Green Marketing and Green Washing

Question 1

Define sustainability

Answer 1

Sustainability: –defined as acting today so that future generations can meet their needs and enjoy long-term markets for your products, while safeguarding the sources of raw materials on which your very business depends

Question 2

What are the top three issues that worry US adults according to NMI, 2009?

Answer 2

1. Water quality- 67%
2. Hazardous, toxic, and nuclear waste-61%
3. Pollution from cars and trucks-54%

Question 3

What do the results of NMI, 2009 indicate?

Answer 3

• Health issues are at the top of this list.
• Real fear is that the planet will not be able to support human life and that the people’s and their children’s health will be compromised.
• People’s fears have been growing with the destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina (2005), the Al Gore movie “An Inconvenient Truth” (2006), the steady stream of news reports on the warming planet/melting polar ice caps and the BP Oil Spill (2010-11).

Question 4

Discuss the greenness of the Baby Boomers.

Answer 4

Today, over half (54%) of Baby Boomers are considered to be “socially conscious shoppers” (40m green Boomers).

Question 5

Discuss the greenness of Generation X.

Answer 5

Generation X – 33-46 years of age as at 2010, have had their eyes opened by people such as Leonardo di Caprio and Cameron Diaz, as well as Bob Geldof and Midge Ure through the live aid concert (1985). Additionally they had to live through the aftermath of the explosion in Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (1986).

Question 6

Discuss the greenness of Generation Y

Answer 6

Generation Y- 20-30 years of age as at 2010, are the new leaders in the modern day green movement as they can muster up support from around the globe in a matter of minutes or less through modern technology. They have lived through the recent disasters and share awareness of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a mass of plastic trash whose exact size is estimated to be bigger than the state of Texas. They believe that climate change results from human activities and are twice as likely to buy green products as those who believe it to be a natural occurrence. They seek to balance quality of life and quest for wealth.

Question 7

Discuss the greenness of Generation Z

Answer 7

Generation Z – who are under 16 years of age as at 2010 see green as part of their lives. Sorting their waste for recycling is as natural as putting out their rubbish. Reduce, reuse, recycle are second nature to them. They go one step further than their parents and search for naturally made clothes from organic fabrics, for example.

Question 8

What are the top three environmental consumer behaviours according to NMI, 2009?

Answer 8

Turn off electronics when not in use, Conserve water, Recycle all or most plastic bottles, jars, etc.

Question 9

Discuss the behaviour of U.S. green consumers

Answer 9

• 46% of people claim to boycott brands that have practices that they don’t like; this represents a 17% increase since 2006.
• Big name brands have been easily targeted by customer activists for deficient environmental and social practices. Negative perceptions are difficult to change once created, e.g. Nike.

Question 10

Discuss U.S. green shopping

Answer 10

(84%) of US shoppers are now buying some green products from time to time.
This has held steady even in a recession, with 67% of Americans claiming that it is still important to buy socially and environmentally beneficial products during periods that have an inclement economic climate.

Question 11

What are conventional companies green opportunities?

Answer 11

• Procter & Gamble (P&G) have pledged to develop and market by 2012 at least $20 billion in cumulative sales of “sustainable innovation products,” defined as “products with a significantly reduced environmental footprint versus previous alternative products”
• This builds on research that consumers are looking to brands that they are loyalty to, to help them reduce their impact on the environment.
• Well-established mass marketers are acquiring leading sustainable brands with the potential for mass-market expansion, eg. The Body Shop acquiring L’Oreal.

Question 12

Discuss the way in which media is turning green

Answer 12

• Prime time television hosts big budget campaigns such as those for Apple’s greenest laptops.
• Channels such as the Discovery Channel are targeting the sustainability aware consumer.
• The internet has become an interactive medium for consumers who want to seek out information. Websites such as Discovery’s treehugger.com are empowering visitors.
• Bloggers and tweeters exist in online communities and are passing on information about which products should be bought and which companies should be trusted.

Question 13

Discuss the actions of the governments.

Answer 13

• Green is a focal point of the Obama administration’s national agenda.
• Cars for scrappage and windows scrappage schemes’ have been launched in the UK to create environmentally efficient models of the same things. These schemes also were launched in an attempt to stimulate the economy.
• Michelle Obama planted a food garden in the White House in order to educate Americans about the benefits of healthy, locally grown fruit and vegetables.

Question 14

What business opportunities exist for companies to take advantage of?

Answer 14

• Consumer demand for greener products and services creates opportunities for businesses to innovate and invent in the green market, and proactive companies are taking advantage of these.
• Consumers are willing to pay a premium for green products. Environmental soundness is a dimension of quality.
• An example of this is Toyota Prius.

Question 15

Why do marketers need to act now and how should they act?

Answer 15

• By 2030, climate change induced calamities alone are projected to account for 500,000 deaths and $340 billion in damages.
• BRIC countries are now attempting to meet their own escalating resource demands.
• Fresh water consumption has tripled over the past 50 years, it is projected that, by 2025, two thirds of the world’s population will not have access to sustainable drinking water.
• Industry leaders are sensitised to the new green rules, with the understanding that green touches many people worldwide and that businesses have many stakeholders.
• Influential customers want to do business with companies that have established green credentials.
• Communicating that a company embraces green is likely to enhance corporate equity, since investors want to align their values with their investments and reduce risk.
• Understanding green marketing’s new rules involves grasping the vast difference between today’s mainstream green consumer and yesterday’s fringe activists in many ways.

Question 16

Read this

Answer 16

‘Green marketing: legend, myth, farce or prophesy?’ Peattie and Crane, (2005), Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, Vol. 8 No. 4, pp. 357-370

Question 17

What has happened to Green Marketing?

Answer 17

• There is a fear of launching a green marketing campaign for fear that companies may be accused of green washing.
• It was really only in the late 1980s that the idea of green marketing emerged, with an inevitable shift in consumption towards greener products (Prothero, 1990)
• Mintel’s (1995) report on the environment recorded only a very slight increase in green consumers since 1990, and identified a significant gap between concern and actual purchasing – a picture replicated in subsequent management research (Wong et al., 1996; Peattie, 1999; Crane 2000)
• One of the most worrying conclusions is that companies aren’t marketing their green credentials because consumers are cynical about green. (Kangun et al., 1991; National Consumer Council, 1996)
• Marketing is built around the customer and the customer-company relationship. If this is characterised by cynicism and distrust, then companies are unlikely to be able to bring customers to the stage where there is sustainability. Green marketing will not work when consumers distrust the company, but this distrust could be caused by the types of “green marketings” that companies have used so far.

Question 18

What are the five routes to failure of green marketing?

Answer 18

1. Green spinning
2. Green selling
3. Green harvesting
4. Enviropreneur marketing
5. Compliance marketing

Question 19

Discuss green spinning

Answer 19

Green spinning: targets for environmental criticism, reactive approach-PR offensive, using glitz and glamour and countless communications in order to persuade the sceptical public of their environmental credentials. These companies failure to communicate with various (environmental) stakeholder groups suggests a rigid adherence to common practices and established mindsets. This will fail because the modern environmental stakeholders are unlikely to be swayed by their phony environmental communication measures.

Question 20

Discuss green selling

Answer 20

Green selling: taken for granted green would sell. Interest in the environment tended to be limited to promotional activity, with little or no input into product development (same products with ‘green themes’ added to promotional campaigns). This is an opportunistic response to environmental concerns.

Meaningless and unproven green claims were slapped on unchanged products in failed attempts to boost sales, leading to mounting consumer cynicism and suspicion.

There are now a host of different logos allegedly certifying various environmental benefits, and they only serve to confuse consumers. Only 16 per cent of consumer concerned Danes could recognise the EU “flower” as an eco-label (DEPA, 2001).

Question 21

Discuss green harvesting

Answer 21

Green harvesting: when it started to become apparent that greening could create cost savings, many marketers became enthusiastic about the environment. Although this may have mean that products are cheaper to produce, so customers did not benefit in terms of cheaper, greener products, on the contrary, green products usually are charged at a premium. This perception hampered green products market penetration.
This particular guise of green marketing ultimately fails in the medium to long-term; there is a profound reluctance to strategically invest in green marketing initiatives.

Question 22

Discuss enviropreneur marketing

Answer 22

Enviropreneur marketing: where a committed individual, section, or company seeks to bring innovative green products to market (Menon and Menon, 1997)
Boutique enviropreneur marketing has involved the marketing of innovative green products by small start-up firms that only produce ostensibly green products, such as Ark, Ecover and the Body Shop, which began to rise to prominence during the1980s and 1990s

Corporate enviropreneur marketing by contrast occurred within large organizations that produce many non-green products as well as green brands. Hence, in the early 1990s, major mainstream firms such as Lever Brothers, Boots and Sainsburys supplemented their existing ranges with green brands

In their rush to market green products, and in their belief in the inherent worthiness of such products, the enviropreneurs forgot the consumer and acted upon poorly conceived market research.

Efforts were focused on producing the most environmentally benign products, rather than the products that consumers actually wanted. Consumers would not understand that green products would not produce the same results as normal in every case, e.g. green washing up liquids not producing a big fluffy bowl of soap bubbles.

Question 23

Discuss compliance marketing

Answer 23

Compliance marketing: those firms whose environmental initiatives do not go beyond responding to regulation (both planned and expected), e.g. companies nominating themselves for green awards for only obeying the legislation.
Compliance marketing is green marketing in a very conservative guise. Compliance marketers have never had much hope of appealing to the environmental concerns of increasingly savvy customers, or of making any significant advances towards sustainability. Any progress will only come after a period of denial and counter-argument, and after they have been forced into change through legislation.

Question 24

What is green marketing?

Answer 24

• It starts with the customer
• It has a long-run perspective
• It involves full use of all the company’s resources
• It is innovative

Question 25

What steps are required in the movement towards green marketing?

Answer 25

• A redefinition of the “product” -greater focus on how the product is made will be required to promote more sustainable production and consumption.
• A willingness to change markets-sustainable economy will require more than new product development (farmers’ markets)
• An emphasis on benefits from product use
• Marketing communication that aims to inform rather than just impress
• A focus beyond current consumer needs to non consumers
• A willingness to manage demand and expectation downwards!
• Green marketing includes greening products as well as greening firms
• Along with manipulating the traditional marketing mix (product, price, place and promotion), it requires an understanding of public policy processes
• Firms green their products/ policies because they wish to be socially responsible – these are the ‘right or ethical things to do’. Such policies may or may not generate quantifiable profits in the short run. However, in the long run, socially responsible policies could have economic payoffs (Hart and Ahuja, 1997)

Question 26

Give some green marketing strategies

Answer 26

• Societal marketing implies that organizations (governments, businesses and nonprofits) need to determine the needs of target markets and to deliver the desired satisfactions in a way that enhances the consumer’s and society’s well being.
• Social marketing focuses on designing and implementing programs that increase the acceptability of a social idea, cause, or practice in (a) target group(s).
• Social and societal marketers seek to persuade consumers to alter their behaviours.

Question 27

Marketing has changed…

Answer 27

• Marketing is no longer about seducing but it is about engaging and educating
• Grant calls on marketers to notice that, “there are more ways of making money than encouraging needless waste and extra consumption of precious resources” . Modern markets are too literate, too transparent, too cynical, too authenticity-seeking; they have moved past image marketing

Question 28

There are different types of green customer - green, greener and greenest. How does a business target each of these groups?

Answer 28

Green
•A1 – Set an example using language to point to or frame their green commitment
•A2 – Partner with credible non-profits to bask in their green glow
•A3 – Market a personal benefit of the green product that is useful and normal

Greener
•B1 – Develop a new green market for which there is enthusiasm that is shared with the consumer
•B2 – Create brand enthusiasm that is shared and inclusive
•B3 – Ask consumers to change by switching the way they consume and cutting consumption

Greenest
•C1 – Innovate a totally new business concept. Current online marketing concepts are breaking through in this area
•C2 – Innovating new means to market traditional green products that push their greenness without appearing old-fashioned
•C3 – Challenge consumers to improve themselves

Question 29

Discuss some potential green standards for ads.

Answer 29

The Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP), are currently working on a series of guidelines for advertisers in the wake of a series of rulings from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that have criticized firms for misleading green claims.

Question 30

Why are consumers sceptical?

Answer 30

• 3% of consumers think businesses are honest about their green credentials with a third believing they actively exaggerate what they are doing
• serious mismatch between the business community’s regard for its green initiatives and the public perception of companies’ green claims
• More than half of businesses with more than 500 employees claim to be taking significant steps to improve their environment performance while a further third claim they are doing everything they can to enhance their green credentials
• However, consumers were deeply sceptical of businesses’ environmental claims, while employees were similarly wary of their employee’s green marketing efforts.
• The survey also implied that consumer scepticism is impacting firms’ sales with more than a quarter of respondents claiming they had turned down a product or service in the past year on the grounds that the provider had a poor social and environmental responsibility reputation.

•Companies are starting to understand that consumer scepticism is understandable considering the amount of green wash. The requirement now is to back up propaganda with solid evidence.

Question 31

What are the five rules of green marketing?

Answer 31

1. Know your customer. If you want to sell a greener product to consumers, you first need to make sure that the consumer is aware of and concerned about the issues that your product attempts to address.
2. Empower consumers. Make sure that consumers feel, by themselves or in concert with all the other users of your product, that they can make a difference. This is called “empowerment” and it’s the main reason why consumers buy greener products
3. Be transparent. Consumers must believe in the legitimacy of your product and the specific claims you are making. Caution: There’s a lot of skepticism out there that is fueled by the raft of spurious claims made in the “go-go” era of green marketing that occurred during the late 80s–early90s.
4. Reassure the buyer. Consumers need to believe that your product performs the job it’s supposed to do, they won’t forego product quality in the name of the environment. Products that don’t work will become waste that isn’t particularly environmentally friendly.
5. Consider your pricing. If you’re charging a premium for your product and many environmentally preferable products cost more due to economies of scale and use of higher quality ingredients, make sure that consumers can afford the premium and feel it’s worth it. Many consumers, of course, cannot afford premiums and this must be borne in mind when considering target customers etc.

Question 32

In 1998, Roper discussed five types of green consumer - what are they?

Answer 32

True Blues, Greenbacks, Sprouts, Grousers and Basic Browns.

Question 33

Discuss true blues

Answer 33

True Blues. 10% of the American population hold strong environmental beliefs and live them. They believe that they can personally make a difference to the environment. Politically/socially active, they dedicate time and energy to environmentally safe practices themselves and they attempt to influence others. True Blues are six times more likely to contribute money to environmental groups and over four times more likely to shun products made by companies that are not environmentally responsible. Among the most educated groups, likely to be white females living in the Midwest or South with one third holding executive/professional posts.

Question 34

Discuss greenbacks

Answer 34

Greenbacks. Just 5 percent of the US population. Willing to pay extra for environmentally preferable products. They make up that small group of consumers who claim to pay up to 22 percent more for green. They worry about the environment and support environmentalism, yet feel too busy to change their lifestyles. Although Greenbacks are generally not politically active, wish to express their beliefs with their wallets; green purchasing is very high

Like the True-Blues, they are more likely than the average American to purchase green products. Moreover, at 22 percent, they are twice as likely as the average American to avoid buying products from environmentally irresponsible companies. Likely to be married white males living in the Midwest (35 percent) and West (24 percent), who are well educated, young (median age 37), and most likely to hold white-collar jobs

Question 35

Discuss sprouts

Answer 35

Sprouts. One-third of the US population is classified as Sprouts. They are willing to engage in occasional environmental activities that require little effort. Thus, recycling is their main green activity. They read labels for greenness - although less often than True-Blues and Greenbacks. Even though Sprouts and Greenbacks have similar median incomes, Sprouts generally won’t choose a green product if it is more expensive than others on the shelf. Only willing to pay up to 4 percent extra, if they buy a green product. More than half (56 percent) are female and at 43, they have the highest median age. Distributed evenly across the country. Well educated, and just under two-thirds of them are married. Swing group that can go either way on any environmental issue. With more education, they are often the source of new Greenbacks and True-Blues

Question 36

Discuss grousers

Answer 36

Grousers. Fifteen percent of the U.S. population. Do not believe that individuals play a big part in environmental protection but that responsibility belongs to the government and large corporations. Often confused and uninformed about environmental problems, 45 percent recycle bottles and cans regularly to comply with local laws rather than to contribute to a better environment. Likely to use excuses to rationalize their lax environmental behavior. Complaining that green is too difficult and that it won’t be of any use. They believe its someone else’s problem, so why bother. Demographically similar to the national average, although with a somewhat higher proportion of African-American members

Question 37

Discuss basic browns

Answer 37

Basic Browns. 37 percent of the population, Basic Browns are not tuned in to the environment. Not convinced that environmental problems are all that serious. They don’t make excuses for their inactivity; they just don’t care. The indifference of this group makes them less than half as likely as the average American to recycle and only 1 percent boycott products for environmental reasons as opposed to the 11 percent average. Three percent buy recycled goods compared to 18 percent nationally. Largest group. Lowest median income, the lowest level of education, and live disproportionately in the South. Too many other things to worry about

Question 38

What is the green purchase gap?

Answer 38

Actual environmental actions do not often follow these espoused values (Holt and Anthony, 2000). This ‘green purchase gap’ has led Peattie (1995) to suggest that it is easier to analyse green consumption in terms of green purchase decisions rather than focusing on green consumers.

Question 39

Is it green brands or green products that are more important?

Answer 39

It is difficult to distinguish between an individual customer’s choice of a supplier –v- specific product, and its often a mixture.
Peattie (1995) firms have found that it is easier for a trusted brand to realign itself as having ‘green’ credentials, than it is for customers to develop loyalty to a new brand.
KK Schjar- fenstein found that his environmental fridge was destroyed by the competition who had customers who were brand loyal. Even though DKK was a green firm and the others weren’t. (Peattie, 1995)

Question 40

What is the Definition agreed IUCN (1970) of environmental education?

Answer 40

“Environmental education is the process of recognizing values and clarifying concepts in order to develop skills and attitudes necessary to understand and appreciate the inter-relatedness among man, his culture, and his biophysical surroundings. Environmental education also entails practice in decision-making and self-formulation of a code of behaviour about issues concerning environmental quality,” (Palmer, 1998: 7).

Question 41

What is the definition of green washing?

Answer 41

Oxford Dictionary Definition - “an organization, etc., so as to present an environmentally responsible public image; a public image of environmental responsibility promulgated by or for an organization, etc., but perceived as being unfounded or intentionally misleading”

Question 42

Greenwashing - a short history

Answer 42

Greenwash is an unsubstantiated or irrelevant environmental claim. Found in advertising, PR or on packaging, and made about people, organizations and products

Added to Oxford English Dictionary in 1999. First recorded use was by David Bellamy in the periodical Sanity over twenty years ago. By Earth Day in 1990 the concept was catching on. Didn’t include specific claims or marketing messages at that point; instead it was a load of pictures and messages all to convey an impression of eco-friendliness

Question 43

Why all the fuss about greenwashing?

Answer 43

• Greenwash is dangerous
• Consumers have begun sending strong environmental signals through their purchasing
• This growing ‘green pound’ is compelling the economy to clean up its act.
• Consumers often rely on corporate messaging to inform their purchasing choices, and greenwash is undermining confidence.
• Only 10% of consumers trust green information from business and government
• Most greenwash is due to ignorance rather than malicious intent.
• Pivotal that green messages are credible.

Question 44

What are the ten signs of greenwash?

Answer 44

1. Fluffy Language
2. Green products made by a dirty company.
3. Suggestive pictures - green images suggesting unjustified green impact.
4. Irrelevant claims - pushing one tiny green attribute when everything else is un-green
5. Best in class - declaring yourselves as slightly better than the rest who are all shocking
6. Claims that are not credible
7. Gobbledygook
8. Imaginary friends - third party endorsement from someone who doesn’t exist
9. No proof
10. Out-right lying

Question 45

Why is greenwash booming?

Answer 45

• Since 1998 the UK government has published a non-binding ‘Green Claims Code’, on making good green claims
• The ASA sets out the rules for advertisers in talking about their greenness
• About 10% of the complaints are actually from companies setting out to rubbish their competitors’ green claims

Question 46

Why is greenwash so dangerous?

Answer 46

• Greenwash threatens the whole business rationale for becoming more environmentally friendly. Greenwash is slowly eating away at the best part of the green business case
• Surveys show this undermining of consumer confidence is well underway
• Half of us in the UK have no idea what to believe and 80% want to see companies back up ethical claims with proof
• Seven in ten Americans either “strongly” or “somewhat” agree that when companies call a product green it’s usually just a “marketing tactic” and therefore to be mistrusted

Question 47

What is the industry response to greenwashing?

Answer 47

Rules aren’t enough, advertising professionals must arm themselves against greenwash.

Question 48

What is the view of marketers?

Answer 48

Advertising agencies have the potential to play an incredibly powerful role in convincing consumers to buy green products, ultimately leading to the greening of the marketplace
They are also the originators of greenwash

Question 49

What are the signs of environmental friendliness?

Answer 49

Kitemark, Soil Association Organic Standard, Fairtrade, Marine Stewardship Council, Forest Stewardship Council.

Question 50

Give some examples of outrageous greenwash.

Answer 50

• Shell claiming to use all its CO2 emissions in growing flowers when it only uses a infinitesimal fraction of them.
• Malaysian Palm Oil claiming to be sustainable.
• BA claiming the third runway will make it easier to get a landing slot (thus reducing carbon emissions by a small amount) whilst neglecting to mention the large amount of carbon emissions that will be created due to the third runway.

Question 51

Discuss astroturfing in the green world

Answer 51

“the deceptive practice of presenting an orchestrated marketing or public relations campaign in the guise of unsolicited comments from members of the public.” Oxford Dictionary

This is done in green because oil company employees go out and pretend to be a genuine grassroots environmental movement whereas their aim was to prevent new regulations regulating their employee’s dirty behaviour which was paid for by a well-funded, co-ordinated effort created by many multi-nationals.

Question 52

What is the Greenwashing Index Scoring Criteria?

Answer 52

The ad misleads with words
The ad misleads with visuals and/or graphics
The ad makes a green claim that is vague or seemingly unprovable
The ad overstates or exaggerates how green the product/company/service actually is
The ad leaves out or masks important information, making the green claim sound better than it is

Question 53

What is our potentially greener future?

Answer 53

If we project the current speed of growth in green consumption in the UK then the ‘green pound’ could be worth £53.76bn in five years and nearly £180bn by 2022

That kind of market is going to have a real and lasting positive impact on the planet and us