GREEN MARKETING IN INDIA

Introduction of CNG in Delhi. Battery operated L.G. TV. TATA GROUP OF COMPANIES: Tata motors ltd. is setting up an eco-friendly showroom using natural material for its flooring and energy efficient lights. Launched a low cost water purifier made up of natural ingredients. Developing indica EV, an electric car that would run on polymer lithium ion batteries.

 Top green companies Brands in 2012 In this years report, automotive and technology brands dominate the ranking. Toyota maintains the number one spot, continuing to make environmental sustainability a core management priority. The original Prius model -- the primary launch pad for Toyotas green image -- has recently been expanded to encompass an entire family of sustainable automobiles, including the companys first plug-in model. This year, Toyota also achieved near zero-landfill status at all of its North American manufacturing plants, and continues its commitment to build LEED certified buildings and dealerships.

SOME PROBLEMS WITH GOING GREEN MARKETING

Although a large number of firms are using green marketing, there are a number of potential problems which need to be addressed. One of the main problem is that firms using green marketing must ensure that their activities are not misleading to the consumers or the industry, and do not breach any of the regulations or laws dealing with environmental marketing. Problems are as under... Green marketing is still a new concept for the mass of people in India Green products require renewable and recyclable material, which is costly Requires a technology, which requires huge investment in R & D Requires a lot of patience from part of investors to wait for proper results There is no standardization to certify a product as organic. So, there is requirement of some regulatory bodies to be involved in providing the certifications which helps in verification of green campaigns Majority of the people are not aware of green products and their uses Majority of the consumers are not willing to pay a premium price for green products

 Furthermore, as many firms have tried to modify their products due to increased consumer concern are misled with the fact that consumers' perceptions are always correct. There is ongoing scientific debate which is more environmentally friendly. Some scientific evidence suggests that when taking a cradle-to-grave approach, polystyrene is less environmentally harmful. If this is the case, McDonald's bow to consumer pressure, has chosen the more environmentally harmful option. While governmental regulation is designed to give consumers the opportunity to make better decisions or to motivate them to be more environmentally responsible, there is difficulty in establishing policies that will address all environmental issues. For example, guidelines developed to control environmental marketing address only a very narrow set of issues, i.e., the truthfulness of environmental marketing claims. If governments want to modify consumer behavior they need to establish a different set of regulations. Thus governmental attempts to protect the environment may result in a proliferation of regulations and guidelines, with no one central controlling body.

CONCLUSION

Green marketing should not neglect the economic aspect of marketing. Marketers need to understand the implications of green marketing. If you think customers are not concerned about environmental issues or will not pay a premium for products that are more eco-responsible, think again. Consumers are willing to pay more to maintain a cleaner and greener environment. You must find an opportunity to enhance you product's performance and strengthen your customer's loyalty and command a higher price. Marketers also have the responsibility to make the consumers aware about the need and benefits of green products as compared to non-green ones. Consumers are not too much concerned about the environment but as they have become more sophisticated, they require clear information about how choosing one product over another will benefit the environment. Consumer education results in their empowerment. Empowered consumers choose environmentally preferable products when all else is equal. Ultimately green marketing requires that consumers Think Green, Think clean, Think Eco friendly i.e. they want a cleaner environment and are willing to "pay" for it, possibly through higher priced goods, modified individual lifestyles, or even governmental intervention. Until this occurs it will be difficult for firms alone to lead the green marketing revolution.