GREEN MARKETING: PREFERENCES AND PATHS? Nigamananda Biswas1

Abstract: Green marketing is a vital constituent of the holistic marketing concept. Many global players in diverse businesses are now successfully implementing green marketing practices. Green marketing is a new marketing concept and has become a corporate buzzword. It has been a new fashion for the marketers to be greener for gaining competitive advantage over the competitors in the turbulent market. The present paper has made an attempt to highlight the reasons of adopting green marketing approaches over the traditional marketing by the organizations. It has also identified some paths of going green to have edge over the other players in the same industry.

Introduction Green marketing is inevitable for any type of organization. According to the American Marketing Association (AMA) ‘green marketing’ is the marketing of products that are presumed to be environmentally safe. It incorporates a broad range of activities, including product modification, changes to the production process, packaging changes, as well as modifying advertising. Defining green marketing is not a simple task where several meanings intersect and contradict each other. Other similar terms used are ‘Environmental Marketing’ and ‘Ecological Marketing’. Ecological Marketing is a holistic marketing and environmental approach (Green or Environmental Marketing) comprise of all activities designed to generate and facilitate any exchanges intended to satisfy customer needs or wants with minimal detrimental impact on the natural environment with a view to have long-lasting impact on the creations of almighty. Business firms have risen to the occasion and have started responding to environmental challenges by adopting green marketing approaches. Green consumerism has played a catalystic role in ushering corporate environmentalism and making business firms green marketing oriented. "Green Marketing" refers to holistic marketing concept