MARKETING A Study with reference to consumers in Visakhapatnam City

Introduction:
The current rapid growth in the economy and the patterns of consumers consumption and behavior worldwide are the main cause of environmental deterioration. As the environment continues to worsen, it has become a persistent public concern in the developed countries and has recently awakens developing countries to the green movement. The past decades are witness to the rapid economic growth through increasing consumers consumption worldwide. This is turn causes environmental deterioration through over-consumption and utilization of natural resources. The consequences of environmental degradation are global warming, depletion of stratospheric ozone layer, pollution of sea and rivers, noise and light pollution, acid rain and desertification (Ramlogan, 1997). As the environment continues to worsen, it has become a persistent public concern in developed countries. Furthermore it has also awakens developing countries to the green movement for preservation of the environment.

Green Marketing:
The term Green marketing came into prominence in the late 1980s and early 1990s.Green marketing is considered one of the major trends in modern business (Kassaye, 2001; McDaniel and Rylander, 1993; Pujari and Wright, 1996). According to AMA( The American Marketing Association), Green Marketing is the marketing of products that are presumed to be environmentally safe. Thus green marketing incorporates a broad range of activities, including product modification, changes to the production process, packaging changes, as well as modifying advertising. Soonthonsmai (2007) defined green marketing as the activities taken by firms that are concern about the environment or green problems by delivering the environmentally sound goods or services to create consumers and societys satisfaction.

Green Consumers and Green products:

In general, green product is known as an ecological product or environmental friendly product. Green Products refers to a products that incorporates the strategies of Recycled or conserved Eco friendly Using less toxic materials Refillable Biodegradable Consumers who are aware of and interested in environmental issues are called green consumers (Soonthonsmai, 2007).

Objectives of the Study:

i. To know and understand the consumers attitude towards green products. To examine the level of consumer awareness about green products. To study the impact of green advertisement and consumer buying behavior . To examine the role of companies and other agencies in promoting green marketing. To make recommendations to improve green marketing practices.

ii. iii.
iv. v.

Research Methodology:
The present study which is in exploratory in nature, conveniencesampling technique to be used to gather data and information from the respondents through a structured questionnaire. A sample size of 200 respondents will be selected by using random sampling method. The secondary data will be collected from the published sources such as annual report, magazines, newspaper and internet.

REASONS FOR USING GREEN MARKETING IN FIRMS

Organizations perceive environmental marketing to be an opportunity that can be used to achieve its objectives Organizations believe they have a moral obligation to be more socially responsible Governmental bodies are forcing firms to become more responsible Competitors' environmental activities pressure firms to change their environmental marketing activities Cost factors associated with waste disposal, or reductions in material usage forces firms to modify their behavior

Dark side of Green Marketing:

Most customers choose to satisfy their personal needs before caring for the environment. Overemphasizing greenness rather than customer needs can prove devastating for a product. Many customers keep away from products labeled green because they see such labeling as a marketing gimmick, and they may lose trust in an organization that suddenly claims to be green. Green products require renewable and recyclable material, which is costly. Requires a technology, which requires huge investment in R & D. Water treatment technology, which is too costly. Majority of the people are not aware of green products and their uses. Majority of the consumers are not willing to pay a premium for green products.

Examples:
Coca-Cola ITC NIKE Wipro technologies HCL technologies