A Comprehensive Literature Review on Green Marketing Mix Elements

This literature review explores the concept of the green marketing mix, highlighting its importance in today's ecologically conscious market. It delves into the four key components: green product, green price, green place, and green promotion. Green products should be developed with environmentally friendly materials, focusing on customer preferences for sustainable options. Green pricing involves considering the impact on people, planet, and profits, while green place focuses on managing logistics to reduce transportation emissions. Green promotion utilizes advertising and marketing materials that emphasize environmental benefits. Companies like Nike, Wal-Mart, and Toyota are cited as examples of organizations implementing green marketing strategies. The review concludes that green marketing is beneficial for both society and businesses, enhancing brand image and promoting sustainable practices. Desklib offers similar solved assignments and resources for students.

Running head: Literature review
Literature Review

Literature review
Literature review on Green Marketing Mix
According to Baker 2016, green marketing is considered as a holistic marketing
approach. It is related with development and marketing of the products designed in an effective
manner that is sensitive to the ecological concern. According to Charter 2017, in this, the
marketing of the products is done that is safe for the environment. So, it has been seen that green
marketing focuses on the activities like product modification, change in the process of
production, change in packaging and also modifying the advertisements. This concept focuses on
marketing the products and services without giving any damage to the environment. There are
many researchers who believe that green marketing relates to promotion and advertising of
products by focusing on the environmental characteristics.
According to Aykol & Leonidou, 2015, green marketing can be related with the activities
that are designed to generate and facilitate exchange so that human wants can be satisfied. Green
marketing products are presumed to be safe for the environment. Also, it has been analyzed that
green marketing legislation with the large companies has to face environmental issues. The
global concerns for the environment enhance due to industrial pollution and hazardous waste
disposal.
According to Aghaei, Vahedi, Kahreh & Pirooz, 2014, green marketing is a term which is
considered to identify the concern with the consequences related to the environment of many
activities. It has also been analyzed that from the branding point of view green marketing
programs have not been successful. There are many marketers who tried to consider these
programs but they failed with green sales pitches because of the obstacles. There are also
customers who are not ready to give up the advantages of other alternatives to consider the green
products.
According to Singh & Khan, 2014, green marketing focuses on a broad range of
operations which emphasizes on modification of products, production process, and packaging. In
the marketing mix of green marketing, there are four parts that can be analyzed. It has been
evaluated that when organizations are related to new innovations like eco-friendly products they
have proper access to new markets. According to Richey Jr, Musgrove, Gillison & Gabler 2014,
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the market share can be easily enhanced and also the impact is seen on the overall profits. As it
can be seen that there are four 4Ps in marketing but there are also 4Ps in green marketing.
According to Banerjee 2017, in the segment of green products, it has been analyzed that
products should be developed by focusing on the wants of the customers who focus on
environmentally friendly products. It has been seen that preference of the customers are taken
into consideration and according to that products are created so that people can be satisfied.
These products are also made from the recycled materials or the products which are used.
According to Charter & Polonsky 2017, it has been seen that efficient products not only focus on
saving the water, energy, and money but also try to minimize the negative effects on the
environment. The products development focuses on forming the green chemistry. It has been
analyzed that role of the marketer in managing the product focuses on offering product designers
by taking into consideration the market-driven trends and also request from the customers.
According to Singh & Khan, 2014, The customer's request for the green products in
which it is important to have the attributes like energy saving, organic, green chemicals and also
local sourcing. For example Nike is one of the first show companies to represent itself as green.
The focus of this company is to market the products by considering the concept of green. The
products which are introduced by the company focus on making the products with the concept of
green. The products like Air Jordan shoes are marketed with the concept of environment-friendly
as it is important to reduce the use of the harmful glue adhesives. The shoes are designed in such
a way that focuses on reducing the waste and use the environmentally friendly materials. It is
important for the company to focus on green marketing as through this competitive advantage
can be achieved easily.
According to Moser 2015, green marketing of the products should be done by
considering the environmental friendly resources so that wastage can be reduced. The products
that are created should have the aim of reducing the wastage and utilization of the resources
should be considered so that growth and goodwill can be maintained in the market.
According to Londhe 2014, the environmental friendly products focus on proper
utilization of the energy, green chemicals and also local sourcing. It is important for the company
to minimize the negative impact on the society by taking into consideration those products which
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are environmental friendly. In marketing, the products should be designed by focusing on the
expectation level of the customers. If products are not designed according to the expectation
level of the customers or by focusing on the environment then it can be difficult to maintain
goodwill in the market. The large companies should also emphasize on reducing the waste and
considering the products which are environment friendly so that it can be simple to safeguard the
environment.
Next marketing mix in context of green marketing is "GREEN PRICE". According to
Davari & Strutton 2014, green pricing focuses on people, planet and also profits so that care can
be taken if the employees and communities. It has been seen that if prices are good then it can
give a positive impact on the level of productivity. It has been seen that value can be added to it
by making changes in the appearance, functionality and through customization. It has been seen
that Wal- Mart unveiled its recyclable cloth for purchasing the products. When people purchase
the products they can keep it in the bag which is named as a shopping bag. This is also one of the
useful products for the customers as it helps to keep the items which are useful for the customers.
The cloth is made by proper utilization of the resources and making something useful for them so
that it can give a positive impact on the society.
According to Keegan & Green 2015, it is important for the companies to focus on
considering the products which are environment friendly so that proper utilization of the
products can be made. As discussed Wal Mart offers shopping bags to the customers so that
customers can also be satisfied and proper utilization of the resources can take place. There are
many companies like IKEA who started charging customers when they considered the use of
plastic bags and the company encouraged the customers to purchase the products with the use of
"BIG BLUE BAG". They encouraged the people to use the shopping bag instead of a plastic bag
as it gives a negative impact on the society. The company also tries to reduce the negative impact
of the use of plastic bags. So, they focused on making environment friendly bags that will help to
secure a negative impact from the plastic bags. It has been seen that plastic bags are difficult to
be degraded so it is important for the companies to focus on considering the use of
environmental friendly bags.
Next marketing mix in context of green marketing is "GREEN PLACE". According to
Khare 2015, green marketing focuses on managing the logistics so that transportation emissions
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can be reduced and also the effect can be analyzed in aiming at minimizing the carbon footprint.
For instance: It has been analyzed that instead of marketing the products of the mango juice in
India the focus can also be given on having a license of local production. This will help to avoid
the shipping of the product from far away and also the shipping cost can be reduced. It is
important for the company to focus on reducing the shipping cost so that it can be simple or the
company to operate the activities in the right direction. The cost of shipping should be reduced
like carbon emission by the mode of transport and ships should be minimized so that it can be
simple to consider the activities in a smooth manner. If the cost is reduced then it can give a
positive impact on the working structure of the company and also positive outcome can be
achieved. Therefore, it is important to reduce the overall shipping cost so that operations can be
conducted in a smooth manner.
The last marketing mix is related to "GREEN PROMOTION". According to Grimmer &
Woolley 2014, green promotion focuses on configuring the tools of promotion. In green
promotion advertising, white paper, marketing materials, websites and videos are kept in mind
by people, planet and also profits. It has been analyzed that British petroleum shows gas station
with a sunflower motif. According to Nadaf & Nadaf 2014, Indian Tobacco Company has also
focused on environmental friendly paper and boards in which there is no involvement of
elemental chlorine. In Toyota it has also been evaluated that the company emphasizes on pushing
gas hybrid technology into the overall product line. It is also creating the largest research and
development investment in the hydrogen car and also focusing on promoting the company as an
eco-friendly company. International Business Machine Corporation has also revealed the
portfolio related with green retail store technologies and services which will assist the retailers to
bring improvisation in the energy efficiency in their overall IT activities. The center focus of the
company is IBM sure and also in context to IBM it has been analyzed that it will minimize the
overall consumption of the power by 36 percent. It can also be observed that there are many
retail outlets like reliance fresh which are focusing on green marketing at the time of marketing
the fruits and vegetables and proper communication is innovated in reference of green marketing.
According to Kumar & Ghodeswar 2015, green marketers also induce the customers by
focusing on their performance, money savings and also on their health. The factors which are
taken into consideration are related to plain environmental friendliness and also with the
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Literature review
convenience. According to Kang & Kim 2017, it is done by the marketers so that they can easily
attract the green customers towards the products and services offered by them. It is important for
the company to focus on green marketing so that growth can be achieved and also it helps to
maintain goodwill in the market. Due to goodwill, the company can easily earn more profits and
it will help the companies to sustain in the competitive market. So, goodwill can be maintained
with green marketing.
According to Kushwaha & Sharma 2016, the awareness of the customers can be
enhanced by sending messages among the customers about the advantages of the products which
are environment friendly. Also social media is a great platform that can help to enhance the
awareness among the customers about the green products. Profiles can be created on the social
platform so that online peer groups can get awareness about the products which are introduced
by the company. Marketing can also be done by targeting the customers by giving
advertisements for the products like saving the energy by using compact fluorescent lamps or
powered cars.
Therefore, it can be concluded that green marketing is beneficial for the society and also
for the companies. It gives positive impact on the society. It is important for the companies to
focus on proper marketing mix of the green products so that it can be easily promoted in the
society. By using the products the positive impact can be seen on the society and also companies
can maintain their goodwill in the competitive market. Green marketing mix focuses mainly on
the four aspects which are product, price, place and promotion and it is important to be
considered by the company so that positive impact can be analyzed on the society as well as on
the business.
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References
Aghaei, M., Vahedi, E., Kahreh, M. S., & Pirooz, M. (2014). An examination of the relationship
between services marketing mix and brand equity dimensions. Procedia-Social and
Behavioral Sciences, 109, 865-869.
Aykol, B., & Leonidou, L. C. (2015). Researching the green practices of smaller service firms: A
theoretical, methodological, and empirical assessment. Journal of Small Business
Management, 53(4), 1264-1288.
Baker, M. J. (2016). What is marketing?. In The Marketing Book (pp. 25-42). Routledge.
Banerjee, S. B. (2017). Corporate environmentalism and the greening of strategic marketing:
Implications for marketing theory and practice. In Greener Marketing (pp. 16-40).
Routledge.
Charter, M. (2017). Greener marketing: A responsible approach to business. Routledge.
Charter, M., & Polonsky, M. J. (Eds.). (2017). Greener marketing: a global perspective on
greening marketing practice. Routledge.
Davari, A., & Strutton, D. (2014). Marketing mix strategies for closing the gap between green
consumers' pro-environmental beliefs and behaviors. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 22(7),
563-586.
Grimmer, M., & Woolley, M. (2014). Green marketing messages and consumers' purchase
intentions: Promoting personal versus environmental benefits. Journal of Marketing
Communications, 20(4), 231-250.
Kang, J. Y. M., & Kim, J. (2017). Online customer relationship marketing tactics through social
media and perceived customer retention orientation of the green retailer. Journal of
Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, 21(3), 298-316.
Keegan, W. J., & Green, M. C. (2015). Global marketing. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Khare, A. (2015). Antecedents to green buying behaviour: a study on consumers in an emerging
economy. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 33(3), 309-329.
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Kumar, P., & Ghodeswar, B. M. (2015). Factors affecting consumers’ green product purchase
decisions. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 33(3), 330-347.
Kushwaha, G. S., & Sharma, N. K. (2016). Green initiatives: a step towards sustainable
development and firm's performance in the automobile industry. Journal of cleaner
production, 121, 116-129.
Londhe, B. R. (2014). Marketing mix for next generation marketing. Procedia Economics and
Finance, 11, 335-340.
Moser, A. K. (2015). Thinking green, buying green? Drivers of pro-environmental purchasing
behavior. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 32(3), 167-175.
Nadaf, Y. B. R., & Nadaf, S. M. (2014). green marketing: challenges and strategies for Indian
companies in 21st century. International Journal of Research in Business
Management, 2(5), 91-104.
Richey Jr, R. G., Musgrove, C. F., Gillison, S. T., & Gabler, C. B. (2014). The effects of
environmental focus and program timing on green marketing performance and the
moderating role of resource commitment. Industrial Marketing Management, 43(7), 1246-
1257.
Singh, E. R., & Khan, M. S. (2014). Green Marketing& its Impact on Society: Emerging
Challenges & Opportunities. International Journal of Management and International
Business Studies, 4(3), 263-270.
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