The right of consumers for honest green claims

• Author: Ganimete Podvorica
• Position: PHD Candidate in Marketing at University of Prishtina
• Pages: 287-295

ISSN 2410-759X Balkan Journal of Interdisciplinary Research Special Issue No 1

Acces online at www.iipccl.org IIPCCL Publishing, Tirana-Albania June 2015

287

e right of consumers for honest green claims

Ganimete Podvorica

PHD Candidate in Marketing at University of Prishtina

Abstract

Advertisers and marketers are renewing their interest in green marketing by putting more weigh

to green claims due to notable recent developments on improving environmental sustainability.

However, green claims such as carbon neutral, no or low greenhouse gas emissions, degradability

claims, claims that products are “free” of certain chemicals or materials, claims that products are

locally produced or organic, claims on recyclability and recycled, claims on compostability, claims

related to energy usage and waste reduction are creating vicious cycle at consumers perception

and behavior. e empirical data is collected through quantitative research method using

questionnaire as an instrument. Findings reveal that green claims as advertised are not meeting

consumer expectations; hence they have to be subject to regulations through a combination of

state advertising, environment and consumer protection laws.

Key words: Environmental, consumer, green marketing, green claims, sustainability.

Introduction

Green marketing frequently has been associated with Environmental marketing and

Ecological marketing while attempts are being made to develop marketing response

in order to breakdown the controversy and doses of confusion. Environmental

impacts are the third most important factor for EU consumers, aer quality and price

(Eurobarometers, 2013). Although environmental issues inuence all human activities,

few academic disciplines have integrated green issues into their literature, especially

marketing (Polonsky, 2010). According to Peattie (1995) “this is perhaps not surprising

since key concepts such as green, environment, sustainable and marketing mean dierent

things to dierent people”.

e American Marketing Association (AMA) held the rst workshop on “Ecological

Marketing” in 1975 in Austin, Texas. e overall objective of workshop was examination

of marketing activities impact on the environment. At this workshop ecological

marketing was dened by academics, practitioners, and public policy makers as: “the

study of the positive and negative aspects of marketing activities on pollution, energy

depletion and non-energy resource depletion” (Henion & Kinnear 1976), on the other

hand green marketing was dened as “the marketing of products that are presumed to be

environmentally safe”. According to Polonsky (1994) “Green or Environmental Marketing

consists of all activities designed to generate and facilitate any exchanges intended to

satisfy human needs or wants, such that the satisfaction of these needs and wants occurs,

with minimal detrimental impact on the natural environment”.

Green marketing was given prominence in the last three decades starting at late 1980s.