Green marketing has not lived up to the hopes and dreams of many leaders and activists. Although opinion polls consistently show that consumers prefer to choose a green product, less friendly to the environment, when all other things are equal, these "other things" are rarely equal in the minds of consumers. For example, when consumers are forced to compromise between product attributes or helping the environment, the environment is almost never wins. And hopes for organic products also suffered from the perception that such products are of inferior quality or does not meet its environmental commitments. And yet, not so bad, as a growing number of people are willing to pay for environmentally friendly products - from organic foods to energy-efficient appliances - attests. How, then, is the company to deal with these problems? They should always keep in mind that consumers are unlikely to compromise on traditional product attributes, such as convenience, availability, price, quality, and performance. This is even more important to understand, however, that there is no green marketing strategy that is right for every company. The authors suggest that companies need to follow one of the four strategies, depending on market and competitive conditions, the relatively passive and silent "lean green" approach to a more aggressive and visible "extreme green" approach - with "defensive green" and "green shaded "in between." Hide
by Jill Meredith Ginsberg and Paul N. Bloom Source: MIT Sloan Management Review 8 pages. Publication Date: 01 Oct 2004. Prod. #: SMR157-PDF-ENG
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