An exploratory study of theories of green marketing and its practices

Abstract

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 also become so concerned about green marketing activities. Attention was drawn to the subject in late1970’s when the American Marketing Association organized a workshop on Ecological Marketing in 1975. Green Marketing has been an important academic research topic since its inception. But at the same time one of the biggest problems with the green marketing area is that there has been little attempt to academically examine environmental or green marketing. Although environmental issues influence all human activities, few academic disciplines have integrated green issues into their literature. The aim of the study was to explore research and real-life examples of green marketing that may help in future empirical research. This paper attempts to examine the concept and evolution of green marketing, identify what makes marketing green. An attempt has also been made to discuss some examples of green marketing practices in Indian context and ascertain the ways to improve consumer appeal for environmentally preferable products through different marketing strategies.