The Benefits Of Greenwashing

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The level of success of green marketing depends on levels of consumer motivation, ability and opportunity. To motivate consumers to be green, the consumer must believe that global climate change exists, and that the individual actions that they take can make a difference. Ability depends on both the

Introduction:
Green Marketing is the marketing of products that are presumed to be environmentally friendly. For the large part of consumer history the environment was not a hot-button issue. The industrial revolution and urbanization disregarded the effects on the environment. Largely until the oil shortages in the 1970s, and the global concern of global climate change shifted consumer attitudes. Companies who are seen as sustainable often have higher brand values as compared to companies with little to no history of sustainable activities.
In order to understand the effects and consequences of Greenwashing are, a working definition must be established. According to Hoyer, Greenwashing is defined as the misleading use of environmental claims for marketing purposes (2013). An example would be claiming a product is organic when in fact there is no proof of that claim. Greenwashing is deceptive and leads to distrust if a company is caught engaging in deceptive tactics. A problem lies in how new environmentally centered marketing is compared to other aspects of marketing. Few laws have been passed to regulate claims companies make regarding the environment.
What constitutes Greenwashing is debated, an ethical gray area exists between what is exaggerating to sell products and outright lying. “A 2010 study conducted by TerraChouse, a private environmental marketing firm, found that over ninety-five percent of green products were guilty...

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..., attention to detail and consistency is needed. A reputation needs to be established of the brand or organization caring about the environment consistently. (Ankit, 2013). Because of the stubbornness of consumers, millions of dollars are spent in campaigns to convince both cognitively and affectively that a company cares about global climate change and making a lasting impact.
One approach to long term success in green marketing is to use multi-facet approaches to advertisements. “There are various dimensions in green advertising: One is education-focused which aims to enhance consumers understanding towards the nature and environment; another is commercial-focused which is designed to increase the sales of products or services” (Ankit, 2013 p. 14). The combined result of two different types of focused advertisements is increased consumer recall and impressions.

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