What´s Sustainable Marketing?

INTRODUCTION

Sustainability proposes that socially responsible firms will somehow financially outperform other less responsible firms in the long run resulting from customer loyalty, better employee morale, or public policy favouring ethical conduct. Empirical results testing this hypothesis are mixed, neither suggesting that more responsible firms, on the average, have a clear financial advantage nor a large burden. A useful approach is to determine specific circumstances under which a firm may actually find the more responsible approach to be more profitable and under which circumstances responsible behaviour can be pursued without an overall significant downside. And to add to it the ethical responsibilities that a firm faces when a more responsible approach may be more costly.

The individual, the firm, the society

Different individuals vary in their ethical convictions. For example: some are willing to work for the tobacco industry while others are not. Some are willing to mislead potential customers while others will normally not do this. There are, however, also broader societal and companywide values that may influence the individual business decision maker. In cultures where the stricter interpretation applies, a firm may be unwilling to set up an interest-based financing plan for customers who cannot pay cash. The firm might, instead, charge a higher price, with no additional charge for interest. Some firms also have their own ethical stands, either implicitly or explicitly. For example, Google has the motto “Do no evil.” Other firms, on the other hand, may actively encourage lies, deception, and other reprehensible behaviour. Some firms elect to sell in less developed countries products that have been banned as u...

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... go beyond a specific industry and region’s guidelines to inculcate ec- friendly practices of doing business at every function. They simply do not just use ‘green’ to market their products and services.

Consumers will often note the decreasing carbon footprints rather than buying a green machine that decreases their cost. Only a very small segment of the population has the exposure and knowledge to switch to organic products, clothes, footwear and the like

What will make a consumer loosen their wallet to own or use a green brand?

Commitment from Indian consumers will come in a matter of time. The Indian consumers prefer buying products that help add bucks into their wallet. The green benefits that come are considered as extra candy in their bag.

Works Cited

http://www.afaqs.com/news/story/30613_Not-so-Green-After-All

Consumer psychology

Wikipedia