What is green marketing?

In this post, you’ll learn that green marketing does not stop at eco-friendly cleaners and organic produce. By looking at its definition, history and broader implications, you’ll see that it has a much greater potential to change how business as usual is done.

Join me on this fascinating journey into the heart of green marketing.

How Green Marketing Began

The words “green” and “marketing” may sound like two mutually exclusive terms. Yet, they’re a known word pair in the world of sustainable business. 

Marketers first started to question the role of marketing in relation to the environment in the 1970s when the first wave of the environmental movement gained momentum. Out of this questioning came ecological marketing, in which marketers were called upon to take responsibility for impending ecological crisis (Fisk, 1974). 

It took some time, but the more marketers began to use ecological messaging in their marketing, it became clear that consumers often saw “green” features as an advantage. 

Therefore, marketers revised ecological marketing, so it included the acknowledgment that consumer demand plays a role in supporting environmentally friendly activities. This became green marketing in the 1990s. 

What is Green Marketing?

According to the American Marketing Association (AMA), the definition of Green Marketing is this: 

“Green marketing refers to the development and marketing of products that are presumed to be environmentally safe (i.e., designed to minimize negative effects on the physical environment or to improve its quality).

This term may also be used to describe efforts to produce, promote, package, and reclaim products in a manner that is sensitive or responsive to ecological concerns.”

You’ll notice that the definition given by the AMA encompasses two views that dominate the field of green marketing. In one, the product is at the center of the marketing frame. It does not question the underlying structure of growth and consumption. However, the second can take a much broader view in which a company is assessed from the ground up in terms of ecological impact. Unhealthy practices are drawn into question for improvement. 

Green marketing as virtue signaling?

The first view is limited in scope: you have traditional marketed products and services with “green” improvements or characteristics. These may include recognizable descriptors such as carbon-neutral, non-toxic, cruelty-free, durable, contains recycled materials, or reusable. 

The advantage of this view is the ease with which it can be communicated to consumers. However, it tends to privilege convenient surface-level improvements that more adept consumers might label as greenwashing for their lack of earnest environmental concern.   

Green marketing as business philosophy

The second view, however, considers green marketing from a holistic economic perspective. In this view, green marketing is not limited to promotional labels, but it can encompass the entire marketing mix. This includes: green products, green logistics, green promotion, green pricing and green consumption (Polonsky, 1997). 

In the second view, the overall marketing activities of a company be measured, evaluated and optimized for minimal environmental impact, or even a beneficial net-positive impact. Traditionally, this information is gathered within an Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) report. 

While the second view on green marketing may be more rigorous, it comes with a learning curve. Not only does it require experts who can effectively measure the impacts, it requires a strong communication arm that can translate these goals, impacts and findings into terms lay people can understand.

Understanding the big picture of green marketing 

In short, green marketing implies added value to consumers for offering goods and services that are desirable, different and defensible (Obermiller, 2008) in terms of the preservation, protection and conservation of the physical environment (Mintu and Lozada, 1993). 

Green marketing does not happen in a vacuum, either. It exists in conversation with disruptive technologies, competitive advantages, legislative guidelines and broader economic and trade-related dynamics. 

It is widely accepted that green marketing does not embody a single profit motive, but falls within the umbrella of sustainable development that promotes the economic, environmental and social sustainability. The scope of impact is not just for this generation but for future generations (summarized from Brundtland Commission Report of 1987). This can be embraced as a guiding business philosophy. 

For this reason, green marketing acknowledges a multi-stakeholder approach to business, such that a company is responsible for promoting ecological health not only for its consumers, but its employees, suppliers, corporate leaders and community members (Charter, 1992). 

Green marketing also relies upon establishing sound claims. This can be done by assessing a product or service from “cradle to grave” through life cycle analysis.  

Finally, a company may join like minded organizations, form partnerships and build and internal company culture around the ideas engendered by a green marketing business philosophy. 

Can green marketing reach its full potential?

These days, businesses in certain industries such as sustainable agriculture, ethical fashion and green building are leading with greater ambition, coalition building and information sharing to help green marketing become more mainstream. 

However, there are many industries that are lagging behind. Namely, industries like defense and security, fossil fuel energy and petrochemicals, and transportation need to step up their game. 

Only when green marketing becomes a mainstream strategy across all industries will its impact fully be felt. 

Sources: 

Charter M, Peattie K, Ottman J and Polonsky MJ (2006) Marketing and sustainability. Available at: www.cfsd.org.uk/smart-know-net/links/smart-know-net.pdf

Fisk, G (1974) Marketing and the ecological crisis. New York: Harper & Row.

“Green Marketing” (n.d.) American Marketing Institute. Available at: https://www.ama.org/the-definition-of-marketing-what-is-marketing/ (accessed 26 Feb 2020)

Kinoti, MW (2011) Green marketing intervention strategies and sustainable development: A conceptual paper. International Journal of Business and Social Science, pg 2-23.

Kumar V, Rahman Z and Goyal P (2013) Evolution of Green Marketing as a Marketing Strategy: Beginning of New Era. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 37(2012) 482-489. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257257338_Evolution_of_Sustainability_as_Marketing_Strategy_Beginning_of_New_Era (accessed 26 Feb 2020).

Mintu A, Lozada and Polonsky MJ (1993) Environmental Issues in the Curricula of International Business, The Green Imperative, Haworth Press, Inc.

Polonsky MJ and Mintu A (1997) “The Future of Environmental Marketing: Food for Thought” Environmental marketing strategies, practice, theory and research. Haworth pg. 389-391.

Obermiller C, Burke C and Atwood A (2008) Sustainable business as marketing strategy. Innovative Marketing 4(3): 20-27.

Teo, YV and Yazdanifard, R (2014) Green marketing strategies, sustainable development, benefits and challenges/constraints Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264992117_Green_marketing_strategies_sustainable_development_benefits_and_challenges_constraints (accessed 26 Feb 2020)

World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) (1987) Our Common Future: Brundtland Report. available at: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/5987our-common-future.pdf (accessed 26 Feb 2020)