Strategic green marketing: a comparative study of how green marketing affects corporate strategy within business to business

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to examine how strategic green marketing can be developed and what incentives there are for companies to do so. To fulfil the objectives of this thesis, four research questions were formed and a qualitative case study was conducted of three business to business companies from different industries. Interviews allowed the authors to gain insight as to how companies develop their green marketing strategies and for what reasons. The results indicate that most companies are not segmenting their target markets based on the consumers' environmental attitude. Findings also indicate that green market strategies differ for each company and must be derived from a company's individual circumstances including its objectives, resources and competitive advantages. Furthermore, the findings show that most companies can implement green changes in their marketing mix but that these should only be actively promoted when a product's green attributes constitutes a key selling point. Finally, the findings indicate that financial benefits, and the possibility of gaining a competitive advantage, are the foremost incentives for implementing green measures.