Environmental Friendliness : Profitable Marketing Strategy in Recession

During the current recession, studies show that consumers willingness to pay more for the green but expensive products has decreased as compared to the past decade. However, despite having an understanding of this changing consumer attitude, food retailers in Sweden insist on their marketing strategy as environmentally friendly. When maximizing profits is considered the major corporate goal of every business, investigating the managements' point of view on environmental friendliness as profitable marketing strategy during the current recession period becomes an interesting topic for research. The aim of this research is to explore the green marketing strategy as a profitable endeavor even in recessions when competition is high and survival is at stake. How management see their commitment to environment in hard times as yielding favorable opportunities or unfavorable hurdles, is investigated here. The findings are not only beneficial to students in marketing but also the business entities who would like to contribute to the environment without compromising profitability.