What is Green Marketing?
Kristen High @ http://www.kristenhigh.com
What Is Green Marketing?
Green marketing is associating the creation, development and selling of products and services as being environmentally-friendly. The word “green” symbolically refers to the color most often found in nature and the environment, which is paired with “marketing” to refer to the transfer of goods from creation to consumption.
In this strategy, business owners and marketing experts match environmental issues with customer’s needs to create a marketing plan for their product or service. By buying the product or service, customers believe that they are not negatively affecting the earth, but are instead helping it by not buying a competiting product that does not claim to be eco-friendly.
The Environmental Consumer
Depending on your market, some customers will pay more for an environmentally-friendly alternative. On the other hand, more conservative clients will change their consumption habits to pay less for a service; for example: free paperless statements vs. $20 service fees, or discounts for opting to be eco-friendly.
Commonly used “green marketing” terms: Sustainability, Organic, Earth-Friendly, Eco-Friendly, Environmentally-Friendly, Green, Conserve, Recycle, Energy Efficient, Carbon Footprint, Reusable, Biodegradable, Natural, All-Natural, Viable
The Perils of Green Marketing
Part of marketing is developing a strategy based on a consumer’s emotions. Knowing that eco-friendly products and services are a hot topic for various markets, business owners and marketers alike can sometimes make skewed and untrue statements to appeal to those emotions and buying habits. Known as greenwashing, this tactic is when a product, service or company makes false, irrelevant or disigenuous green claims. Examples include changing the name of a product to sound more environmentally-friendly, even though nothing has been altered in the creation process to make it more viable; or, buying carbon offset credits through the “Carbon Emission Trading System” instead of making internal changes. Greenwashing not only can smear the credibility of an individual product or company, but also to green marketing in general, as customers must sift through the mountain of green claims to differentiate which are genuine and which are over-inflated or false all together.
(c) 2009 Kristen High
