Network Intelligence Studies

Volume VIII, Issue 16 (2/2020)

Vicentiu Cosmin VLAD

Transilvania University of Brasov, Romania
Florin-Alexandru LUCA
Technical University “Gheorghe Asachi” of Iasi, Romania

Review
DELIVERING SUSTAINABILITY - Article

GREEN MARKETING EVOLUTION

Keywords
Environmental;
Social;
Governance;
Green;
Sustainable;
Marketing;

JEL Classification
M31

Abstract

Since the 70’s, environmental and social issues have raised to the top of companies’ business plans,
policymakers’ agenda and people’s life being a driver for innovation and sustainable change. Many
companies aligned their corporate culture, strategies and products to sustainability principles, gaining a
competitive advantage from it. Many others did not, not believing in the change or trying to cheat the
system with greenwashing strategies. To this extent, identifying the characteristics of green products,
understanding consumer’s purchase behavior and what they are willing to pay extra for, how competitors
rethink supply chains and promotional channels would be useful for businesses that aim to design, develop
and market green products. Green Marketing is a key factor to this process. One side enhances clean
production by designing and developing green products. The other side advocates and strengthens
sustainable consumption, keeping the consumers well-informed during the overall purchasing process. This
study reviews the most relevant papers related to Green Marketing since its formation to the present
analyzing definitions, approaches, concepts, strategies, tools and solutions. The review shows that Green
Marketing has changed over time, adapting to the growing attention and relevance gained by the entire
sector. During this journey, different strategies have been implemented, various types of green products
exist, and consumers are well-engaged in sustainability in addition to preserving the environment and being
socially responsible. Companies furthermore have changed their attitudes for opportunities or because of
pressure from legislators or consumers. Supply chains are vital to achieve sustainable consumption,
reducing pollution and waste. Advertisements play a key role to inform and advocate the benefits of going
Green Marketing.

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INTRODUCTION companies according to their green strategies and

philosophies. Factors that influence green
One of the key challenges humankind faces is to purchasing behavior are strongly considered,
discover more sustainable and fair approaches to placing the consumer again on the spot. Network
produce, deliver, consume and live. Climate change between peers, emotional appeal towards
and environmental sustainability are key concerns environmental concerns and strong branding
in the growing international realty. Companies are imagery result in key solutions to gain consumers’
facing huge challenges to integrate environmental attention, which is not always automatically
and social problems into organizational culture, translated into a sale.
strategies and policies. This is a wider change that Green Marketing continues to evolve, integrating
interacts with various company’s areas, such as transformative changes with the purpose to create
research and development, manufacturing and value for the environment, along with individuals
supply chains, governance, leadership and and society possessing long-term benefits.
marketing. Successful development of sustainable A common denominator of the different authors is
and eco-friendly products and services is the importance to communicate and inform the
fundamental for environmental impact; clean and consumers. Ecolabels, branding, and advertising
lean production chains are essential. Marketing are fundamental tools to solve the Green Marketing
plays a key role in this process by setting up a paradigm and find feasible ways to raise
Green Market and communicating to consumers, perception, awareness of Green products, and drive
increasing the awareness of socially responsible consumers’ purchasing behaviors. Informing
behaviors and impact on environmental and social consumers during the purchasing process helps to
issues, and informing them about the benefits of strengthen the evolution of Green markets.
sustainable products and services. Marketing scope The aim of the authors is to give a relevant
has shifted from consumption at any cost to perspective on the Green Marketing evolution that
sustainable consumption. could be used for companies that truly want to
This paper focuses on the evolution of Green align their corporate culture with environmental
Marketing since its first definition by Hennison and and social principles. Common misleading
Kinnear (1976) as ecological marketing to today’s behaviors are presented; the path towards green
concepts and applications. Since then definitions principles is not an easy fix. It involves a deep
have changed and concepts have evolved, reconfiguration of the business from
becoming a constant variable of companies’ manufacturing, supply chains, distribution and
decision-making processes, policymakers’ agenda, commercialization. It is an ethical metamorphosis
and people’s life. As per its first definition, concern that starts from the company’s leadership and
of environmental issues was what drove the focus changes the way of doing things in the entire
in the early ages; consumers were already willing organization itself. The scope of this study is to
to pay a higher price on green products. The 90’s is stimulate research, fabricate managers and scholars
the decade with the most considerable increase of to involve in topics of environmental, social, and
green attention and strategies. It is also the decade governance sustainability, as well as new ways of
with the most sizable increase of misleading design, and to develop and market products and
behavior that hurts consumer’s trust and creates services.
confusion. Step-by-step the sector shifts from
considering only specific physical features to a
broader view that involves environmental and METHODOLOGY
social impact. Green Marketing begins to drive the
idea of normalizing environmental damages to This study reviews and synthesizes 35 relevant
create green opportunities and competitive articles related to Green Marketing since its
advantage, which is the step before the end state of formation. It is a common methodology used in
achieving a sustainable economy. business, management, and economic domains to
As evolution takes place, numerous challenges analyze the body knowledge discovered by
evolve. The focus shifts again, from the product to previous authors and papers.
the consumer and from the consumer to the Data was identified by searching in academic
organizational objectives. These objectives align databases using keywords “Green Marketing”
with environmentally responsible principles “Environmental” “Social” and “Sustainable”.
through a multidimensional approach to corporate Furthermore, papers were selected by relevance.
philosophy, business practices and functional The authors reviewed titles and abstracts excluding
activities. the irrelevant studies. For each relevant paper
The matter is approached with various included in the literature review definitions,
methodologies and from different viewpoints. approaches, concepts, strategies, tools, and
Companies do the segmentation of the market, solutions were analyzed to enhance the ecosystem
while researchers do the segmentation of revolving around Green Marketing.

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The early stages of Green Marketing have been

LITERATURE REVIEW characterized by a strong focus on the final product
and its specific physical features. The differences
During the 70’s only environmentalists were were highlighted on how the product was
visioning sustainability as a realistic principle for constructed, looking at the product characteristics,
the future. In fact, the foundations of Green and its potential to influence consumers. In the
Marketing can be traced back to the concern of second stage, there is a shift towards sustainability
environmental issues of the 1970’s thanks to features with a focus on the products and services
Hennison and Kinnear (1976) which brought the that maximize positive environmental and social
idea of “ecological marketing… concerned with all impacts. This new and more holistic view of
marketing activities that have served to help cause marketing represents a new way to value
environmental problems and that may serve to sustainability.
provide a remedy for environmental problems”. In the 90’s, sustainability was still a vague concept
A study conducted by Freeman (1989) highlights with different interpretations. It was difficult to be
that the majority of consumers claim to be measured, translated into action, understood, and
environmentalists. It details that consumers are delivered by companies and governments. A
concerned about the environment. This component concrete framework that could be approved and
affects substantially their choices in regards to applied to all fields of humankind, especially to the
products and services. They are willing to pay a economy.
higher price for them. Thirty years later, according Polonsky (1995) defines “Green or Environmental
to Eccles and Klimenko (2019), consumers are still Marketing consists of all activities designed to
complaining about a lack of sustainable-related generate and facilitate any exchanges intended to
products and services. It means that the marketers satisfy human needs or wants, such that the
did not dedicate enough consideration and satisfaction of these needs and wants occurs, with
resources to the topic. minimal detrimental impact on the natural
McDaniel and Rylander (1993) recognize the 90’s environment.” The innovative point in the
as the "Earth Decade", when environmentalism definition is the protection through the detrimental
became one of the most important oppositions for impact on the natural environment.
marketers. Three points are critical for setting up a Due to the planet’s limited resources, humankind
Green Marketing strategy: product’s environmental must aim to maximize those resources finding the
implications, consumer attitude regarding political best way to achieve market objectives with
and social beliefs, awareness of Green Marketing minimum impact. Polonsky finds five causes to
profitability, and it should be an integrated part of explain why companies are increasing the use of
companies strategic plans. Two different Green Marketing: opportunity, because market
approaches to Green Marketing are proposed: demands are changing so the companies see it as
defensive strategy where companies do the potential competitive advantage to satisfy
minimum to meet the standards and avoid boycott consumers; social responsibility as the companies
and consequences, assertive strategy where realize that they are important players in the
companies get involved in order to perform a society, and they are accountable for their
sustainable competitive advantage, and to be the environmental policies; governmental pressure is
first mover on markets. an incentive to shift to sustainability via regulations
Peattie and Charter (1994), define Green Marketing and subventions given from the establishment;
as “the holistic management process responsible competitive pressure is a major force because
for identifying, anticipating and satisfying the companies realize that competitors try to promote
needs of customers and society, in a profitable and environmental behaviors and the strategy is a
sustainable way”. During the 90’s the challenges winning one; costs factors related to waste, or
for marketing seemed to be even bigger compared scarcity of a specific row material could force
with what it used to be. In the short term, companies towards sustainability.
environmental and social issues have gotten to be Mendleson and Polonsky (1995) collect evidence
major factors in the companies and the markets. that consumers' purchasing intention is related to
Companies must respond to the changing the products’ impact and they are willing to pay
consumer’s needs, regulations and social issues, more for it. However, green products credibility is
which reflects the expanding interest about undermined because of greenwashing techniques
environmental and social factors. In the long term, used by some companies. Major barriers are
the interest in sustainability will drive companies to created by the wrongdoing actors in terms of
reshape the organizational setup and embrace the consumer trust, cynicism, and confusion.
change, in those departments which support The lack of credibility is given by two causes,
marketing and other core functions (Shrivastava, misleading behaviors, and a partial integration of
1994). eco-friendly products. This usually is because there
is not a defined environmental awareness into

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corporate culture. Consumer cynicism is caused by concept of "Ecological Marketing", moving into
the impression that firms set out to jump on the another dimension of “Environmental Marketing”.
green train for speculative maneuvers and not for Marketing and marketers have not been statics
real involvement. Finally, the confusion is created actors. With that the evolution has continued to
by a lack of information without clear and sharp adapt to the needs of customers and consumers.
guidelines, definitions, and concepts. A suggested Taking into consideration more components they
solution could be creating strategic partnerships prepared the field for the design of the new
with environmental groups to improve the “Sustainable Marketing”. The three stages have
corporate image and consumer recognition. Other different driven forces and approaches for
techniques are product endorsements, corporate marketing:
sponsorships, and licensing of products. The  Ecological Marketing is driven by a wider
potential benefits of alliances are enormous. The initiative that aims to reduce the consumers’
reliability is substantially increased. There is a dependence on non-green products or services.
major access to information and markets. The  Environmental Green Marketing is driven by the
image of the company becomes better and the idea to normalize environmental damages to
environmental awareness is spread thus, boosting create green opportunities and competitive
public education. advantage.
In 1998, Green Marketing was still associated with  Sustainable Green Marketing, a broader
traditional marketing. It is still Green Marketing approach with the aim to create a sustainable
with the little “g” recalled by Dobson’s (1990), the economy.
Green Marketing that considers only managerial The topic is in a continuous development,
approaches; is not a real Green Marketing with the undergoing its fourth stage: ESG Marketing,
large “G” that involves sustainability. Kilbourne defined as “the holistic management process
(1998) propose a theoretical view of Green responsible for identifying, anticipating, and
Marketing composed by a multidisciplinary satisfying the needs of customers and society,
approach of political, economic, and technological focusing on Environmental, Social, and
perspectives to overwhelm the dominant social Governance factors that generate positive and
paradigm (Kilbourne, McDonagh & Prothero, measurable impact.” To deeply understand the
1997). implications related to ESG Marketing it is
The political and policy-maker component should important to analyze the evolution’s steps of Green
mitigate the conflict between economic growth, Marketing.
environmental consequences, and moral and ethical Green Marketing has been a major factor in
behaviors to create a framework for sustainable stimulating unsustainable consumption; however,
growth. at the same time a potential positive factor in the
On one side there are traditional marketing market mechanisms to empower social and
practices with the aim to satisfy the consumer environmental issues. The first aim of Green
preferences by economic metrics and analysis. On Marketing has been to reduce the negative impacts
the other side there is the rational judgement that on society and environment, caused by products
considers environmental and social consequences and entirely production systems that did not follow
that cannot be measured with profitability tools. any guidance aligned with environmental values.
There are many conflicts between the classic According to Peattie (2001) the first stage is called
economic paradigm and the sustainability concept. Ecological Green Marketing. The Ecological
The accumulation of capital from continuous Marketing is focused on energy resources, air
economic growth is not sustainable anymore. The pollution, oil and agro-chemicals issues. It is
result of this concentration is a maldistribution of concentrated on environmental problems. From
wealth and development in the world. marketers’ point of view Ecological Marketing has
The political component is fundamental to mediate a set of regulations’ constraints and increased costs.
economies and markets through normative rules. Not for all of them. There are some pioneers that
Some forms of environmental degradation are the strongly believed in environmental values and
result of market failures. People should be drove their businesses accordingly.
protected and they cannot be considered only a The second stage called Environmental Green
number and only as a consumer. Marketing developed during the 80’s. This decade
Peattie (2001) affirms that the 70’s developed was deeply signed by environmental accidents and
practices to incorporate environmental concerns damages portrayed by broad media coverage. The
into marketing strategies, principles, and values. Environmental Age is characterized by:
Marketing has gained traction and importance  Sustainability - involves a sustainable approach
helping to understand the relationship between the to consumption and production. It focuses on
environment, society, and the economy. It evolved natural resources, renewable energies,
over time, continuously shaping itself from the sustainable and viable pollution, and waste
production. It is an innovative approach that

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combines the physical environment with eco-friendly companies is immense and their
economy and society. Sustainability begins to existence is threatened daily.
create partnerships between companies, states, Polonsky and Rosenberger III (2001) identify
and environmental activists. It recognizes that external and internal pressure elements that drive
unsustainable production and consumption are companies to go green. As external elements are
the reason for different environmental negative part of consumer demands, competitors’ greening
outputs. actions, supplier requests. Cost and philosophy are
 Clean technologies - involves the design of the internal ones.
products and systems that produce less pollution The big challenge of Green Marketing is to achieve
and waste. the organizational objectives and consumers needs
 Green consumer - this idea is introduced by in a supplemental environmentally responsible
Elkington and Hailes (1988) affirming that way.
consumer behavior could be influenced by Menon and Menon (1997) propose to tackle this
environmental concerns. challenge by dividing Green Marketing activities in
 Competitive advantage - due to various Green three levels - strategic, quasi-strategic, and tactical.
Marketing success stories, it has been noted that The strategic level aims to change the corporate
environmental solutions lead to innovation and philosophy. The quasi-strategic level changes the
efficiency creating a lasting competitive business practices meanwhile, the tactical level
advantage. changes functional activities. Those three levels are
The Environmental Age strengthened the Green used to assess the amount of change required into
Marketing evolution with several outputs - global companies to align to Green Marketing principles.
focus, new product introductions, promotional As a holistic and integrated approach, Green
opportunities, emphasis on production, spotlight on Marketing requires an entire eco-mindset and an
packaging, new partnerships, and new information involvement in the overall corporate philosophy,
flows and requirements. The natural evolution from not only in just a few functional areas. Companies
the environmental wave focused on trying to must incorporate environmental elements into
achieve sustainability. Fuller (1999) defines internal processes at the initial stages of new
Sustainable Marketing as “the process of planning, product development, as well as, into complex
implementing and controlling the development, processes that require innovative green designs.
pricing, promotion, and distribution of products in Green positioning should ensure that all activities
a manner that satisfies the following three criteria: and behaviors incorporate environmental values
customer needs are met, organizational goals are into decision-making processes entirely. Usually
attained, and the process is compatible with eco- green products or services have higher initial price
systems.” The Sustainable Green Marketing is expenses but lower long-term costs and are
characterized by a few new elements: fundamental in highlighting the long-term benefits.
 Product costs – is considered the cost of Distribution is a key function to minimize
environmental capital (companies usually environmental damages. Best practices suggest
consider only the cost of financial, human, and modifying packaging, integrating transportation
manufactured capital). systems, recycling products that cannot be
 Emphasis on cost instead of price – reprocessed, and reducing waste.
environmentally related products are more Promoting Green Marketing is challenging because
expensive, but more economical usage. of greenwashing practices. The communication
 Better understanding of Environmental strategy needs to be substantive, delivering
Marketing – fits the physical environment in environmental information to consumers, and has
marketing strategies and models. meaningful connections with corporate activities.
Environmental groups can be an added value by
 Industry structure – the conventional supply
helping companies to understand and develop
chain is replaced by smart chains with focus on
recycling principles. green solutions and by implementing green
strategies and tactics.
 Consuming Vs. Using –requires shifting the
Prakash (2002) focuses on the relationship between
emphasis from purchasing and consuming to
Green Marketing, public policy, and environmental
using more durable products and services.
issues because Green Marketing is a component of
 Products Vs. Services – changes the mix of
the organizational strategies that requires
products and services by replacing the use of a
integration into traditional marketing mix in the
product with a service.
public policy processes and in the industrial
 Emphasis on Distribution – delocalization, ecology and environmental sustainability of
meaning shifting from global distribution chains companies.
to local high-tech technology and energy- Companies can become green by working on the
efficiency. management system, on the organizational
 Beyond the Niche – requires mainstream processes, and on the product.
environmental policies. The market pressure on

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Greening the management system means to create communication strategies for customers, policy
the right conditions in the company to prioritize the makers, and business executives. Disclosure could
greening shift of the organizational processes. be voluntary or mandatory. Voluntary disclosures
Companies decide to green the management increase the credibility of companies that decide to
system, processes and products for market or non- disclose.
market contexts. They need an integrated approach Ginsberg and Bloom (2004) divides the green
on both. On the market side, consumers pose to be companies’ space into four segments accordingly
the challenge. Being willing to pay a premium with the company’s strategies: Lean Green,
price for green products and services does not Defensive Lean, Shaded Green, and Extreme
automatically convert into a sale because of Green. Lean Green segment is composed of
benefit-cost calculations. Therefore, companies organizations that are not focused on marketing
should understand if they are a motivating player their green initiatives merely are willing to reduce
on the market or if they are just an accessory costs by strengthening efficiencies and creating a
player. On the nonmarket side, challenges are competitive advantage through lower costs. Their
materialized by normative pressures or by strategy is a long-term one and they try to
stakeholders’ demands. Policies could impact anticipate the green regulations. They do not
companies' budget demanding environmental promote their green processes and they are not
standards or behaviors. As well, companies must trying to set a differentiation strategy based on
respond to their stakeholders and take into green attributes.
consideration their preferences. Defensive Green segment is based on precautionary
Greening the organizational processes means to measures and responses to market competitors. The
redesign them with the aim to reduce aim is to strengthen the brand image being
environmental impact through new technologies, acknowledged that the green market is a strategic
modifying or adapting processes. Companies one with huge opportunities to grow and be
choose green organizational processes to profitable. They set up real environmental
communicate to shareholders the commitment initiatives, but do not maximize it with strong
towards eco-friendly standards. differentiation strategies to not create
Charter (1992) proposes that it is possible to green overwhelming consumer expectations.
a product by repairing, reconditioning, Shaded Green segment considers the green
remanufacturing, reusing, recycling, and reducing segment as an opportunity to have a competitive
it. Product greening is an efficient strategy for advantage through the development of innovative
companies that aim to communicate brand technologies and products. They invest in the long-
attributes because enable them to link their term scenario, implementing a systemwide shift
corporate identity to green attributes and to play a and environmentally friendly processes that require
key role in consumers’ choices. real commitment both financial and strategical.
Incorporating environmental issues in the corporate These kinds of companies have the capacity to
strategy should not consider only the economic truly differentiate their products or services, but
criteria, but rather also non-economic criteria that they do not because their market strategy is based
are worth under long-term perspectives. on enhancing other attributes and strengths. Green
Weiner (1993) argues that it is more efficient to use benefits are seen as secondary factors in the
indirect costs or collective sacrifices alternatively organizational strategy.
to individual sacrifices as premium fees. The Extreme Green segments embrace a holistic
advantage stays in providing an institutional approach to green values. Environmental issues are
framework that will surpass being received by the a major driving force of the business strategies and
citizens. Furthermore, institutional eco-friendly plans. There is a full integration of environmental
behaviors could influence citizens to adopt green and social values in the product life cycle. This
behaviors. To this extent, Derksen and Gartrell includes pricing, quality management,
(1993) shows communities with recycling manufacturing, and packaging. Usually these
programs in place are more willing to recycle companies belong to niche markets and are
compared with communities that do not have such extremely mission driven.
programs. Gurău and Ranchhod (2005) studied a comparative
Other Green Marketing strategies could be based analysis between British and Romanian firms on
on incentives frameworks. Consumers could be the international Green Marketing strategies. They
motivated towards green behaviors by modifying propose two models to assess the general and
existing living patterns plus by undertaking competitive conditions of green markets.
structural changes. The marketer’s job is to identify Consumers' attitude towards green and
these patterns and design products and services environmental standards (in terms of normative
accordingly. regulation) have been considered as variables to
Information disclosures could play a key role in the investigate general conditions. Intersecting the
Green Marketing development with effective variables four types of possible green markets are

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created. When low levels of demand find low start from a bigger organization. Usually, both
levels of environmental standards the output is categories implode forgetting the consumer. The
Underdeveloped Green Market, whereas, when the boutique entrepreneur fails because they direct the
environmental standard variable is high the output focus on rushing the growth and opening new
is Unfavorable Green market. High level of locations. The corporate entrepreneur fails trying to
demands intersecting low environmental standards shift the focus towards green lines which
creates Emergent Green market although when eventually are deleted or absorbed into
intersecting high environmental standards generate conventional ones. The Enviropreneur Marketing
Developed Green market. starts well but fails in the long-term because they
To assess the competitive conditions of green do not understand the customer and do not educate
markets the variables used are intensity of the themselves on the products.
competition and the market size. Intersecting the Compliance Marketing includes companies whose
variables four types of possible dimensions are only connection with green is responding to
created. When low intensity of competition finds regulations. After aligning with the requested
small market size the output is Niche opportunity, standards, they try to take advantage of this
whereas, when the market size is big the output is situation to promote their green behaviors. This
Strategic opportunity. High intensity of strategy is passive and there is no advance towards
competition intersecting small market size creates innovation.
Saturated market, although when intersecting big In order to not fall in those five situations, Green
market size generates Competitive Challenge. Marketing strategies should initiate with the focus
Peattie and Crane (2005) identifies five strategies on the customer and their comprehensive needs. It
which have been used by companies professing to is a long-term perspective that involves a massive
be Green Marketing strategies. They are anything use of a company's resources and innovation. This
but Green. Those strategies are: Green Spinning, approach involves redefining the products and
Green Selling, Green Harvesting, Enviropreneur services with a greater focus on them, mixing with
Marketing, and Compliance Marketing. the willingness to invest in product development
Green Spinning defines an approach where a and organizational processes.
company engages in a public relations offensive by Furthermore, the emphasis should be on the
using print and digital materials. Green Spinning benefits of the product. Advertising must aim to
uses lobbying to tackle the public skepticism about inform and not to only to get attention. Is it
their environmental behavior. This reaction focuses extremely important to look beyond current needs
on reputation and image and does not involve by focusing on the future, shaping accordingly the
organizational processes, products, services, or products, and educating the audience. Finally,
governance. This strategy is doomed to fail because companies have to take more responsibilities by
it is not going to convince anyone in the long-term. focusing on costs instead of price and transfer the
Green Selling consists in highlighting the financial advantage to the customers.
environmental features of existing products or Based on the idea of professor Theodore Levitt
services and selling them by adding green themes (1960) that introduced the concept of marketing
to promotional campaigns. This approach is sales myopia to refer to businesses that focus only on the
oriented and its scope is to promote without getting product features putting the consumer benefits in
into product development. It is indeed an second place. Ottman, Stafford, and Hartman
opportunistic response towards environmental (2006) affirm that Green Marketing must have the
concerns. objective to satisfy environmental quality and
Green Harvesting defines the behavior of customer satisfaction together. Giving more
companies that are using green principles and importance to one at the expense of the other could
optimizing their processes to achieve cost savings, turn into Green Marketing myopia. Many products
but they do not use it to give to customers a have failed because of the focus on green features
cheaper product. On the contrary, they keep the of the product over the consumers’ needs. There
green products at premium prices taking advantage are five features that green consumers desire from
of it in terms of cost-reduction and short-term green products: efficiency and cost effectiveness;
profitability. This strategy is doomed to fail health and safety; performance; symbolism and
because without continuing to massively invest in status; and convenience.
green processes the cost-reduction is going to be Charter, Peattie, Ottman, and Polonsky (2002)
less and less till the point of when the strategy loses define marketing as the interface between
momentum within the company. consumption and production. It is the mediator
Enviropreneur Marketing is the case of a between consumers and companies. Green
committed entrepreneur who seeks to bring Marketing includes environmental efforts pushing
innovative green strategies. This category is companies to realize products with green features
divided into boutique entrepreneurs who start from for green consumers. This relation between the
a small start-up and corporate entrepreneurs who consumer and the product is fundamental; focusing

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on the consumers, several studies (Meyer, 2001) Setting New Standards means to give examples and
shows that the market size of green products has to lead the industry in the Green direction. It is a
not changed over the decade from 1990-2000. The passive behavior that aims to citizens.
real sales of G=green products are smaller than All doing our bit consist in promoting messages
consumer purchase intention reported by surveys. and sharing activities that reduce the environmental
Davis (1993) argues that companies must calibrate impact, as co-sharing services, or recycling
their actions keeping customers in the first place, procedures. It is an active behavior that aims to
understanding, and satisfying their needs. consumers.
According to the Theory of Planned Behaviour Networked Resource Systems involved tech
(Ajzen, 1985) intentions do not necessarily mean development. Those technologies could be to
actions and they are determined by different factors enhance the efficiency of all industrial processes
such as attitudes, perception, and subjective norms. and reach a high level of sustainability, reducing
The same consumer may purchase or not a green waste, and redundancy. Furthermore, the web gives
product depending on the different scenarios, not the opportunity to share, rent, use, and re-use. It is
depending only by his/her characteristics. an active approach that involves everyone. Is the
Rex and Baumann (2007) argue that part of the technology going to save the planet?
solution could be focusing on ecolabelling, finding Green Marketing observed an evolution during the
that it is the more effective communication first decade of the 21st century. Thanks to advanced
instrument to give information and advance green technology, stricter legislation on environmental
product knowledge during a purchasing situation. standards, and a closed media attention, green
They offer two prospective to enhance Green products improved and gained consumer
Marketing: purchasing preferences. Lee (2008) studies the
 informing the consumers who are using factors that influence green purchasing behavior,
ecolabels. testing seven environmental predictors that affect
 strengthening the evolution of green supply and purchasing behaviors. The outcomes are the
demand through traditional marketing strategies following in order of intensity: social influence,
and marketing mix. environmental concern, concern for self-image,
Companies must not take for granted the existence perceived environmental responsibility, perceived
of green consumers. Their needs should be effectiveness of environmental behavior,
analyzed to design and promote the products environmental attitude, and perceived seriousness
accordingly. It is required a shift of industries' of environmental problems.
approach to green, moving from a passive rejection The purchasing behavior is driven by emotional
of green, to an active will to design and produce involvement rather than rationality. To have a
green. A well-established green consumption successful marketing campaign the key factors are:
system is far from reality, even if ecolabels are a  Network between peers for product presence and
powerful feature of Green communication and are social influence.
doing a fundamental campaign of education and  Emotional appeal towards environmental
advocacy towards customers. A great effort can be concerns.
done but is not feasible to achieve high market  Strong branding image focused on the concern of
shares only counting on ecolabels. environmental protection.
From a marketing point of view, ecolabelling  Environmental efficacy, given the perceived
provides product’s technical information, but does effectiveness of the adopted environmental
not make the product any greener. To achieve behavior.
sustainable green production and consumption, Green marketers should exploit social marketing
companies need a larger green market size. It is and introduce environmental messages into
possible by applying the traditional marketing rules networks in order to empower by word of mouth,
as marketing strategy and marketing mix, focusing peer to peer connections, using emotional
in depth on the analysis of consumers’ needs. promotions, propose an appealing green image and
Grant (2008) proposed a grid to present the four the perception of environmentally and socially
main strategies of Green Marketing. Consumers positive purchasing.
and citizens are related to potential passive or According to Polonsky (2011) Green Marketing
active behaviors of companies. The combination of should be integrated by transformative changes
the two variables generates: Green Brands, Setting with the purpose to create value for the
New Standards, All Doing Our Bit, and Networked environment, as well as individuals and society.
Resource System. The concept of Transformative Marketing is
Green Brands offer ecological advantages for different from traditional marketing, which is
customers that are willing to make it a priority. The focused on consumption. Transformative
segment is composed of companies that target both Marketing tries to enhance the quality of life and
retail consumers and B2B clients. It is a passive improve the environment.
behavior.

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Green Marketing is guilty of not achieving long- over time due to the raising relevance of
term benefits, and failure is driven by the behavior environmental sustainability and Green Marketing
of consumers, companies, and governments that strategies. Compared with the beginning there are
applied an anthropocentric approach. many ways of segmenting Green audiences and
Transforming Green Marketing is challenging, and consumers and the relevance of green brands has
the solutions must be calibrated to the complexity increased hugely giving options of differentiation.
of problems and factors. There are three possible The market has many types of green products and
actions to shift Green Marketing into services and consumers are willing to pay an extra
Transformative Green Marketing: for green products feeling responsibility towards
 Marketers should find ways to communicate the the environment. Supply chain and vendors play a
added value resulted from the integration of key role in the green development, ecolabels, and
environmental and social concerns. environmental advertisement are essential tools to
 Effective education of human-environmental sustain the market. All of this means that the
relations through advocacy programmes that interest towards environmental sustainability is
includes stakeholders. growing and is going to be a key component in the
 Green Marketing should focus on the human design, development and market of new products
quality of life and environmental protection, and services.
forgetting the short-term value and over-
consumption.
Rahbar and Wahid (2011) consider Eco-labelling, CONCLUSIONS
Eco-branding, and Environmental Advertisement
as tools to solve the Green Marketing paradigm and This study analyzes and synthesizes the evolution
find a feasible way to raise perception, awareness of Green Marketing since its emergence. The
of green products and drive the consumers’ authors confirm a growing interest towards the
purchase behavior towards eco-friendly products. topic with an evolution of the conceptual meaning.
Given the complexity of consumers’ behavior is Sustainability, environmental responsibilities, and
not meaningful to generalize; the diversity of social implication are not a passing trend, but are
cultural and demographic context should be growing even stronger and well-integrated within
considered and translated into different variables; companies’ strategies. The review analyzes
does not exist any marketing tools applicable to all definitions of Green Marketing, concepts,
situations. strategies, tools and mistakes. It is a useful reading
Eco-labelling, Eco-branding, and Environmental for researchers, managers, and scholars willing to
Advertisement are studied to enhance consumers’ extend their knowledge. The paper highlights
knowledge about eco-friendly products and various perspectives, shows that consumers shift
services. Eco-labels are used to promote the the focus from specific physical features to
identification of green products and to diversify maximize positive environmental and social
from conventional products. Their main functions impacts. Since the first definition of Hennison and
are to inform together with enhancing the quality Kinnear (1976) evidence indicates that consumers
and value of green products. Eco-label is a are willing to pay a premium price for green
powerful tool that helps consumer’s decision- products. That does not involve strictly the product
making by giving them precious information. Eco- features, but involves the entire process including
branding refers to brands aligned with the the perception of the brand and how committed and
environment and helps customers to differentiate loyal it is towards the cause. Many companies are
from conventional products. Environmental early adopters of this new attitude and their long-
Advertisement is used to introduce green products term bet is paying well. Going green gives
to eco-friendly consumers through media and green competitive advantage and the pressure on non-
techniques. Rahbar and Wahid (2011) run an green businesses is becoming huge. A rewarding
analysis to understand how these three tools are procedure adopted by some “early birds'' is to have
related with the consumers’ purchase behavior. the endorsement of environmental activists and
They affirm that eco-labelling and eco-branding are groups that somehow guarantee the well-doing of
positively significant variables while the brand. On the other side, there are many
Environmental Advertisement is not significant. businesses that have exploited the green path with
Environmental Advertisement does enhance the the only purpose to take advantage and fool
consumers’ knowledge about Green products but customers and competitors. These behaviors have
does not influence their purchase intentions due to done damages to all green players, creating
low credibility of Green advertisements. rejection, cynicism and confusion. It is challenging
Dangelico and Vocalelli (2017) analyze the not only for businesses but also for governments
predominant definitions of Green Marketing and and societies overall. Policymakers should embrace
their evolution during the different ages and stages the change, as well as build strong frameworks to
since its introduction. The definition has changed provide a sustainable business environment for

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companies. The partnership public-private is study of British and Romanian firms.

fundamental to shape these ideal conditions. In International Marketing Review, Volume 22
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