June 20, 2007

Successful Green Marketing Focuses On Consumer Needs

Green marketing must satisfy two objectives: Improved environmental quality and customer satisfaction. Misjudging either or overemphasizing the former at the expense of the latter is what can be called green marketing myopia - a corporate preoccupation with a products “greenness” rather than consumer needs, Marketing Profs reports.

When consumers are convinced of “non-green” benefits, they are more inclined to adopt green products (whether promoted as such or not). According to the article, green products succeed when marketers kept their eyes on ”The Three Cs”: consumer value positioning, calibration of consumer knowledge, and credibility of product claims

Here are some tips from the article:

• Educate consumers with marketing messages that connect environmental product attributes with desired consumer value (for example, “pesticide-free produce is healthier,” “energy-efficiency saves money,” or “solar power is convenient”).
• Frame environmental product attributes as “solutions” for consumer needs, for example, “rechargeable batteries offer longer performance.”
• Create engaging and educational Web sites about environmental products’ desired value.
• Make sure that environmental product and consumer claims are specific, meaningful, and qualified.
• Encourage positive word of mouth via consumers’ social and internet communication networks with compelling, interesting, or entertaining information about environmental products.

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