Green Marketing for Creating Awareness for Green Consumerism

Abstract

Green businesses are enterprises which consider environmental protection as an essential component for their long-term business objectives, both by promoting eco-efficient production activities and by marketing sustainable products and services (Barnes, n.d.). Green products may be defined as products or services that have a lesser or reduced bad effect on human health and the environment when compared with competing products or services that serve the same purpose (Website). The purposed of green business are (i) to promote more socially inclusive development (ii) to reduce environmental degradation (iii) to mitigate the effects of climate change (iv) to deal with pressures of population growth (v) to manage, issues of increased scarcity and volatile prices of raw materials effectively. Examples of green product are compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), which use 75% less energy than ordinary incandescent ones, organic foods, which are grown and processed without antibiotics, pesticides, or synthetic fertilizers, hybrid electric vehicles such as the Toyota Prius, which achieves a fuel economy of 48 city-mpg and 45 highway-mpg (Website)., and green hotels, which are trying to conserve water, energy, and materials usage (Sharkey, 2008). Green business in practically existent everywhere around us. Company such as Wal-mart and General Electric transforming their business practices into green ones (Yeganeh & Glavas, 2008). In a study conducted by MeKinsey of 4,238 business executives in 116 countries, 84% believed that business should contribute to the public good; however, only 3% believe that their companies are currently doing a good job (McKinsey, 2006). Thus, green business is an enterprise that has no negative impact on the (i) environment (ii) economy (iii) society (iv) community. Further, it meets the requirement of the triple bottom line such as financial benefits of the company, natural world betterment and social advantages for employees and members of the local community. The triple bottom line gives importance on initial value instead of the after effects.

JEL Classification Code: M31; Q13; P46