Enviropreneurial marketing in greening corporate activities

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore the enviropreneurial marketing approach used by firms in China and its impact on the success of green marketing actions, with the aim of drawing useful lessons from the literature and successful green firms.Design/methodology/approachThis study follows the inductive case study approach, and the qualitative data come from a study of four firms engaging in enviropreneurial marketing activities. Interview data were triangulated with qualitative data from other sources.FindingsThe evidence from this study indicates that enviropreneurial marketing plays a central role in developing innovative product or services, adopting an innovative and pragmatic green marketing mix that differentiates and creates changes within industry and markets.Research limitations/implicationsThe main limitation of this study is that data samples are from successful firms labelled as “green” by the Chinese authorities, based on winning “official” awards. These do not necessarily represent the opinions of a cross section of firms within China with respect to enviropreneurial marketing. Future studies should include a mixed population of firms.Practical implicationsPolicy makers and marketing practitioners need to consider drivers to ensure that Chinese firms integrate enviropreneurial marketing activities, which need to complement the delivery of functional value.Social implicationsGreen initiatives/changes within the firm seem to be partly driven by the environmental orientation of these firms’ founders, thus, developing an environmental orientation in managers may be important to drive enviropreneurial marketing activities.Originality/valueThis study contributes by confirming the current literature on green marketing and examining the positive impact of enviropreneurial marketing on firms’ performance in the context of marketing in emerging markets.