Michael Jay Polonsky

A stakeholder theory approach to designing environmental marketing strategy

Discusses stakeholder theory (ST) in the context of developing environmental marketing strategy. ST has not been utilized extensively in the marketing literature. Discusses how environmental marketing strategy can be improved by following the four‐step stakeholder management process. This process involves: identifying the relevant stakeholder groups; determining the stake of each group; determining how effectively the “expectations” of each group are met; and developing corporate objectives and priorities that consider the stakeholder′s interests. Through understanding and attempting to socialize key stakeholders, environmental marketing strategy can be made more effective. Provides some examples of the stakeholder socialization process.

Using strategic alliances to develop credible green marketing

Manufacturers of consumer goods face various problems when they attempt to integrate environmental attributes into their marketing mix. In many cases the inclusion of environmental issues in the marketing mix is largely motivated by the organization′s desire to address consumers′ increasing level of environmental awareness. However, producers face three problems when they attempt to utilize environmental marketing: a lack of credibility; consumer cynicism; consumer confusion over claims. Strategic alliances with environmental groups can assist manufacturers of consumer goods to overcome these problems, as well as provide other advantages. These other advantages are: increased consumer reliability in green products and their claims; increased access to environmental information; increased access to new markets; publicity and reduced public criticism; and education of consumers about key environmental issues relating to a firm′s product. To achieve these benefits, producers need to follow a careful selectio...

Reevaluating green marketing: a strategic approach

A lot of companies today are asking, “Can we be green, clean, and profitable all at the same time?” While many have been trying to promote a greener image, some have been unable to live up to their claims. So consumer skepticism of “green hype” is an understandable reaction, especially when firms attempt to associate themselves with environmental issues without substantially improving their environmental performance or that of their products. Opportunistic tactical greening, notes Peattie (1999b), often results from a view that “Commodities which have no market are assumed to be worthless” and “Market mechanisms can correct environmental problems.” Although such opportunism is on the decline, its early use caused long-term damage to genuine environmentally responsible activities. Of course, this is not to suggest that all tactical greening is inappropriate or exploitative; rather, firms need to realize that there may be limited long-term benefit to this approach, unless tactical activities are supported by broader organizational greening. Additional complications with greening also arise from the fact that traditional marketing and management tools, such as the marketing audit or PEST (political/economic/social/technological) analysis, fail to fully integrate the environmental implications of actions into the marketing process. Even when marketers do attempt to include environmental issues in their activities, they rarely do so in a sustainable long-term approach. Responsible green marketing has evolved into a complex, integrated: strategic, and tactical process. As such, it is a holistic approach rather than the simple “marketing hype” or tactical opportunism practiced by some. It expands on the basic transaction concept by minimizing a transaction’s negative impact on the natural environment. At a fundamental level: green marketing becomes part of the “cultural fabric” that binds an organization together, flowing from the spirit A complex and integrated stfutegic too/, “true *’ green marketing has moved beyond the simple ecological posturing of 20 years ago. of the firm into its strategic approach and on into its tactical implementations. The altered corporate mindset that results is seen as presenting new opportunities to achieve sustainable competitive advantage in an entrepreneurial or “enviropreneurial” fashion. With the shift from marketing hype to this holistic mindset, one might exclaim: “Green marketing is dead. Long live green marketing!” When adopting the new mindset, a firm must reevaluate the very nature of the business-consumer transaction process, even questioning how to create value. As Peattie (1999a) notes, this might involve going so far as to challenge established assumptions and ways of thinking by asking: Do consumers need to actually “own “products, or are there other ways of delivering wantsatisfying capabilities? For example, working with the Japanese government, Toyota is trying out a program whereby people purchase “transportation” without owning a car. Instead, they buy access to an electronic automobile fleet that can be used to travel short distances to shops and/or connect with traditional public transportation, which is also accessed as part of the transportation package. In this fashion, Toyota is removing the need for individual ownership while still meeting consumers’ core need for transportation. Greening has provided the impetus for Toyota to develop new products and profits, as well as reducing their negative environmental impact. Why should firms engage in green marketing? What are the various levels of greening? What does implementation involve? And what are its

Linking sponsorship and cause related marketing

Sponsorship activities have become a mainstream component of the marketing mix. As such, there are attempts to make these activities more effective by leveraging them using advertising, sales promotions, or in an increasing number of cases, through cause related marketing (CRM). This paper explores the relationship between sponsorship and CRM and identifies the potential opportunities that arise from leveraging sponsorships using CRM. The paper also examines the limitations of CRM as a leveraging strategy, puts forward a typology for categorising CRM and identifies some future research issues related to CRM‐leveraging of sponsorship.

Environmental NGO–business collaboration and strategic bridging: a case analysis of the Greenpeace–Foron Alliance

Environmental NGO–business collaborative partnerships, commonly called green alliances, are encouraging corporate enviropreneurship, entrepreneurial innovations that address environmental problems and result in operational efficiencies, new technologies and marketable ‘green’ products. Aside from offering environmental, scientific and legal expertise, environmental NGOs can provide linkages to other societal stakeholders, referred to as strategic bridges, to support enviropreneurial initiatives. This article focuses on the linkage capabilities of environmental NGOs by developing an extended strategic bridging framework that articulates necessary process contingencies and engagement strategies for building effective bridges with environmental stakeholders. Propositions are advanced and tested in an analysis of the alliance between Greenpeace and Foron Household Appliances in Germany during 1992–93 for the marketing of an environmentally responsible refrigerator. Stakeholder characteristics and partnership outcomes reveal managerial implications and conceptual extensions of strategic bridging in green alliances, and future research directions are discussed. Copyright

Designing Vignette Studies in Marketing

Abstract In empirical marketing studies, vignettes are increasingly used to develop measurement scales, assess public/organizational policy, and study key variables in judging the decisions or actions of a protagonist. Despite their frequent use, integrated recommendations for creating vignettes are limited. A brief introduction to vignette methods and their previous applications in marketing is provided. This is followed by suggestions for designing vignettes and vignette-based studies based on a review of the literature. The suggestions form a checklist that should help researchers who conduct vignette-based studies to consider all relevant issues and thus obtain valid data.

Can the Overcommercialization of Cause-Related Marketing Harm Society?

The role of social responsibility within business has been debated for decades. It appears that there is a growing understanding that doing the right thing for society can not only be good for business but is also a responsibility of the modern corporation. Causes, corporations, and society have benefited from corporate involvement with social issues. However, it also appears that in some cases, there may be potential pitfalls associated with merging social and corporate objectives. The “overcommercialization” of some activities designed to benefit society may in fact harm those that these activities are trying to help. This article examines potential pitfalls associated with cause-related marketing and provides recommendations for reducing the potential negative consequences.

Environmental commitment: a basis for environmental entrepreneurship?

Concern for the environment is gathering in importance within organisations and it is increasingly becoming part of organisational strategic agendas. Within that dynamic, organisations are seeking mechanisms through which environmental concerns are championed and fostered. In this paper, we argue that entrepreneurialism can be an effective such mechanism. But we further argue that this will be predicated on taking a different view of the basis of entrepreneurial behaviour, one that is based on various dimensions of commitment. We posit a model of environmental entrepreneurship and discuss the organisational implications of the model.

Global branding and strategic CSR: an overview of three types of complexity

Purpose – There is general agreement that global brands should ensure that they incorporate social responsibility. To do this properly, organisations must understand what it means to be socially responsible and how they can leverage their actions. The paper proposes consideration of three distinct areas: the range of social responsibility issues, what the organisations actually do and how to leverage those corporate social responsibility (CSR) actions. This paper seeks to conceptually develop these three areas of complexity – Issue, Organisational and Communication – as it is only after organisations understand these three areas that they can effectively leverage socially responsible activities in their brands.Design/methodology/approach – This research undertakes a review and synthesis of the academic, practitioner and industry literature examining CSR and the brand, addressing the three areas of complexity – issue, organisational and communication.Findings – The research finds that within these three ar...

Environmentally sustainable food production and marketing: Opportunity or hype?

Purpose – To identify and analyse the beliefs of value-chain intermediaries regarding the production and marketing of food products conforming to environmentally sustainable standards. Design/methodology/approach – The methodology was in-depth, semi-structured, face-to-face interviews with senior managers of food companies across the value chain. Findings – In Australia, the demand for foods that are produced under environmentally sustainable standards has been slow to take-off because customers do not perceive these products as offering any special benefits; customers distrust the claims made by organisations; these products are much more expensive than traditional products, and the implementation of environmental standards is expensive. Customers claim that the use of different terminologies such as organic, green and environmentally friendly in promoting food products is confusing. Research limitations/implications – Findings are not generalisable because the study is based on a small sample. Practical implications – Value-chain intermediaries are unlikely to voluntarily adopt environmental standards because of low demand for such foods and the high costs of adopting and monitoring environmentally sustainable production and marketing regimes. Originality/value – The story supports previous research findings from the USA and EU.