Green Marketing
An Introduction To Green Marketing
INTRODUCTION
Although environmental issues influence all human activities, few academic disciplines have integrated green issues into their literature. This is especially true of marketing. As society becomes more concerned with the natural environment, businesses have begun to modify their behavior in an attempt to address society 's "new" concerns. Some businesses have been quick to accept concepts like environmental management systems and waste minimization, and have integrated environmental issues into all organizational activities. Some evidence of this is the development of journals such as "Business Strategy and the Environment" and "Greener Management International," which are specifically designed to disseminate research relating to business ' environmental behavior.
One business area where environmental issues have received a great deal of discussion in the popular and professional press is marketing. Terms like "Green Marketing" and "Environmental Marketing" appear frequently in the popular press. Many governments around the world have become so concerned about green marketing activities that they have attempted to regulate them (Polonsky 1994a). For example, in the United States (US) the Federal Trade Commission and the National Association of Attorneys-General have developed extensive documents examining green marketing issues [FTC 1991, NAAG 1990]. One of the biggest problems with the green marketing area is that there has been little attempt to academically examine environmental or green marketing. While some literature does exist [Carlson, Grove and Kangun 1993, Davis 1992, Davis 1993], it comes from divergent perspectives.
This paper will attempt 1) to introduce the terms and concepts of green marketing; 2) briefly discuss why going green is important; 3) examine some of the reason that organizations are adopting a green marketing philosophy; and 4) mention some of the problems with green marketing.
WHAT
INTRODUCTION
Although environmental issues influence all human activities, few academic disciplines have integrated green issues into their literature. This is especially true of marketing. As society becomes more concerned with the natural environment, businesses have begun to modify their behavior in an attempt to address society 's "new" concerns. Some businesses have been quick to accept concepts like environmental management systems and waste minimization, and have integrated environmental issues into all organizational activities. Some evidence of this is the development of journals such as "Business Strategy and the Environment" and "Greener Management International," which are specifically designed to disseminate research relating to business ' environmental behavior.
One business area where environmental issues have received a great deal of discussion in the popular and professional press is marketing. Terms like "Green Marketing" and "Environmental Marketing" appear frequently in the popular press. Many governments around the world have become so concerned about green marketing activities that they have attempted to regulate them (Polonsky 1994a). For example, in the United States (US) the Federal Trade Commission and the National Association of Attorneys-General have developed extensive documents examining green marketing issues [FTC 1991, NAAG 1990]. One of the biggest problems with the green marketing area is that there has been little attempt to academically examine environmental or green marketing. While some literature does exist [Carlson, Grove and Kangun 1993, Davis 1992, Davis 1993], it comes from divergent perspectives.
This paper will attempt 1) to introduce the terms and concepts of green marketing; 2) briefly discuss why going green is important; 3) examine some of the reason that organizations are adopting a green marketing philosophy; and 4) mention some of the problems with green marketing.
WHAT
Bibliography: " EcoNet Western Lands Gopher, June. Superseded by "Green Technology: Markets, Competition and Barriers; New Paradigms for Natural Resources." September 13, 1994.