Green marketing: The competitive advantage of sustainability

Although environmental issues influence all human activities, few academic disciplines have integrated green issues into their literature. This is especially true in 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. Smart business houses have accepted green marketing as a part of their strategy. Increasingly products and services are turning “green”. Green Marketing, today, has come to acquire a significant place in Industry. This is because of the significant stress created by an increasing population on our eco-systems and the desire of more individuals and families to adopt a resource-intensive lifestyle. Green marketing recognizes the fact that marketing actions of a firm have an impact on the use of resources, generation of waste, and subsequent pollution. Sustainable green marketing therefore requires the development of a marketing mix that is compatible with the ecology. This is possible through product and delivery system designs for environment protection. For this purpose, understanding the ecology is crucial. It is important for the marketer to understand that a proper functioning of the eco-system ensures the existence of life on earth. Hence, he must not create services or product that in any way create imbalance and hence threatens life. Successful integration of eco-system in marketing decisions creates a win-win-win outcome. This means that all the three parties, namely the firm, the customer, and the eco-system, must win. The challenge, therefore, for the marketer is to create such a winning matrix. This paper cover the concepts of green marketing, briefly discuss why going green is important. The paper also examines the present trends of green marketing in India and describes the reason why companies are adopting it and future of green marketing and concludes that green marketing is something that will continuously grow in both practice and demand.