Analysing the impact of green marketing strategies on consumer purchasing patterns in Mauritius
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/20425961211221615 |
| Published date | 01 January 2012 |
| Date | 01 January 2012 |
| Pages | 36-59 |
| Author | Thanika Devi Juwaheer,Sharmila Pudaruth,Marie Monique Emmanuelle Noyaux |
| Subject Matter | Public policy & environmental management |
Analysing the impact of green
marketing strategies on consumer
purchasing patterns in Mauritius
Thanika Devi Juwaheer and Sharmila Pudaruth
Faculty of Law and Management, University of Mauritius, Reduit,
Mauritius, and
Marie Monique Emmanuelle Noyaux
MC Design Limited, Port Louis, Mauritius
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of green marketing strategies on
consumer purchasing patterns in Mauritius. The present research also explores the possibility of
introducing greener patterns of consumption into contemporary lifestyles in the current context where
green products are increasingly available.
Design/methodology/approach – This paper reviews the theory of green marketing to identify
how customers are persuaded to purchase greener products. It also reports the empirical results of
a consumer survey on green marketing strategies by the questionnaire method. The survey
questionnaires were administered to 150 respondents visiting various hypermarkets and
supermarkets. The questionnaires were processed and analysed with the statistical programme
SPSS, using descriptive, correlation and factor analysis.
Findings – The findings provide some interesting clues regarding customers’ perceptions on
environmental concerns and green products. Further findings suggest that most consumers have
expressed a great interest in the protection of the environment and they are strongly concerned about
the environment and its degradation. Hence, business executives should host workshops and seminars
so as to educate customers on environmental protection and environmental-friendly products. Results
also indicated an overall positive correlation between effective green marketing strategies and
customers’ purchasing patterns for green products. Therefore, there is a powerful urge for companies
to promote green branding, eco-labelling and green packaging strategies in order to encourage a
greener pattern of consumption among consumers in Mauritius.
Practical implications – The paper suggests a stepping approach to consumer purchasing patterns
for greener products could be exploited more within consumer groups that have strong environmental
concerns and beliefs in Mauritius. The results also offer precious knowledge on the effectiveness of
green marketing strategies which can assist both private and public enterprises in developing and
designing appealing green products that will be favoured by customers.
Originality/value – Although green marketing has been an important research topic for several
decades, hardly any research has been focused on the impact of green marketing strategies on
consumer purchasing patterns in the context of developing countries. This paper has analysed the
strength of environmental concerns and beliefs and has provided some insights on green marketing
strategies and the various managerial implications have been fully addressed in order to favour the
consumption of greener products in Mauritius.
Keywords Mauritius, Developing countries, Consumer behaviour, Marketing strategy,
Green customers, Green marketing strategies, Green consumer purchasing patterns
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Green marketing has been an important academic research topic fo r at least three
decades (Peattie, 1995; Polonsky and Mintu-Wimsatt, 1995; Schlegelmilch et al., 1996;
Fuller, 1999; Kalafatis et al., 1999; Hartmann et al., 2005). Similarly, as pointed out by
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World Journal of Entrepreneurship,
Management and Sustainable
Development
Vol. 8 No. 1, 2012
pp. 36-59
rEmeraldGroup Publishing Limited
2042-5961
DOI 10.1108/20425961211221615
36
WJEMSD
8,1
Papadopoulos et al. (2010), green consumers have become a driving force behind how
companies do business, and these ecological customers are creating a new economy
around the globe. Indeed, the “green consumer” concept was the epicentre of the
environmental marketing strategies as well as a key concept, on which prominent
marketing academicians and professionals focused at the end of 1980s
and in the early 1990s (Diamantopoulos et al., 1994; Elkington, 1994; Shrivastava,
1995; Porter and Van der Linde, 1995; Chan and Lau, 2000). Throughout the 1990s,
researchers continued to aver that the “green market appeared to be real and growing”
(Menon and Menon, 1997), and “expanding at a remarkable rate” (Schlegelmilch et al.,
1996). In a similar vein, many green products have regained consumer confidence in the
2000s (Gura
˘u and Ranchhod, 2005).
According to Gupta and Ogden (2009), the industry for green products was
estimated at over $200 billion in 2006. Various researchers have spurred interest in
issues surrounding environmental conservation and protection in the marketplace
(Mintel, 2006). Together, with the continuous rise of growing global concern about the
environmental quality, green marketing has picked up momentum (Stafford, 2003;
Ottman et al., 2006). As highlighted by Papadopoulos et al. (2010), green marketing is
expected to strengthen and influence the market even more in Greece and the “green
market” counts about $250 billion in USA. The population of Mauritius comprising
both consumers and producers has equally expressed increasing concerns about the
environmental impact of products in the recent years ( Juwaheer, 2005). Likewise, a
wide range of green products including organic foods, recyclable paper, eco-light bulbs,
eco broom, environmentally designed tyres and eco-friendly detergents amongst
others are now available in Mauritius. Hence, the emergence of green products can be
seen throughout the different industries in Mauritius starting from the detergents
industry to the automobile industry. Similarly, different companies, like for example,
Permoglaze, Mauvillac, Michelin and Toyota Mauritius Ltd are continuously engaged
in the protection of the environment and are adopting green advertising strategies and
practices in Mauritius. In this respect, there is considerable evidence that most markets
in developing economies including Mauritius have been influenced by green consumer
behaviour (Hardin, 1993; Mainieri and Barnett, 1997; Juwaheer, 2005).
The present study therefore explores green marketing strategies and its influence
on consumer purchasing patterns in Mauritius. Several research works have explored
the concept of green marketing and consumer buying behaviour in developed countries
(Polonsky, 1994; Peattie, 1995; Welford, 2000; Kotler et al., 2005). Indeed, green
marketing and consumer buying behaviour have been over-researched as separate
concepts in the field of marketing. Generally, there is an increase in the ecological
conscience of consumers which results in the increased demand for green products, a
phenomenon that is well exploited by a great number of enterprises offering gre en
products and services (Vandermerwe and Oliff, 1990; Salzman, 1991; Ottman, 1992;
Peattie and Ratnayaka, 1992; Chan, 1999). No doubt, considerable literature on green
marketing and consumer buying behaviour is available worldwide, but there is limited
research which sheds light on green marketing strategies and its impact on green
consumer purchasing patterns in the context of developing countries. Hence, this study
aims to fill the gap in the existing body of literature pertaining to both green marketing
strategies and green consumer purchasing patterns by choosing Mauritius as a case
study. Thus, the results of this study will give a new impetus to the findings of
previous studies on green marketing and green consumer purchasing p atterns in
Mauritius.
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Green marketing
strategies
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