Identification of green marketing strategies: perspective of a developing country

Abstract

Green marketing is becoming a trend, and many companies have implemented it as a strategy for winning the market. However, attention to the importance of green marketing strategies has been relatively limited compared to its importance as a viable strategy, and this happens, particularly, in developing countries. As a result, the green marketing strategies of companies in developing countries are not yet fully recognized. So, this study is intended to explore marketing practices of the selected companies in Indonesia. The research is a case study of three selected companies producing herbal medical drinks, natural spa-related beauty products, and natural coloring fabric. They were selected for several reasons: producing of green products, conducting of green practices, and marketing the products abroad. In-depth interview of the owner or in-charged manager of each company was used to obtain the data about its marketing practices. The data were then classified into four Ps of marketing mix, and interrelationship concepts generated from the data were systematically identified using NVivo to get clear picture of their marketing strategy. The results indicated that the companies undertook only quasi green marketing: dealt with green product and conducted green practices but did not apply green pricing, green distribution, and green promotion. This brings implication for companies marketing a green product to take advantage by differentiating their product based on the green characteristics of the product. This study also contributes to knowledge about green marketing strategy in a developing economy that is still limited.