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EXPLORATORY, SECONDARY MATERIAL STUDYTRANSCRIPT
AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF GREEN MARKETING IN PANASONIC (M) SDN. BHD.
Written By Ahmad Rawi
The Writer can be contacted at
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AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF GREEN MARKETING IN PANASONIC (M) SDN. BHD.
Written By Ahmad Rawi
The Writer can be contacted at
THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER IN BUSINESS
ADMINISTRATION
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CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL
It is hereby declare that this honours thesis written by
Written By Ahmad Rawi
The Writer can be contacted at
________________________
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DECLARATION
I hereby declare that this thesis is my own work and effort and that it has not been submitted
anywhere for any award. Where other sources of information have been used, they have
been acknowledged.
Written By Ahmad Rawi
The Writer can be contacted at
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ABSTRACT
The local academic scene is still lagging behind in term of size of the corpus of works
on green marketing especially those that dealt with conceptualization of green marketing.
Generalization is not practical in this regards as academic literature on the issue tend to
agree that a one-size-fits-all strategy that can be transplanted from one firm to another does
not exist. As such in an attempt to find out how green marketing being carried out in a
Malaysian manufacturing firm, this exploratory research was done by the researchers and it
is hoped that the hypotheses formulated in this study can be tested by further research.
Written By Ahmad Rawi
The Writer can be contacted at
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE TITLE ii
CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL iii
DECLARATION iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v
ABSTRACT vi
TABLE OF CONTENT vii
LIST OF TABLES viii
LIST OF DIAGRAMS ix
Written By Ahmad RawiThe Writer can be contacted at
[email protected] 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction 2
1.2 Research Questions 3
1.3 Objectives of the Research 4
1.4 Study Purpose 5
1.5 Hypotheses 5
1.6 Study Limitation 5
1.6 Study Importance 6
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction 8
2.2 Theoretical Framework 8
2.3 Empirical Framework 11
2.4 Local Academic Literature on Green Marketing 12
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2.5 Shifting Perspective and Emerging Trend 13
2.6 Conceptual Framework (Operationalization of Theory) 14
2.7 Synthesis and Conclusion 18
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction 20
3.2 Research Design 20
3.3 Methodology 21
3.4 Data Collection Method 21
CHAPTER 4 : STUDY FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
4.1 Introduction 25
3.2 Findings and Discussion 25
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION
5.1 Conclusion 31
REFERENCES 34
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LIST OF FIGURES
• Figure 1 : Theoretical Framework of Green Marketing Intervention Strategy 9Adapted
from Kinoti, 2011)
• Figure 2 : Conceptual Framework of Panasonic Green Marketing
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CHAPTER ONEINTRODUCTION
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Written By Ahmad Rawi
The Writer can be contacted at
1.1 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND TO THE RESEARCH
In response to consumers growing concern about environmental issues, many businesses
embark on green marketing initiatives. The term “Green Marketing” however has no
universally accepted definition (Polonsky,2001,p.282) but despite the absence of uniform
definition, green marketing is not to be regarded as nothing more than simple ‘marketing
hype’ (Menon and Menon, 1997 cited in Polonsky,2001,p. 282). Polonsky (2001,p.282)
maintains that any attempt at defining green marketing must include the fact that there is
voluntary exchange between business firms and consumers that achieves both parties’
objectives, while attempting to minimise the negative environmental impacts of these
exchanges, and ensures that activities related to these exchanges are sustainable.
Implicit in Polonsky’s explanation above is that green marketing is different from
conventional marketing. If Polonsky’s explanation above approaches the issue objectively,
attempt to define green marketing subjectively (i.e. from firms’ perspective) is done by
Phyper and MacLean (2009,p.168) who states that the notion of green marketing, from firms’
viewpoint, refers to how they tackle the complexities of selling a product’s benefits
(price,quality and environmental compatibility), while addressing consumers expectations
about the environmental record of the company behind the product. As to what constitute the
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right green marketing strategy, firms must realize that a one-size-fits-all strategy does not
exist (Ginsberg and Bloom, 2004).
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With the growing importance of green marketing, one would expect that a considerable corpus
of conceptual and empirical literature will be available to the public in Malaysia. Sadly however, this
is not the case as revealed by the literature survey conducted in this research. Very little body of
research, either conceptual or empirical, has been done in Malaysia to examine the effect of green
marketing on firms’ business performance of small firms. This research was therefore designed to
explore the Malaysian context of how green marketing is integrated into the firm overall business
strategy.
1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEMS
Can green marketing strategies, as available in various literatures on the subject, be
standardized so as to qualify it for general application? From the available literatures, this is a
practical impossibility. As pointed out by Ginsberg and Bloom (2004) in the introductory part
of this thesis above, a green marketing archetype strategy does not exist. Rahbah and Abdul
Wahid (2011,p.73) commenting on existing researches on influence of green marketing tools
on consumers purchase behaviour stated that majority of them have been conducted in
industrialized countries and with contradictory results. Rahbah and Abdul Wahid (2011,p.73)
concluded that such divergence in results may point to the fact that the individual findings of
any of those studies may only be relevant to certain cultural, time and geographical context in
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which any of those studies were carried out. Rahbah and Abdul Wahid (2011,p.73) added that
due to the complexity in consumers’ green purchasing behaviour, generalization is often not
meaningful under different cultural and demographical context. Gottschalk (2006,p.67)
writing on the subject of business firm’s strategy formulation stated that the system through
which strategy is formulated varies considerably from company to company.
As such it is impossible for use to develop our knowledge on green marketing strategy
of a specific firm in the Malaysian context just by reviewing studies on the subject carried out
elsewhere. It has to be inquired on a case-by-case basis. Based on this premise, the
researchers believe that research on the green marketing strategy of individual firm in
Malaysia (such as this one) is a well-timed one to contribute towards the enlargement of the
corpus of literature on green marketing strategies employed by business firms in the
Malaysian context.
Based on the summary discussion presented above and the literature review, the
following research questions have been formulated which this exploratory case study will
attempt to answer :
1. Why does Panasonic Malaysia embark on their green marketing strategy initiatives
(i.e. Why does it ‘go green’?)
2. What is the level of environmentalism in Panasonic Malaysia Marketing Strategy i.e.
does Panasonic Malaysia incorporate environmentalism in all its marketing mix (discussion
will only be limited to the traditional 4 Ps of the marketing mix) or only to few selected
elements (one or two Ps) of the marketing mix?
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3. Does the green marketing strategy of Panasonic Malaysia a fad or a long-term
orientated policy?
Written By Ahmad Rawi
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1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH
Exploratory research design has many utilities as evidenced from research that has been
carried out employing the exploratory approach, among them, to identify innovative
production and management practices, auditing approaches, strategies for diagnosing
medical problems, developing messages for political candidates and incentive compensation
system for managers to increase unit innovativeness(Hair et. al.,2011,p.148).There is also
another utility of exploratory research design namely to generate hypotheses for further study
but would not test one (Zikmund and Babin 2007,p.133).
Based on the above discussion, in the current research, the researchers objectives
are two-pronged namely 1) to explore the “what”, “how” , “why”, “where” and “when” of green
marketing in the context of a Malaysian based electronic manufacturing firm and 2) to come
up with hypotheses at the end of the research which can be used as springboard for further
(descriptive or causal) researches on this subject. It is hoped therefore that other researches
will take off from where this research leaves off.
1.4 STUDY PURPOSE
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The purpose of this study is to report and explore how Panasonic Malaysia carries out their
green marketing initiative.
1.5 HYPOTHESES
As has been pointed out by Zikmund and Babin (2007,p.133), exploratory research design is
utilized to generate hypotheses for further study but would not test one. According to
Sandhusen (2008,p.206), exploratory research is also known as qualitative research stage
and its aim is to get as much information as possible about issue at hand, the idea being to
select the minimum required information to generate insights and hypotheses to be tested
during later conclusive (i.e. quantitative research) stage. As such hypotheses in this research
will be presented at the end of the research and not at the outset.
1.6 STUDY LIMITATION
No generalization can be derived from the result of this study since this exploratory study is
limited to only a single manufacturing firm in Malaysia.
1.7 STUDY IMPORTANCE
This study will add to the corpus of literature on green marketing strategy by manufacturing
firm in Malaysia, an area which is still under represented in academic literature on marketing
in Malaysia.
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CHAPTER TWOLITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 INTRODUCTION
The history of green marketing as an academic construct or field of inquiry can be traced
back to the first workshop on "Ecological Marketing" conducted by American marketing
Association (AMA) in 1975. The proceedings of this workshop resulted in one of the first
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books on green marketing entitled "Ecological Marketing" written by Henion and Kinnear
(1976a, cited in Polonsky, 1994). Since that publication, a number of other books on the topic
have been published (Charter 1992;Coddington 1993; Ottman 1993 cited in Polonsky, 1994).
Refinement to the green marketing construct has continuously emerged in literature.
Polonsky (2011) in his paper “Transformative Green Marketing : Impediments and
Opportunities” criticize the approach generally adopted by scholars in defining green
marketing. According to Polonsky (2011), scholars define green marketing using a range of
terms (e.g., green marketing, ecological marketing, environmental marketing, and even
responsible marketing) which share a common focus on the exchange process (i.e., choices
and decisions), with an exception that differentiate it from conventional marketing i.e. that
exchange must take into consideration and must minimize harms to the environment.
Polonsky (2011) criticize such definitions as being unclear in their objective to improve the
quality of life of the world’s citizen or the natural environment.
To Polonsky (2011), an effective definition of green marketing must integrate
transformative change that creates value for individuals and society,as well as for the natural
environment (i.e., environmental restoration and improvement). Thus, according to Polonsky
(2011), the novel construct of transformative green marketing is very different from a
marketing perspective that focuses on not producing societal harm which at present is the
approach of choice for most green marketers. At present, the approach of most green
marketers can be categorized as focusing on meeting human needs rather than enhancing
mankind's quality of life and improving the natural environment.
For the past five years, there was a realization amongst academic writers that the
construct “green marketing” has been so muddled to the extent that the use of green
marketing strategy has caused a backlash (mainly in the form of consumers scepticism) to
the firms which use them. Brennan (2008) in her article “Is it Green Marketing, Greenwash or
Hogwash? We need to know if We Want to Change Things” citing Polonsky and
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Rosenberger (2001) commented that green marketing or the incorporation of environmental
dimensions into marketing activities promised consumers of the 1990s socially responsible
marketing activities. However, as pointed out by Crane (2000 cited in Brennan, 2008) the
term now is being used to cover a wide range of corporate activities regardless of how
environmentally appropriate or sustainable they might actually be in practice. This
unscrupulous practice has led to consumer disillusionment in green marketing (Roberts,
2008 cited in Brennan,2008).
2.2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Synthesis on theoretical framework on green marketing found that theoretically green
marketing activities is regarded as intervention strategy to the ordinary marketing activities.
This intervention is needed in response to challenges presented by the growing concern for
the environment- challenges which cannot be handled by ordinary marketing strategy (Kinoti,
2011,p.267). A model which illustrates how green marketing can respond to environmental
challenges has been proposed by Kinoti (2011,p.267) as illustrated by Fig.1 below. The
green marketing intervention model proposed by Kinoti (2011) consist of incorporating green
elements or environmental consideration into the elements of marketing mix. In Kinoti’s
theoretical framework above, she takes a liberal approach by not limiting the Ps of the
marketing mix to the traditional four Ps as postulated by Kotler and other pioneer of the
marketing mix construct. Nor does Kinoti’s theoretical framework above inform us whether
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Organisation
Conventional Marketing
Environmental concerns today (Global Warming etc)
Green Marketing Intervention StrategiesGreen product strategiesGreen pricing strategiesGreen promotion strategiesGreen consumptionGreen probe strategies (marketing information system)
Improved Organizational PerformanceMarket shareCustomer satisfactionCompetitive advantageProfitabilityPositive Company Image
Improved Environmental QualityReduced air & water pollutionConservation of usual resources and animalsMore energy reservoirsReduced raw material usage Other improvements
RESULTS
Fig. 1 : Theoretical Framework of Green Marketing Intervention Strategy (Adapted from Kinoti, 2011)
the Ps of the marketing mix as listed by her are exhaustive or not. Nevertheless, Kinoti’s
theoretical theoretical framework above is sufficient for the researchers in this research to
formulate the conceptual framework employed in this research.
2.3 EMPIRICAL FRAMEWORK
Literature on empirical framework of green marketing forms the bulk of literature on the
subject of green marketing. Rex and Baumann (2007) in their paper “Beyond Ecolabels :
What Green Marketing Can Learn from Conventional Marketing” provided a quick glance of
the nature of empirical green marketing literature in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
According to them, the main focuses of the green marketing literature in the late 1980s and
early 1990s came almost exclusively to be the empirical area of green marketing especially
the size of the green market and the profile of the green consumers. In fact, according to Rex
and Baumann (2007), some scholars even say that the latter (consumer profiling) was the
only area of interest in studying the greening of the consumer. Rex and Baumann (2007)
also found that surveys, which provided bulks of the empirical data,showed extensive ‘green
market’ potential. They cited the work of Margrath (1992) who referred to a study showing
that‘‘93% of adults consider a product’s environmental impact important when they purchase
something’’ and to the work of Peattie (1992) who reported that in developed countries, up to
75% of the population used environmental criteria regularly in some purchase decisions. Rex
and Baumann (2007) also cited the work of Simintiras et al. (1994) which recalled that 42%
of UK consumers chose products on the basis of their environmental performance and that
‘‘27% of British adults were prepared to pay up to 25% more for ‘environmentally friendly’
products’’.
From the late 1990s up till recent time the empirical-centric trend of green marketing
literature shows no sign of slowing down. For example, as recent as in 2012,
Juwaheer,Pudaruth and Noyaux published their paper entitled “Analysing the Impact of
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Green Marketing Strategies on Consumer Purchasing Patterns in Mauritius”. This paper is a
classic empirical analysis of survey results on the impact green marketing strategies towards
consumers pattern of consumption in Mauritius. Despite acknowledging that survey such as
theirs is a staple academic exercise in green marketing area, the authors justified their
research on the ground that there are only a small body of research which has been focused
on the impact of green marketing strategies on consumer purchasing patterns in the context
of developing countries.
2.4 LOCAL ACADEMIC LITERATURE ON GREEN MARKETING
A survey on local academic literature on green marketing found that the local academic
scene is still lagging behind in term of size of the corpus of works on green marketing.
Among available literature are those by Ahmed, Kamalanabhan and Chih (2001) and
Rahbah and Abdul Wahid (2011).None of the cited local literature above dealt with the
conceptualization of green marketing.
One of the earliest local literature on green marketing, the paper by Ahmed,
Kamalanabhan and Chih (2001) entitled “Green Marketing and Its Implications on
Consumers and Businesses in Malaysia-An Empirical Study” was a study of selected
aspects of the green revolution in Malaysia in the late 1990s and early 2000s.The study
focused on consumers perceptions of ‘green’, their purchase decision and the marketing
strategies adopted by green corporations. Among the significant finding of the study was that
consumers still do not fully comprehend what constitute ‘green’ products. Most understood it
to be products that do not harm the environment. The study also found that higher incomes
consumers were more inclined to purchase green products.
Rahbah and Abdul Wahid (2011) entitled “Investigation of Green Marketing Tools’
Effect on Consumers Purchase Behavior” examined whether green marketing tools (i.e.
environmental advertisement, eco-label and eco-brand) as a variable, affects the consumers
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actual purchasing behaviour among consumers in Penang. The study concluded that
consumers believe that environmental advertisement increases their knowledge about green
products however due to the lack of environmental advertisement in Malaysia, people are not
familiar with most of the alternative products.
2.5 SHIFTING PERSPECTIVE AND EMERGING TREND
Recent developments on conceptualization of green marketing place the construct of green
marketing within a larger construct known as sustainable marketing. This academic trend
grows out of the academic realization that in the effort to find a compromise between
economics interests of the firms and the environmental wellbeing of the planet, green
marketing is not the be-all and end-all solution-instead, it is one of the components of a
larger, holistic solution. Bridges and Wilhelm (2008) in their conceptual paper on sustainable
marketing entitled “Going Beyond Green : The Why and How of Integrating Sustainability into
the Marketing Curriculum”, discussed the differences between the construct of green
marketing and sustainable marketing. Green marketing tend to be issue-based (e.g. the
planet needs to conserve energy) and also tend to emphasize the environmental (green)
dimension of sustainability. Sustainable marketing, on the other hand, is a more holistic,
integrative approach that puts equal emphasis on environmental and other considerations
such as social equity and economic/financial concerns in the development of a firm
marketing strategies.
Academic approach of treating the construct of green marketing as a stand-alone
construct which can be inquired in isolation of other constructs has been criticised as early as
in the mid-1990s. Mitchell, Wooliscroft and Higham (2008) in their article entitled
“Sustainable Market Orientation: A New Approach to Managing Marketing Strategy” stated
that current reliance on micromarketing should be replaced by a new marketing paradigm in
which macromarketing concepts take a central role. Apparently, to Mitchell, Wooliscroft and
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Higham (2008), green marketing does not amount to macromarketing – as pointed out by
Bridges and Wilhelm (2008), green marketing tend to be issue-based and is a marketing
approach which focus only on a facet of sustainable marketing. In other words, green
marketing is a micromarketing approach. Hunt (1981,p.8 cited in Mitchell, Wooliscroft and
Higham,2008,p.162) points out that macromarketing is a system-based process that calls for
the examination of ‘‘the impact and consequence of marketing systems on society and the
impact and consequence of society on marketing system’’.
Although academics advocated that corporate marketing management should
effectively and productively manage factors including economic risk, social, cultural, and
environmental considerations, marketing practitioners tend to be focused on ‘‘green
marketing’’ in isolation overlooking the broader social and environmental responsibilities
required by holistic application of corporate sustainable management (van Dam and
Apeldoorn, 1996 cited in Mitchell, Wooliscroft and Higham,2008,p.162).
2.6 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK (OPERATIONALIZATION OF THEORY)
In this study, based on the theoretical framework, a conceptual framework or
operationalization of the theory has been developed by the researchers as represented by
the following model (Fig. 2) below. In the conceptual framework model, the researchers
replicate Kinoti (2011) model but with a slight improvement. The researchers have confined
the marketing mix to the traditional 4 Ps as originally formulated by McCarthy in the
1960(Fyall and Garrod,2005,p.105) though since its formulation numerous other elements
have been added to the mix, according to marketing scholars, such additional elements is
contained within the 4 Ps-for example, question arise whether sales force has been left out
(because it starts with an S) but the answer is no, it has not been left out, instead it comes
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under promotion along with advertising, sales promotion, public relations and direct
marketing (Kotler, 2003, p.108).
Fig. 2 : Conceptual Framework of Panasonic Green Marketing
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PANASONIC MALAYSIA
CONVENTIONAL MARKETING
GREEN MARKETING (INTERVENTION STRATEGY)
Green Product
Green Place
Green Price
Green Promotion
ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS (ACTUAL /POTENTIAL
ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS)
POSITIVE RESULTS
The elements of green marketing mix are not exclusive of each other but instead may be
overlapping as can be seen from the following discussion. Green products strategies
comprise any or a combination of among others, recycling, reduction of packaging materials,
re-consumption, using sustainable source of raw materials, making more durable products,
designing products that are repairable, making products that are safe for disposal, making
products and packaging that are compostable (biodegradeable) and making products that
are safer or more pleasant to use (Bhat, 1993; Ashley, 1993; Polonsky et al, 1997; Ottman,
1998 and Charter et al, 1999 cited in Kinoti, 2011,p.268).
Green place strategies is not quite self explanatory.”Place” in the 4Ps refer to
channels of distributions (Harris and Dennis,2008,p.221) i.e. logistics. According to Kinoti
(2011,p.268) The most common form of greening logistics is reverse channel system.
Reverse channel systems deal with the issue of post-consumer recycling. According to Kinoti
(2011,p.268) recycling involves extracting and reusing useful substances found in the waste
which is different from the traditional approach of waste disposal which can be described as
linear in which the waste is simply dumped. The definition of recycle clearly demonstrates
that the goal is to reverse this result by achieving a circular flow that effects a reintegration of
materials with markets (Fuller et al, 1997 cited in Kinoti,2011,p.268).
Green pricing strategies simply means the strategies to bring the consumers to come
to term and accept the fact that green products come with premium price tags- at least in the
consumers’ perception. Many consumers assume that green products are often priced higher
than conventional products (Peattie, 1999; Polonsky, 2001 cited in Kinoti, 2011,p.268). While
their assumption may be true Peattie (1999 cited in Kinoti, 2011,p.268) argues that these
products are not unusually expensive, but the conventional products are unrealistically cheap
because they do not add the socio-environmental costs of production, product use and
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disposal. Peattie proposes that one way to deal with the eco-friendly products with high price
controversy is to ask the consumer “whether they want to continue buying inexpensive
products that damage the environment?” The implication of the above is that consumers
need to be more informed on benefits of green products in order for them to come to their
purchase decision more objectively-which bring our discussion to the last of the green Ps-the
green promotion.
Kinoti (2011,p.269) have reviewed the literature relating to the conceptualization of green
promotion and had listed the results of her survey as follows :
Green promotion is an activity of promoting products as having characteristics that do
not harm the natural environment (Polonsky et al, 1997).
According to Benerjee et al (1995) it should meet one or more of the
following criteria: -
i) Explicitly or implicitly addresses the relation between a product/service and the bio-
physical environment.
ii) Promotes a green lifestyle with or without highlighting a product/service.
iii) Presents a corporate image of environmental responsibility.
According to Scholossberg (1993) as quoted by Polonsky (1997), green promotion
helps consumers to overcome the “greatest environmental hazard”, that is, the lack of
environmental information.
According to Kinoti (2011,p.269) Scholossberg’s viewpoints are echoed in the works of
Ottman (1997) and Zint and Frederick (2001) who argue that green companies should not
assume that consumers are knowledgeable about environmental issues or actions they
engage in. Ottman (1997 cited in Kinoti, 2011,p.269) has suggested several green promotion
strategies. Among them, the business should educate consumers on the environmental
problems that a green product solves and demonstrate to consumers how environmentally
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sound products and services can help consumers protect health, preserve the environment
for future generations.
2.7 SYNTHESIS AND CONCLUSION
Various attempts at conceptualization of green marketing found in the survey of relevant
literature provide compelling evidence against the existence of a general academic construct
of green marketing. At best it can be said that the conceptualization of green marketing is still
an evolving area. However, new emerging trend that place green marketing as a sub-
construct within a larger and holistic academic construct of sustainable marketing may one
day gains prominence and eclipsed the current discourse on green marketing.
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CHAPTER THREE RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
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3.1 INTRODUCTION
Green marketing as an academic construct is a relatively new phenomenon as revealed by
the literature review. Conceptualization of the construct is still an ongoing process as
revealed by the fact that as recent as 2011, lliterature on conceptualization of green
marketing is still being written (see,for example,Kinoti, 2011). It is not an overstatement if it is
said that researchers attempting to carry out a research on green marketing are treading on
a still unfamiliar ground.
3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN
As can be seen, the research questions in this study are drafted in an exploratory form-using
the Wh questions i.e. Who, What, Where, Why, Which, When or How. As has been pointed
out by Mooi and Sarstedt,2011,p.13) research design is highly related to the identification
and formulation of the problem. In the case of exploratory questions, they demand answers
arrived at through the process of exploratory research. As such the researchers in current
research had decided that this research should assume the design of an exploratory
research. Exploratory research is performed when researcher has very little information
available on a particular subject of inquiry (Hair, Celsi,Money, Samouel and Page,2011,p.
147). This is precisely the case of green marketing in Malaysia nowadays where the dearth
of local literature, conceptual or empirical, is glaringly noticeable.
This research is also designed with the general objectives of exploratory research in
mind i.e. to produce qualitative data. According to Zikmund and Babin (2007,p.133) most
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exploratory research are designed to produce qualitative data which are not characterized by
numbers and instead are textual, visual or oral. The focus of qualitative research is not on
numbers but on stories, visual portrayals, meaningful characterizations,interpretations and
other expressive descriptions.
3.4 METHODOLOGY
Qualitative exploratory research can take many forms (Hair et. al.,2011,p.148) i.e. it can be
carried out using various methodologies. In this research, the researchers had concluded
that the exploratory research will be carried out by employing the analysis of secondary data
approach. This method is also known as “document observation” and “document analysis”
and is carried out by examining recorded opinions, reports, news stories and other similar
secondary data(Hair et. al.,2011,p.148) . Secondary data is defined as data which are
gathered and recorded by someone else prior to (and for purposes other than the current
research. Secondary data usually are historical and already assembled and require no
access to respondents or subjects (Zikmund and Babin,2007,p.160).According to Malhotra
et. al., (2006 cited in Polonsky and Waller, 2010,p. 95) secondary data are materials that are
already available and can be sourced internally (within an organization) or externally (from
private organizations and the government in the form of published materials, computer
databases and syndicated sources.
3.5 DATA COLLECTION METHOD
This research consist of two phases of secondary data analysis. The first phase review
general available literature on green marketing (this general literature review is presented as
chapter 2 of this research). This literature review shows a consistent theme i.e. up to as
recent as 2011, marketing scholars still produce literature on conceptualization of green
marketing. The researchers concluded that this shows that green marketing , as an
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academic construct, is still an evolving field of enquiry. The literature review also shows
another consistent theme i.e. lack of local literature, either conceptual or empirical, on green
marketing in the Malaysian context. Based on this initial review, the researchers define
problem statements and designed a research to explore the construct of green marketing in
Malaysian by researching a Malaysian based consumers electronics manufacturing firm as
the focus of study.
The second phase of secondary data analysis involved reviewing literature on the
selected firm i.e. Panasonic Malaysia’s green initiative. Literature are obtained exclusively
through the internet i.e. through Panasonic Malaysia website and through internet search
using Google search engine employing the main search term “Panasonic Malaysia” in
combination with any of the following terms : “green”,”green marketing”,”environmental”,
“environmental”,”environmentalism”,”sustainable development”, “corporate social
responsibility” and “CSR”. By putting double quotes around a single word, one is telling
Google search engine to match that word precisely as one typed it. So for example,
searching with the search terms “Panasonic Malaysia” “green marketing” will produce results
which contain both set of words.
The above mode of gathering data from the internet had enables the researchers in
this research to obtain a broadbased secondary textual materials on Panasonic Malaysia and
their environmentalism efforts. The focus of qualitative research is not on numbers but on
stories, visual portrayals, meaningful characterizations,interpretations and other expressive
descriptions(Zikmund and Babin,2007,p.133). In order to convey these stories, visual
portrayals, meaningful characterizations,interpretations and other expressive descriptions
and thus answering the research questions,the next step is to narrow down the pool of
textual materials obtained to by zooming only to textual materials that are related to green
marketing. After the researchers had narrowed down the selection, the coding phase began.
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Coding was done by “pigeonholing” the filtered materials according to the categories of
green marketing intervention strategies adapted from Kinoti (2011,p.264) in her paper on
green marketing. As explained in Chapter 2, this research limits the pigeonholes only to the
traditional four marketing mix elements i.e. product,place,price and promotion.After the
secondary data has been organized around themes or categories, this research employed a
deductive approach for analysis of the secondary data based on an examination of the data
guided by conceptual framework of the green marketing construct as found in the literature
review.
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CHAPTER FOUR STUDY FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
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4.1 INTRODUCTION
The study found that Panasonic marketing activities fits all the four green Ps of the green
marketing mix as revealed by the secondary materials studied. As has been said elsewhere
in this research, the focus of qualitative research is not on numbers but on stories, visual
portrayals, meaningful characterizations, interpretations and other expressive descriptions.
This chapter will provide such stories,portrayals,characterization, interpretations and other
expressive descriptions based on the secondary data gathered.
4.2 THE FINDINGS
4.2.1 Green Products Strategies
Panasonic Malaysia manufactures consumers electronic appliances ranging from digital
audio video (AV) appliances, home appliances (air-conditioners, washing machines
etc),personal and beauty care appliances, document solutions (fax,printer etc),
communication gadgets and security system (security camera etc) (Panasonic, 2012a). The
design philosophy of Panasonic product is what they termed as the “Four Pillars of Energy
Solution”. According to Panasonic (2012b), this philosophy provides an end to end solutions
which comprise of energy creation, energy storage, energy saving and energy management.
All of its consumer electronic goods are covered by the last two pillars i.e. the energy
saving philosophy and the energy management philosophy. The first two philosophies are
product specific, the energy creation philosophy being embodied in their high-efficiency HIT
solar modules that can be fitted into various on-grid & off-grid application (Panasonic, 2012b)
whereas the energy storage philosophy is embodied in storage cells that utilizes Lithium-ion
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batteries with a capacity amongst the highest in the industry (Panasonic, 2012b). This
storage cell may someday be used to power electric vehicle as hinted by Panasonic
Malaysia in 2011 (The Star Online, 2011) .
Panasonic however, is more well known for its green home appliances such as air
conditioners and washing machine which they tout as energy efficient compared with their
other rival. Panasonic range of air curtains for example is touted as equipped with specially-
designed motor which reduces power consumption by 35% (Panasonic, 2012c) Panasonic’s
range of air-conditioner is equipped with the INVERTER and ECONAVI technologies.
INVERTER technology is an intelligent technology which provides a high-precision method
of maintaining the room set temperature by varying the rotation speed of the compressor; thus
giving consumers energy savings of up to 50% whereas ECONAVI features intelligent
Human Activity Detection and new Sunlight Detection technologies that can sense and reduce
waste by optimising air conditioner operation according to room conditions (Panasonic,
2012d).
Apart from its range of air-conditioner, Panasonic range of washing machines is also
equipped with the INVERTER and ECONAVI technology which reduces electricity
consumption (Panasonic, 2012e)In February, 2012, Panasonic introduces four types of eco-
friendly LED bulbs from standard to full distribution, clear, glass type and halogen, which can
save energy up to 80 per cent, while emitting the same brightness (The Borneo Post
Online,2012).Panasonic Malaysia is aiming for 80% of its total sales by March 2013 to come
from a wide range of eco-products which are also energy efficient and eco-friendly (The Star
Online, 2011)All these shows that Panasonic is carrying out green intervention strategies in
term of its product in the marketing mix.
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4.2.2 Price
Price is one of the main factor that perhaps deter consumer from buying the green products
as comparatively they are slightly expensive from the ordinary run-of-the-mill products and in
this regard Panasonic products are no exception. When asked whether should be Panasonic
be more competitive with their pricing of eco-friendly products in comparison to mainstream
products, Panasonic (M) Sdn Bhd deputy managing director Chris Tomachi does not deny
that price of eco-friendly products is slightly on the high side but insist that education is the
key to consumer acceptance of the high price. According to Tomachi, “Panasonic is
concentrating on education. We believe there’s an ‘S’ cycle. Meaning, initially the demand
will be very niche, then a tipping point, then the product will become a commodity and we
can cost down tremendously. Right now, for eco products we’re still trying very hard to push
the products to this tipping point. A lot of education is required. The consumers must really
be aware and understand these products (before they can come to acceptance of the higher
price tags on the products)” (The Star Online ,2012).
4.2.3 Place (Logistics)
The Star Online (2010, October 18) reported that the main distribution hub for all the
electrical items manufactured by all Panasonic manufacturing plants in the country is located
in an eco-friendly integrated logistics complex in Shah Alam. The 16 acres facility which
includes 365,000 sq ft of covered warehouse and a three-storey office block boasts
environmental-friendly features such as rain water harvest technology, solar street lighting,
translucent roofing for natural lights, a heat reflectant index roofing system, and natural air
ventilation, among others. The rainwater harvest technology would utilise and treat rainwater
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for use in the toilets, as well as for landscaping and the washing of vehicles and equipment.
The street and compound lightings are solar powered with ten hours power reserve and are
able to switch to AC power supply if there is a shortage of the solar generated power. In
order to further save on electricity usage, the facility uses translucent roofing which allows
the usage of sunlight to light the warehouse during the day and LED (light-emitting diode)
lighting equipped with sensors. Further, usage of air-conditioners are minimized by the use of
heat reflectant roofing system which is set to maintain low temperature and natural air
circulation.
4.2.4 Promotion
The last P in the marketing mix i.e. promotion is perhaps Panasonic strongest green
strategy. Based on the literature review, this research has pigeonholed Panasonic Malaysia’s
promotion activities against the following criteria of green promotion :
i) Explicitly or implicitly addresses the relation between a product/service and the physical
environment.
Panasonic Malaysia green promotion philosophy is embodied in their environmental policy
which assures consumers that it will conduct its business activities in ways which leave
minimal adverse impact on the environment (Panasonic, 2012f).
. Towards this end, it introduces its “EcoNavi” line of products and the “Inverter” technology.
According to Panasonic, being a user of save energy products, one can play a huge role in
saving the world via reduction of carbon dioxide emission through electricity consumption
(Panasonic, 2012b). This initiative shows that Panasonic Malaysia addresses the relation
between its products and the physical environment.
ii) Promotes a green lifestyle with or without highlighting a product/service.
Panasonic is promoting their own philosophy of a whole nation sustainable living by
producing and using eco-friendly products. This philosophy, which they termed as
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“ECONATION” aims for Malaysia to be a developed nation that is also environmentally
sustainable or in their own words, an “ECONATION”, with zero emissions, social happiness,
security and enjoyment. In essence, “ECONATION” is a vision that facilitates energy creation
utilising solar power and energy conservation using efficient, intelligent appliances which is
part of Panasonic's holistic energy management programme that helps people efficiently
create, store, save and manage energy without compromising on everyday comforts
(Panasonic, 2012b).
iii) Presents a corporate image of environmental responsibility.
According to Panasonic, their commitment towards saving the environment is proven by
carrying out pro-active steps in conservation activities, apart from manufacturing
environmental-friendly products. In their efforts to preserve one of nature's endangered
resources, Panasonic Malaysia has teamed up with Coral Malaysia to conserve Malaysia's
rich coral reef ecosystem. Collaboratively with Coral Malaysia, Panasonic has constructed
artificial reefs with suitable materials to sustain the home of a large variety of marine living
organism. According to Panasonic Malaysia, this is their way of reversing the damages of the
marine life caused by pollution, careless tourism and destructive fishing practices. Apart from
that, Panasonic Malaysia is also involved in many other environmental cause related
initiatives to help conserve the environment in various aspects. Other environmental
contributions include their Computer Recycling project, Go Green Campaign and World
Forestry Day sponsorship (Panasonic, 2012f).
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CHAPTER FIVE CONCLUSION
31
Written By Ahmad Rawi
The Writer can be contacted at
[email protected] CONCLUSION
Based on the preceding chapters, this concluding chapter will attempt to answer the research
questions posed at the beginning of this research:
1. Why does Panasonic Malaysia embark on their green marketing strategy initiatives
(i.e. Why does it ‘go green’?)
According to Panasonic, from past experience, they understands the difficulties of balancing
an ecologically friendly existence against the demands of economic prosperity (Panasonic,
2012b). This study shows that this is not merely a marketing ploy to boost sales by
manifesting a company’s environmental stance or “green washing”. In this study Panasonic
comes out to be a company which genuinely incorporate green elements into the
components of its marketing mix. According to Panasonic Malaysia deputy managing director
Chris Tomachi, their business strategy of incorporating environmental considerations in their
business is their way of finding a balance between contributing back to the society and the
economic aim of every business i.e. profits. In Tomachi’s own words, “ It’s a balance. We
have to make the contribution to society. That is an important investment, apart from our own
business. And, it also contributes to improve our brand image, as a brand” (The Star Online,
2012)
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2. Level of environmentalism in Panasonic Malaysia Marketing Strategy i.e. does
Panasonic Malaysia incorporate environmentalism in all its marketing mix (discussion will
only be limited to the traditional 4 Ps of the marketing mix) or only to few selected elements
(one or two Ps) of the marketing mix?
From the pigeonholing exercise of this research, this research found that green policy is
incorporated into all the four Ps of the traditional marketing mix.
5. Does the green marketing strategy of Panasonic Malaysia a fad or a long-term
orientated policy?
In the literature being reviewed, green marketing is employed as intervention strategy i.e.
intervention to the conventional marketing strategy which does not place any concern for the
environment in their marketing activities. This study concludes that Panasonic Malaysia is
also employing the same strategy o obtain better results either in term of profits, brand image
and the conservation of environment and not just a fad. Furthermore, environmental policy
and long term strategic planning (i.e. the ECONATION philosophy) have been formulated
and serve as guide to Panasonic Malaysia business direction.
From the outset, it has been explained that hypotheses will only be offered at the end
of the study. In this regard, the researchers has formulated the following hypotheses based
on this study :
“Incorporating environmental consideration in the marketing strategy of a firm will impact the
firm’s bottom line positively due to the positive brand image it generated”
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This research will not test the above hypotheses on the premise that hypotheses
testing is a task of researchers who are interested to further this research to its conclusive
stage after this exploratory research has been completed. The task of this exploratory
research being limited only to getting as much information as possible about green marketing
in the context of a Malaysian based manufacturing firm and such information is to be used by
further researcher wishing to embark on conclusive or confirmatory studies on green
marketing.
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ATTACHMENT
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