Original Article
Marketing to green communities:
How to successfully reach the
green consumer
Received (in revised form): 16th November 2012
Kelly E. Noonan
is an honors graduate of the Bertolon School of Business at Salem State University in Salem, Massachusetts. With a focus in
cultural and environmental policy, Kelly’s research interests are sustainable development and how it applies to marketing and
business practices. Kelly volunteers her time as marketing coordinator for a green community action committee, and works as the
marketing and communications coordinator for the Boston office of Verdant Focus.
Linda Jane Coleman
is a Professor of Marketing in the Marketing and Decision Sciences Department at the Bertolon School of Business at Salem State
University in Salem, Massachusetts. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from West Virginia
Wesleyan College, a Master of Science degree in Management from Virginia Commonwealth University and Postgraduate work in
the area of Marketing and Organizational Behavior at the University of Baltimore and the University of Maryland. She has published
numerous articles in a variety of journals and proceedings and has presented papers nationally and internationally. Her research
interests include green marketing, social media, health marketing and interdisciplinary education.
Correspondence:
Linda Jane Coleman, Marketing and Decision Sciences Department, Bertolon School of Business, Salem State
University, Salem, MA 01970, USA.
ABSTRACT
This article explores the economic shift in the United States toward sustainability.
Also this article explores the concepts of ‘Green Marketing’, specifically within the
context of marketing to green communities and identifies the need for marketers to shift
strategies as green communities are being built across the United States. Lastly, this article
discusses ‘green’ business methods and advertising techniques that have proven to be
successful for multiple organizations in the United States.
Journal of Marketing Analytics
(2013) 1, 18–31. doi:10.1057/jma.2012.2
Keywords:
green marketing; sustainability; green economics; global economy; sustainable
business methods; green advertising.
INTRODUCTION
Many skeptics are opposed to green and
sustainable solutions. Can these changes be
sustained within our economy? How can
marketers be directed toward incorporating
new strategies aligned with sustainable
practices that can benefit from understanding
the mass market consumer’s need for quality
of life and well-being? In order to match the
changes of the shifting economy and be more
efficient while having a smaller impact on
worldwide pollution, there needs to be
identification of the reason for sustainable and
‘green’ practices addressing why businesses
must reevaluate their internal and external
procedures.
Our economy today is facing a wide-range
of problems. Four of those problems, which
have been long-term issues, sought after by
economists and activists alike are: global
climate change, ecological scarcity, energy
insecurity and world poverty (Barbier,
2011). Barbier (2011) wrote in the
European
Financial Review
article titled ‘A Global Green
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2013 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 2050-3318 Journal of Marketing Analytics Vol. 1, 1, 18–31
www.palgrave-journals.com/jma/
Recovery and the Lessons of History’
that, in terms of global economics, ‘we are
on the verge of a new era, the “Age of
Ecological Scarcity”. It will also mean
instigating institutional changes, creating
global carbon and environmental markets,
and implementing new policies to foster a
new era of “sustainable” economic
development’.
Today, in the American consumer culture,
it is difficult to recognize the term ‘green’,
without associating many commonly
understood synonyms. Many Americans now
associate themselves with ‘green’-related ideas
that could include actions ranging from
recycling regularly to making use of reusable
shopping bags. Americans are now changing
their behaviors, but what are the motivations
behind their shifting decisions? The term
‘green’ has been widely used in recent years
to describe general efforts that are related to
environmental protection, efficiency and
sustainability. Environmentalism in the US
dates back to the nineteenth century with
George Catlin’s proposition to start National
Wildlife Conservations; however, in the
1960s, once environmentalism became
a more public concern, the National
Environmental Policy Act was passed in
1969 and modern environmentalism was
established that led to many environmental
campaigns (Kinoti, 2011). The first
internationally recognized Earth Day was
held in 1970, and environmentally related
issues have continued to be the focus
of many local, national and international
governmental and non-governmental
organizations, including the United Nations
Environment Program (UNEP) (Kinoti,
2011).
The term ‘sustainable’, when used in
recent news, is often made synonymous with
the term ‘green’. Green development and
green economics essentially are the believer’s
answer to those four previously mentioned
major global problems. Thinking green
goes beyond simply recycling and reusing
products; the greening of society involves
making smarter, healthier, cleaner and
more efficient decisions in all aspects of our
economy. ‘Ecological Scarcity’, as mentioned
by Edward B. Barbier, is the very definition
of economics: we must understand how to
meet our societal needs when the resources
are limited, or scarce. We are now at the
turning point where it is necessary to make
smarter decisions.
Concerns about the environment are
ever increasing throughout the world
(Chang, 2011). The United States, East
Asia and Europe polls have indicated an
environmental awareness on the rise
throughout the 2000s (Saad, 2007;
Eurobarometer, 2008; Xinhua News Agency,
2008). However, most consumers share
common concerns about environmental
issues, but there is a lagging between
green behavior and concerns (Chang,
2011).
Environmentally focused issues include
the preservation and protection of the
earth’s natural environment and all of its
wildlife and species. In order to promote this
conservation, technological advancements,
such as solar and wind energy, have been
developed as alternative solutions to longterm
problems such as waste and pollution.
Environmental issues today include concerns
related to global warming, depletion of
natural resources, industrial air pollution
and water pollution, hazardous waste and
landfills (Kinoti, 2011). The overall spectrum
of thought related to solving such problems
has been widely recognized in recent
years as ‘green’, and has become an important
concept not just in the areas of science and
technology, but also in the business and
marketing sectors. American businesses,
on both small and corporate levels, have
made choices to become more energy
efficient and sustainable, and these choices
have benefitted production both in costeffective
and socially responsible ways.
American and international companies
are now aware of the need to adopt
‘sustainable development’ into their overall
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business strategies (Preuss and Dawson,
2009).
Euromonitor International (2011), a
market research firm that provides business
intelligence reports, identified this concept
as one of the ‘Biggest Global Trends
Influencing Consumer Markets’. In a June
2011 article it was noted that ‘green’ recovery
methods will strongly ‘influence business
environments and consumer markets of the
future
yBusinesses can respond by adapting
to climate change and embracing more
efficient technologies and alternative energy
sources. The ability to satisfy the growing
global hunger for food and energy is one
of the biggest challenges facing governments’
(Euromonitor International, 2011).
Several states across the country have
recognized this need to change and have
adopted policy changes to become ‘Green
Communities’. One-hundred-three
Massachusetts cities and towns as of 2012
are designated Green Communities, which
was made possible by the 2008 Green
Communities Act (Mass.gov). A ‘Green
Community’ by definition is a municipality
that actively utilizes more efficient energy
alternatives (Mass.gov). This is done by
the implementation of new clean
technologies, in the form of projects such
as solar panels on public buildings, and
the use of efficient and affordable materials
in the structure of these buildings, along
with other projects such as modern
sustainable retrofitting of public vehicles.
All of these efforts involve ways for a
town to become more sustainable by
lowering their energy costs, promoting
renewable forms of energy and igniting
divisions of the clean energy industry in areas
where these changes could really improve the
economy and enhance environmental
benefits (Mass.gov). As communities are
shifting their concerns, consumerism is also
shifting. The business sector is at a point
where it is necessary to adapt to the changing
consumer. This supports the country’s
economic changes that are moving toward
the creation of Green Communities. This
article will identify the growing amount
of Green Communities in Massachusetts,
and in other states by defining the ‘green’
consumer; it will discuss whether our
economy can support sustainability; and
will address the various implications involved
for business marketers to comply with these
economic changes.
The adoption of green initiatives in the
United States has sparked a change in the
buying behaviors of individual consumers.
The newly established ‘green’ consumer is
buying with a unique set of intentions that
are motivated by values and beliefs that
stem from the environmental train of
thought. Businesses today must recognize
the shift in consumer behavior that is built
by the green consumer, and marketing/
advertising efforts must effectively translate
messages based on the green interest.
THE GREEN CONSUMER
In the American culture, the ‘green’
consumer has emerged as a buyer with
motivations and preferences that are aligned
with environmentally conscious products
and business efforts. According to a 2002
article published in
Management Decision
written by Moisander and Pesonen, ‘in
social marketing literature, green consumer
behavior has traditionally been viewed as
a form of ethically oriented consumer
behavior that is motivated not only by
consumers’ own personal needs, but also
by their concern for the welfare of society in
general’. The green consumer’s buying
behavior is one that is more ‘socially
conscious’ in its decisions, built from strong,
ethically oriented, ‘pro-environmental’
personal values and attitudes (Moisander and
Pesonen, 2002). The ‘green’ consumer
considers whether the product they are
purchasing will, in consumption, result in a
positive or negative ‘ecological consequence’
to the environment (Kim, 2011).
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Values and motivations
Values found to be the most influential
to individuals who take part in ‘green’
consumerism are ‘social-altruistic, biospheric
and egoistic’ in nature (Jansson
et al, 2010).
There is a found consistency based on positive
influence in both the social-altruistic and
biospheric motivations. Social altruism applies
to the consumer’s intentions to make a positive
impact of change within society, and the
biospheric or environmental motivation relates
similarly to the need to solve a regarded
ecological problem( Jansson
et al, 2010). There
is long-term consistency built from both of
these areas because individuals will purchase
with regard to these strongly held intentions.
The egoistic motivation is found to have a
more negative influence by causing the
consumer to be inconsistent in their purchase
decisions based on whether the item’s
perceived benefit will exceed the cost at any
given time (Jansson
et al, 2010).
Both collectivism and individualism
have shown to have influence over whether
or not consumers show environmentally
focused behavior (Kim, 2011). People
who belong to cultures that are found to be
more ‘interdependent and group-oriented’
will show a more positive response to
environmentally related concerns. These
collectivist individuals are more group goal
focused and are shown to conform to the
needs of the overall group or society, thereby
aspiring to such green concerns. The
contrasting characteristics of individualistic
cultures, showing an aversion to conformity
and a preference to independence and
personal needs, imply that these people
would view ‘green’-related efforts as less
important (Kim, 2011).
Demographics of the
green-organic consumer
Many ‘green’ consumers are motivated by the
importance of improving their personal wellbeing,
and included in this is individual
health. Health-conscious consumers have
recognized the need to eliminate pesticides
and other harmful chemicals from food, and
choose to purchase organic food products.
A 2010 Organic Trade Association industry
survey found that organic food sales ‘grew
from US$1 billion in 1990 to $24.8 billion in
2009’ (Regine, 2011). Consumers are now
more driven by health-related concerns, and
are ‘increasingly interested in foods that are
free of pesticides, and other health risks’
(Regine, 2011).
According to a 2011 Thompson Reuters-
National Public Radio (NPR) health poll
given to approximately 3000 Americans, it was
found that among people
o35 years old, 62.8
per cent prefer eating organic foods. Out of
people between the ages of 35 and 64, 60.6 per
cent would eat organic, and among people
over 65, only 44.8 per cent would choose
organic (Thompson Reuters-NPR, 2011).
This poll also revealed that among respondents
who earned between $25 000 and $100 000
รพ
annually, the majority of people chose organic
over non-organic, with $25K–$49.9K
being the greatest majority (61.2 per cent)
(Thompson Reuters-NPR, 2011). Among
respondents who were either high school
graduates, people with some college
coursework, or with college degrees, each
chose organic over non-organic, with the
majority being those who had degrees (63.5
per cent) (Thompson Reuters-NPR, 2011).
The only group that did not choose organic in
a majority vote was the group of people over
the age of 65, which indicates that age may
play a role in ascribing to organic foods. These
results revealed that among these 3008
Americans, the majority of consumers,
regardless of income or education, consider
the benefits of organic foods and prefer organic
foods over non-organic options (Thompson
Reuters-NPR, 2011).
Unique qualities
Along with showing higher levels of concern
for environmental preservation issues (EC),
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green consumers are also recognized as
showing ‘perceived consumer effectiveness
(PCE)’ (Albayrak
et al, 2011). According to
Tahir Albayrak
et al (2011), ‘In addition to
EC, those people who strongly believe that
their environmentally sensitive behaviors may
result in positive consequences or outcomes
are more likely to engage in environmentally
sensitive behaviors than others’. PCE allows
the motivation for purchase decisions to be
more altruistically centered, having longterm
impact on society at large (Albayrak
et al,
2011). Related to this is the adoption of
environmental concerns in the form of
ascribed responsibility (AR) ( Jansson
et al,
2010). ‘Green’ consumers take on a degree of
responsibility that is built on their socially
conscious intentions to somehow solve a
problem or make a positive impact on society,
and this has been found to be consistent with
‘green’ purchase decisions ( Jansson
et al,
2010). ‘Green’ consumers align themselves
with a set of values and beliefs that are built
on social and ecological improvement, and
this element of influence, as seen in PCE
and AR, makes the ‘green’ consumer
microculture unique; the green consumer’s
motivations go beyond meeting personal
needs and are more focused on the needs of
the community.
GREEN BUSINESS METHODS
Ristovska wrote in a 2010 article published in
The International Business & Economics Research
Journal
that incorporating objectives of
‘sustainable development’ into an
organization’s ‘global management system,
strongly contributes to its competitiveness
and corporate and brand image’. Businesses
are recognizing the need to acquire more
environmentally efficient technologies, and
reduce waste and pollution, as ‘the rise of the
“green” consumer marks a shift in the pattern
of consumer purchasing, away from products
that are considered to be damaging to the
environment and toward products that are
sustainable’ (Ristovska, 2010). Jeff Immelt,
CEO of General Electric (GE), is quoted in
the March 2012
Harvard Business Review
article titled, ‘Green Rules to Drive
Innovation’, as holding true to the fact that
‘Green is green’, proving that businesses
across the board will receive significant
returns on their investments if they pursue
more sustainable practices (Esty and
Charnovitz, 2012). In addition to producing
products that are streamlined to have a less
damaging impact on the external
environment, organizations can ultimately
benefit from a restructured system of internal
practices that are more sustainable, including
risk reduction, improved efficiency and
advanced innovation, all with a commitment
to ‘build intangible value’ (Esty and
Charnovitz, 2012).
According to Ristovska (2010), efforts in
which businesses can become more ‘green’
include product adaptation, technological
advancements and business ethics. Ways
in which a company can adapt their products
include increasing durability, non-polluting
attributes and incorporating recycled
materials (Ristovska, 2010). Technology can
be improved by minimizing environmental
damage in the production process, by
eliminating waste and pollution, and
conserving energy (Ristovska, 2010).
Ristovska (2010) makes note of the
importance of environmental ethics by stating
that ‘selling “green” products or using
“green” technologies is not sufficient by
itself ’ and truly ‘green’ companies ‘embrace
environmental values’. The overall business
philosophy, as it is noted, will benefit from
the adoption of a ‘green’ mission and efforts
that are considered to be ‘eco-philanthropic’
(Woolverton and Demitri, 2010).
A successful way in which ‘green’ ethics
can be applied to corporate strategies is
through corporate social responsibility (CSR)
efforts. Gordon Liu and Wai-Wai Ko (2011)
intimate on this subject: ‘unlike “pure”
corporate giving, where the corporate
contribution is based on the altruistic impulse
of the management and shareholders, who
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intend only to improve the welfare of
the community, corporations launch the
so-called strategic giving that treats CSR
as an investment and calculates the returns for
the company’. Liu and Ko (2011) further
explain that instead of CSR efforts being used
only in the ‘philanthropical’ sense, it can
instead be integrated into cause-related
marketing (CRM) tools to form the overall
identity of the organization. CRM is an
effective communications strategy for CSR in
which it is found that vivid messages are
preferred ‘because they increase positive
affective emotions and higher trust in the
company’s CSR initiatives’ (Choi and Ng,
2011).
Effectively translating through
advertisements
The kinds of CRM activities mentioned
by Liu and Ko (2011) include joint
promotions (involving cooperation between
the company and a specific environmental
cause) that are focused ‘on the content of the
message’ in terms of information. Liu and
Ko (2011) suggest that a joint effort will
effectively increase emotional involvement
by encouraging interest in the organizations’
ethical behavior. The key to these kinds of
joint advertisements is to effectively engage
the consumer so that they will ‘notice,
perceive, and respond to the CRM message’
(Liu and Ko, 2011). Not only will the
consumer find interest in the particular
organization and their products, but they will
also develop an idea of their image that they
have positioned in terms of CSR activities,
which can lead to successful branding (Liu
and Ko, 2011). Liu and Ko (2011) further
explain that ‘the individual will feel highly
involved if they find relevance in the CRM
advertising message’. A study conducted by
Sungchul Choi and Alex Ng (2011) that was
revealed in their article titled ‘Environmental
and Economic Dimensions of Sustainability
and Price Effects on Consumer Responses’,
adds to the understanding of the perceived
relationship between corporate responsibility
and consumer evaluation. The first point
made in this study was that ‘sustainability
information has a significantly positive impact
on the evaluation of the company and
purchase intent’; the second point made
was that a ‘low level of environmental
sustainability leads to stronger negative
impact on consumer responses than the low
level of economic sustainability’; lastly, the
third point made was that ‘support for
the sustainability domain interaction effect
implies that consumers will evaluate
a company more favorably if that company
shares the consumers’ support orientations
and policies for a specific sustainability
domain’ (Choi and Ng, 2011).
Mary Wanjiru Kinoti touches on the
implementation of ‘green’ strategies in
promotions in her 2011
International Journal of
Business & Social Science
article, where she
explained that according to Benerjee ‘green’
promotions should:
(a) explicitly or implicitly address the
relation between a product/service and
the biophysical environment;
(b) promote a green lifestyle with or
without highlighting a product/service;
(c) present a corporate image of
environmental responsibility.
Kinoti (2011) notes that marketing teams
should not assume that consumers are already
aware of the ‘environmental issues or actions
they engage in’ and that promotions should
be focused on relaying necessary information
to every consumer. In addition, Kinoti (2011)
explained several of Ottman’s promotional
strategies that adhere to ‘green’ initiatives;
among these are:
(a) educate consumers on the environmental
problems that a green product solves;
(b) consider a suitable mix of media. For
instance, environmental consumers are
more receptive to messages conveyed
through direct marketing, community
programs, public relations and packaging.
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Green-washing in advertisements
Many organizations have made the decision
to advertise their products or services as being
‘green’ focused, when in actuality their
production and organizational strategies are
not at all environmentally aligned; this is
known as ‘green-washing’ (Ahonen
et al,
2001). On the basis of the assumption that
organizations will use advertisements to gain
capital, it is detrimental for a business to only
appear as though they are practicing ‘green’
whey they really are not (Ahonen
et al, 2001).
‘Green’ consumers today are known to seek
out information about products, and expect
to find that organizations are truly following
‘green’ guidelines (Ahonen
et al, 2001). The
‘green’ consumer wants to know that the
products they are buying are in line with the
values that they aspire to, and if s/he finds out
that they are not getting what is promised,
they will regard the product(s) as undesirable
(Ahonen
et al, 2001).
In the 2012
Harvard Business Review titled
‘Green Rules to Drive Innovation’, Daniel C.
Esty and Steve Charnovitz (2012) intimate
on the subject of how our government
should be leading sustainable initiatives to
guide all existing business practices. Their
article lists 10 ‘Energy and Environmental
Policy Proposals’; among these are two very
key points: (i) broaden America’s portfolio
of energy sources and set national goals for
the ongoing expansion of domestic renewable
power; (ii) address industry concerns about
other countries’ use of environmental
standard-setting practices as disguised trade
barriers (Esty and Charnovitz, 2012).
GREEN COMPANIES
According to the 2010
Harvard Business
Review
article written by Unruh and
Ettenson, ‘successful companies leverage
opportunities to become an influential or
dominant force in the green-standards battle’.
Unruh and Ettenson (2010) suggest that
successful companies have chosen to adopt
four strategies when deciding to initiate
sustainable objectives; these are: (i) adopt the
existing standards; (ii) co-opt and modify
them to suit your capabilities and processes;
(iii) define standards for your industry; and
(iv) break away from existing ones and create
your own. Among standards to adopt are
Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design (LEED) building certification
rating systems that set standards for the
construction or rehab process of business
buildings (Unruh and Ettenson, 2010). Major
companies like Wal-Mart have chosen to
apply a ‘sustainable product index’ to gauge
how efficient the products they sell should be
(Unruh and Ettenson, 2010). Co-opt efforts
have taken place when businesses needed to
improve; an example of this is the banana
producer known as Chiquita partnering with
Rainforest Alliance to produce farm standards
that are better both socially and for the
environment (Unruh and Ettenson, 2010).
In the area of defining standards, Starbucks
chose to develop their ‘own standards for
sustainable coffee’ through ‘Coffee and
Farmer Equity (C.A.F.E.)’ (Unruh and
Ettenson, 2010). Lastly, in the area of
breaking away, Apple is among the few
organizations that have taken the initiative
to try something new (Unruh and Ettenson,
2010). As a result of Greenpeace’s
declaration addressing the environmental
impact of computer usage, Apple chose
to make computer products that are
more energy efficient (Unruh and
Ettenson, 2010).
The 2011
Business Today article titled ‘Seize
the Day’ profiled GE’s sustainable efforts and
explained that in 2005 GE announced their
‘Ecomagination’ campaign designed to
promote further business growth and generate
profits through ‘commitment to clean energy,
as well as build its brand image as that of an
environmentally aware company’. This article
elaborates on how in only a few years GE
(2011) managed to transform the efficiency
of many of their products; included in this list
are ‘low-energy digital mammography
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machines and aircraft engines to gas turbines
and nuclear plants’. As of the year 2010, GE
(2011) ‘developed over 90 Ecomagination
products, which contributed at least
$18 billion in revenues, and invested $1.5
billion in clean technology research, meeting
its 2010 target a year early’. Since the
beginning of the Ecomagination campaign,
GE (2011) was effective at reducing their
own energy consumption by half and
‘greenhouse gas emissions by over 20 per cent
below the 2004 baseline’; along with this,
GE’s ‘water consumption has also reduced
by 30 per cent from the 2006 baseline’.
CAN THE ECONOMY SUPPORT
GOING GREEN?
Capitalism and sustainability
Clearly, the United States is changing its
perception of what it wants, and businesses
will have to eventually, or even now, begin
to adapt to a society that has a greater and
more sustainable degree of concerns. The
question here: Is true sustainability possible
within our capitalist economy? Daniel C.
Esty and Steve Charnovitz (2012) wrote
in
Harvard Business Review about the
link between sustainable practices and
competitiveness. Esty and Charnovitz (2012)
wrote:
Companies, perhaps more than
governments, have come to appreciate the
vital connection between sustainability and
competitiveness. Fully 95 per cent of the
world’s 250 largest firms regularly report on
their environmental performance,
highlighting their commitment to
sustainability as a tool for reducing risk,
improving efficiency, driving innovation,
and building intangible value. In many
companies, sustainability activities have
delivered increases in revenue and profits.
In the article ‘The Greening of Business’,
written by former Montclair University
Professor John T. Harding (2011), ‘Going
green can be profitable if society controls
the expense involved in the process.
Although some might wonder whether
the benefits outweigh the costs, the larger
issue is this: Can we afford not to go
green?’
It is often debated whether the green
technology sector and sustainability within
our economy is something that should be
given much attention when our economy is
truly suffering. If we are to consume less in
order to waste less, how will our economy
remain healthy (Schweickart, 2009)?
According to the 2009 article written by
David Schweickart of Loyola University in
Chicago, Illinois, in order for our capitalist
economy to remain healthy, there must be
sufficient growth, not just for individual firms
competing within their sector, but for the
economy as a whole. Sales must increase at a
steady rate, and if people are cohesively saving
their dollars because of a growing push for all
things sustainable, will our economy survive
(Schweickart, 2009)? The answer to this
perhaps lies in the incredible amount of jobs
that Green and Clean Tech Industries bring
into our economy.
The green workforce
According to Chris Hemmelman’s (2011)
article titled ‘It Isn’t Easy Being Green’, a
2009 Pew Charitable Trusts study revealed
that jobs in our country’s clean energy sector
‘grew nearly two and a half times faster than
overall jobs between 1998 and 2007’.
Another study done by Booz Allen Hamilton
concluded that the green building industry
will ‘support as many as 7.9 million jobs
between 2009 and 2013’, and yet another
study performed by Pike Research found that
it is expected that revenues from green
industries will ‘grow from $5.6 billion in
2009 to $19.9 billion by 2020’ (Hemmelman,
2011). This information alone is perhaps
enough to sway the average skeptic; anyone
can recognize that what our economy calls
for in times of crisis is the availability of more
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jobs. A good portion of these ‘green’ jobs
fall into the category of Clean Technologies,
and are focused on different forms of
renewable energy (O’Brien, 2011). Among
the forms included in the category of
renewable energy are wind, solar and
geothermal, and along with these there will
be additional divisions providing jobs within
the areas of water technology, waste
management and recycling, green buildings,
energy efficiency, biomaterials, energy
storage, vehicle technology, environmental
services, biofuels and carbon (O’Brien,
2011). Hemmelman (2011) pointed out
that: ‘Expectations for growth in the green
energy industries are so high that Congress
has committed $45 billion of the $787 billion
in the American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act (ARRA) to investments in green energy
industries’. In addition to this, $500 million
of the $45 billion will be given to green
energy training partnerships ‘designed to
build the country’s green energy workforce’,
and among the institutions that will be
involved in these training programs are local
community and technical colleges
(Hemmelman, 2011).
Are sustainable practices
positive?
According to a June 2011
Bloomberg
Businessweek
article, written by Paul M.
Barrett, titled ‘The Price of Clean Air’, there
are many skeptics that insist that countless
numbers of jobs will be lost in the
development of cleaner and greener
technologies in our country. Yes, in theory,
sustainable practices are positive, but do the
benefits outweigh the costs? To add to the
previously mentioned argument that our
economy is not healthy enough to support
sustainability, perhaps increased efficiency
could also pay a price. David Schweickart
(2009) wrote: ‘When innovation brings about
a productivity gain, workers are free to
choose leisure over increased consumption.
This option is virtually non-existent in a
capitalist firm. Owners do not increase their
profits by allowing their workforce to work
less’. Schweickart (2009) then goes on to
address that this increased efficiency and
productivity brought along with
technological advancements have actually
caused present-day employees to work harder
than ever, due to the increased amount of
competition; however, his overall point is that
this kind of pattern requires growth from the
consumer end, and there just isn’t that kind of
guarantee.
The Clean Air Act was brought about
in 1970, and has since been a savior of
countless amounts of lives and a major
reducer of pollution. In the above-mentioned
Bloomberg Businessweek
article, Barrett (2011)
wrote:
At least 19 Republican-sponsored bills
have been introduced in both houses of
Congress seeking to prevent the
Environmental Protection Agency from
taking action such as limiting emission of
climate-warming greenhouse gases and
imposing tougher rules for ground-level
pollutants such as mercury. Republicans and
their industry allies warn that assertive
regulation will hurt energy providers like
Midwest Generation, killing jobs in a fragile
economy.
Edwin D. Hill, president of the
International Brotherhood of Electrical
Workers, claimed that without the gift of an
allotted 5–6 year time frame to renovate or
close coal plants, ‘50 000 workers in power,
mining, and railroads would lose their jobs’
(Barrett, 2011). This is a considerable
argument, but the Environmental Protection
Agency’s counterargument is one that is
perhaps far more reasonable; they object that
about $11 billion a year would be lost in this
kind of improvement process, in order to
meet the proposed air toxins standard, and the
overall cost of savings in health would be of
an even greater amount in the long run
(Barrett, 2011). Although the process to enact
such regulatory changes within long-held
management systems is not without its
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expense of time and effort, the lasting benefits
seem to outweigh the bother of getting things
underway. Barrett (2011) wrote: ‘The Clean
Air Act can serve as a goad to generating
better jobs in more innovative technologies –
and as a mechanism to reduce health-care
costs. The benefits seem worth the price’.
This concept of making smarter decisions to
minimize potential problems and benefit the
overall integrity of each stakeholder seems to
be one that should speak to most people in
the United States. Those opposed to such
changes initiated by the Clean Air Act or the
Green Communities Act need only to
recognize that these benefits are of far greater
weight, not only for us today but for future
generations. Barbier (2011) wrote: ‘The right
mix of investments and policies today could
not only reduce carbon dependency and
improve the environment, but also create jobs
and stimulate innovation and growth in key
economic sectors’.
CHANGES IN BUSINESS AND
MARKETING
The impact on marketing
The changes that are already taking place
in the United States, due to the growing
shift toward the implementation of green
communities, are of great importance to
marketers within each business industry
and the analysis of which should be made
a major priority. According to John
O’Brien (2011) of the European Financial
Review, ‘there are plenty of changes
occurring being driven by political
positioning, technology development,
investment trends and increasing community
awareness and changing behavior’. Green
communities will comprise a generally
different set of buyers. As these consumers
are and have been shifting their interests
and needs, so should marketers. As the
buyer’s frame of mind becomes geared
toward a more sustainable set of benefits,
regarding environmental safety, economic
efficiency and natural quality, it is imperative
that marketers become aware of this
consumer buying presence.
Chris Laszlo and Nadya Zhexembayeva
(2011) wrote that this kind of buyer will be
aware of the products that they are willing to
purchase, with high expectations; in the
article titled ‘Embedded Sustainability:
A Strategy for Market Leaders’, they wrote:
‘Embedded sustainability is the incorporation
of environmental, health, and social value
into the core business with no trade-off in
price or quality – in other words, with no
social or green premium’. What can change is
the recognition that quality is a primary
concern, but buyers are also going
to be considering the cost involved. These
consumers are very conscious of the products
out there, and will be very aware of their
credibility, and of any insincere strategies
that are simply appealing to the trends of
going green.
Skepticism and ambivalence in
purchase decisions
In the Winter 2011 edition of the
Journal of
Advertising
, Chingching Chang published
results from a survey conducted in the article,
‘Feeling Ambivalent about Going Green’.
The survey explored what, if any, factors led
to the ambivalence in attitude related to green
products and making green purchase
decisions (Chang, 2011). Results from this
survey revealed that ‘skepticism is a consistent
predictor of ambivalent attitudes, whether the
attitude target is green products or buying
green products’ (Chang, 2011). It was found
in the respondents’ answers that skepticism,
perceived higher price, and lower quality
(all negative perceptions) accounted for the
found ambivalence toward buying green
products (Chang, 2011). Chang (2011) wrote
that ‘the survey confirms that ambivalent
attitudes toward green products or buying
green products do not correlate significantly
with attitudes toward green products or
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2013 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 2050-3318 Journal of Marketing Analytics Vol. 1, 1, 18–31 27
buying green products, which suggests that
the traditional attitudinal measure cannot
capture simultaneous positive and negative
evaluative responses toward an attitude
object’. In addition to representing
skepticism, Chang’s (2011) research suggests
that these negative attitudes could also come
from ambivalence toward advertisements in
general. As it is found that the common
attitude of ambivalence stems from
skepticism, the challenge for marketers
when trying to shift toward selling a green
product or service is to appeal not only to
the overall economic need for sustainability,
but also to the more personal, individual
need for improved well-being.
Green well-being: A personalized
approach to green marketing
We have addressed that there is crucial
need for change. Green is becoming a way
of life for numerous American communities,
and within these communities there are
many people who understand the importance
of embracing a sincere green mission. There
are, however, many other residents who are
not at all interested. There are many ‘true
green supporters’, who are very interested
and driven by green-related issues. Many
are ‘frugal green buyers’ who will purchase
green products if at the right price for the
product quality. And there are many residents
within green communities who are not
at all interested in anything green. These
consumers do not pay attention to the
difference in product quality and are not
looking to conform to this kind of change.
An interesting viewpoint about how
businesses can market products to the entire
community and not just those loyal
supporters is discussed by
Harvard Business
Review
in the article titled ‘Don’t Bother
With the “Green” Consumer’. Brian Walker
(2008), CEO of Herman Miller, wrote in
this article that it is a common mistake to
market specifically to the imagined ‘green
consumer’: Businesses should not focus on
the ‘green niche’, but should try to generate
attention and interest to everyone. Walker
(2008) suggests that marketers ‘focus on green
behavior that everyone can aspire to’. Walker
explains that one factor that is common to all
consumers in the mass market is the desire for
solutions to problems. He wrote that the way
to generate interest is to find a way to provide
‘solutions to their day-to-day problems that
also make sense for the environment’ (Walker,
2008). This proposal is perhaps best illustrated
in a potential scenario: A fitness enthusiast
who works out regularly at a local gym to
exercise has no interest for green-related
products. His/her main goal as far as free time
is related to being physically fit and
esthetically attractive. How can s/he be
influenced?
It is most likely that (like a majority
of Americans who work out at their local
gyms) s/he purchases plastic bottled water,
two or three per work out, to stay hydrated.
Over the course of a year, the plastic water
bottle purchases become quite expensive.
A solution that applies to this need is to
acquire a reusable filtering bottle that cost
$10. Making use of a reusable water bottle
with a filtration system could save him
close to $900 a year. Without touting the
environmental benefits of using a reusable
filtering bottle, the fitness enthusiast became
an advocate for not purchasing plastic
disposable bottled water. This overall
concept illustrated here is based on the
inherent need for quality of life, or well-being
as opposed to eco-sustainable concerns,
and helping to save the environment is
just an added bonus to the overall monetary
savings.
The key to this idea of marketing to Green
Communities is to recognize that the goal is
to improve well-being, and by doing so the
message is personalized.Well-being is defined
by Merriam-Webster as the state of being
happy, healthy or prosperous. Roland
Sanglap, a Sustainability Consultant and
Green Policy Expert, is a major proponent for
this kind of approach when marketing to
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towns within Massachusetts that want to or
are in the process of becoming designated
Green Communities. He explained that
towns and cities that want to become
designated Green Communities have local
governments. These local governments are
still held accountable for their decisions and
actions by the citizens and constituents
who may or may not be fully assigned
with the goals and vision of the Green
Communities Act that their respective town
leaders have applied to be a part of on
their behalf.
How can the entire community be
influenced to change? According to Roland
Sanglap, not having a clear and concise
message, coupled with a non-existent
comprehensive educational initiative, will
make it a lot more difficult for a town or city
to convince the residents that it is worth
the effort and cost to become a designated
Green Community. Sanglap explained,
‘Initially, town or city officials will look at
the intrinsic value of being a designated
Green Community in areas such as return of
investment by way of grants, job creation, and
so on, in which success can be measured by
the amount received and the numbers
created. If the figures fall short of
expectations, then the aforementioned return
of green investment will not resonate well
with the local residents’.
‘Asymmetrical benefits’, he says, such
as a sense of collective well-being, can be
initiated by creating communal green
beautification projects that will create green
curb appeal, civic amenity and ‘revitalize a
once moribund section of a town’. Hopefully,
this will attract new businesses and restaurants
that residents can walk or bike to and
enjoy a good time in a healthy and relatively
safe manner. Sanglap explained that
‘a pedestrian friendly environment that has
businesses and activities that are family
oriented, and that creates a positive personal
experience for the individual but also
happens to be green and sustainable in its
design and intent, is the type of return of
green investment that resonates well with
the local citizenry’.
In terms of marketing, effectively
positioning a product or service is very
centered on the expected consumer response.
Consumers can be driven to pursue healthier
and sustainable options once they are able
to witness similar asymmetrical benefits in
their quality of life. An accessible downtown
area, for example, will attract people to
walk to nearby locations and will in turn
make a transformative effect on the buying
decisions and interests of community
members. Once people are able to integrate
this sense of change as a chance for improved
well-being, they will be more likely to
continue the search for similar kinds of
changes. The overall concept of the water
bottle illustration applies here; within
a larger scale marketing project, as in the one
described by Sanglap, the promotion of
green projects or goals to a community of
people involves presenting these ideas to
residents as solutions to recognized problems.
On a smaller scale, people can become
interested in green and sustainable products
once they are able to see how their overall
well-being can improve. This is how ‘being
green’ adds value to a product.
MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS
Incorporating sustainable objectives into
a business platform has been regarded as
necessary and beneficial to ‘competitiveness’
and ‘brand image’ (Ristovska, 2010). It has
been discovered that adopting green methods
should go beyond just practice; it should
become part of the overall ethical framework
of an organization (Ristovska, 2010).
CSR efforts that are ‘green’ focused can
take advantage of this by using ‘green’
philanthropy as an overall CRM tool, which
can help consumers to recognize these efforts
as their overall organizational identity (Liu
and Ko, 2011). CRM can be applied to
advertisements through joint promotions that
engage the consumer through information;
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2013 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 2050-3318 Journal of Marketing Analytics Vol. 1, 1, 18–31 29
this allows the consumer to become more
emotionally involved, and able to identify
the organization in terms of their CSR
efforts (Liu and Ko, 2011). It was found that
marketers should not assume that the
consumer already has the information;
‘green’ advertisements are to be based on
sharing necessary information, to educate
the consumer through mixed media and
deliver a positive message (Kinoti, 2011).
The process of ‘green-washing’ involves
falsely advertising a product or a business
effort as being ‘green’ and sustainable in
order to capitalize on its effectiveness on the
market; this should be avoided and all ‘green’
business methods should be concrete and
consistent (Ahonen
et al, 2001).
Many American companies have adopted
‘green’ and sustainable practices and have
not only shown market success but have
also taken significant roles in the progress of
‘green’ developments in the country (Unruh
and Ettenson, 2010). Among participating
organizations have been Apple, Starbucks,
Chiquita and Wal-Mart (Unruh and
Ettenson, 2010). These and other companies
have taken part in paving the way for
energy efficiency and more sustainable
business practices (Unruh and Ettenson,
2010).
It will be beneficial presently and in
future developments for marketing teams
to take the time to understand the ‘green’
consumer; their unique set of beliefs and
values makes their micro culture one
worthy of analysis. By considering the
implementation of ‘green’ and sustainable
business methods, marketers can better gauge
how to respond to this group of consumers
and have progress in developing more
involved, long-term customer relationships.
CONCLUSION
A great deal of evidence supports the fact
that green and sustainable decisions within
our economy would provide energy
efficiency, jobs and overall quality of life.
There are many skeptics of this approach
to economics, and marketers must in turn
recognize that even in communities that
have adopted green policies, there will be
consumers with varying interests. Businesses
wishing to contribute to this exchange of
green initiatives within communities must
understand that when marketing they should
appeal to the consumer’s need for quality
of life and well-being. This personalized
approach will be more influential to the
mass market, by taking advantage of the
intrinsic value of greener solutions to
form asymmetrical benefits within the
community.
Overall, these asymmetrical benefits take
shape from the implementation of renewable
sources of energy such as solar and wind
power, along with smarter and cleaner ideas
within the community such as foot paths
and LEED certified building projects.
John T. Harding quoted from the UNEP
Green Economy Report
in February 2011:
These changes require a fundamental
rethinking of our approach to the
economy
yThere is a growing
recognition that the natural environment
forms the basis of our physical assets and
must be managed as a source of growth,
prosperity, and well-being.
Every resident within a community of
consumers, whether they support green
initiatives or not, can respond to an
‘asymmetrical benefit’ such as cleaner
waterfronts and walking areas within their
town; these come along with the savings of
smaller energy costs. It seems that this
approach can be very effective in encouraging
people to make smarter changes. Once the
consumer recognizes the implications of
the change to their personal well-being,
they will be more willing and responsive
to all of the additional environmental
benefits, and will be more open to the
intrinsic value of green products and services.
Modern environmentalism in America has
led to the emergence of the new consumer
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microculture known as the ‘green’ consumer.
The ‘green’ consumer may not be found
within any particular socioeconomic group;
they are among all age groups, income levels
and education levels, and show to be most
prevalent among people under the age of 35
(Thompson Reuters-NPR, 2011). ‘Green’
consumers share a set of strongly held values
and beliefs that are built on environmental
concerns, social altruism and selfimprovement
(Jansson
et al, 2010). These
values and beliefs are held together by a PCE
that implies the consumer is expecting to
somehow have a positive impact on society;
along with this is AR that is taken on by the
consumer, allowing the individual to
recognize the needs of the entire community,
in addition to the needs of themselves
(Jansson
et al, 2010).
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