Environmental Business
MASTER DEGREE
THESIS WITHIN: Business Administration NUMBER OF CREDITS: 15
PROGRAMME OF STUDY: International Marketing AUTHOR: Verena Hillekamp, Theresa Rupp JÖNKÖPING May 2021
Green Marketing and Industry 5.0 as a
movement towards global well-being in business
processes.
i
Master Thesis in International Marketing
Title:
Environmental Business: Green Marketing and Industry 5.0 as a movement
towards global well-being in business processes.
Authors:
Verena Hillekamp & Theresa Rupp
Tutor:
Lucia Pizzichini
Date:
2021-05-24
Key terms: Green Marketing, Industry 5.0, Environmental Business, Global Well-being
Abstract
Background:
Green Marketing faces an upward trend; global well-being becomes more
and more important while at the same time the new age of Industry 5.0 is
ahead. All those components contribute to increasing environmental
business activities.
Purpose:
The purpose of the study is to elaborate under which considerations Green
Marketing can be successfully implemented by businesses in respect of the
changing environmental processes lead by Industry 5.0 and the associated
movement towards environmental and global well-being.
Method:
This study is of qualitative nature and follows an inductive interpretivist
approach. The literature review as secondary research data is
complemented by primary data conducted through mixed methods of
expert interviews and a focus group.
Conclusion:
Likewise, opportunities and challenges within environmental business
appear. The developed framework illustrates the interconnection inter alia
of green marketing and Industry 5.0 that contribute to a successful
execution to reach global well-being. Summarizing a holistic approach
towards global well-being is indispensable.
ii
Acknowledgements
We would like to express our gratefulness to the following people. Primary, we would like to
thank our participants from the focus groups and experts for our interviews which have provided
us with far-reaching insights. Without the participations our completion of the research would
never had been possible. Secondly our supervisor, Lucia Pizzichini, as she supported us during
the whole master thesis and always showed patience and appreciation when we needed some
help or feedback regarding numerous relevant topics. Furthermore, we would like to show our
gratitude towards all the changing opponents as they always had a great input for us and
stimulated our thought process. Finally, we are thankful for the support of our family and
friends, who always stand by our side and motivated us through the whole process!
Thank you very much!
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Table of Contents
1
Introduction ... 1
1.1
Background ... 1
1.2
Problematization and Purpose ... 3
1.3
Research Gap ... 4
1.4
Research Question ... 5
1.5
Delimitation ... 5
1.6
Disposition ... 5
2
Theoretical Framework ... 7
2.1
Definition of key concepts ... 7
2.1.1
Environmental Business ... 7
2.1.2
Green Marketing ... 8
2.1.3
Greenwashing ... 11
2.1.4
Sustainability and Global Well-being ... 12
2.1.5
The 3 R’s of helping to approach Sustainability ... 14
2.1.6
Industry 5.0 ... 14
2.1.7
Green Deal ... 16
2.2
Presentation of the core models ... 19
2.2.1
The GM Mix ... 19
2.2.2
The 3 Pillars ... 20
2.2.3
Specifically developed theoretical framework ... 22
3
Methodology ... 24
3.1
Philosophical Approach ... 24
3.2
Research Approach ... 25
3.3
Research Strategy ... 26
3.4
Research Design ... 27
3.4.1
Secondary Data Collection ... 27
3.4.2
Primary Data Collection ... 28
3.4.2.1 Semi-structured Interviews ... 28
3.4.2.2 Interviewee ... 29
3.4.2.3 Focus Group ... 30
3.4.3
Data Analysis ... 32
3.4.4
Ethical Considerations and Trustworthiness ... 33
3.4.5
Limitations of the study ... 35
4
Empirical Findings ... 36
4.1
Green Marketing implementations ... 36
4.1.1
Motivation ... 37
4.1.2
Challenges ... 38
4.1.3
The GM Mix ... 39
4.1.4
The 3 Pillars ... 41
4.2
Industry 5.0 ... 41
4.2.1
The Affection of the Society ... 43
4.2.2
New business models ... 45
4.2.3
Towards global wellbeing ... 46
4.3
Assumed developments of GM in regard of the Industry 5.0 ... 47
4.3.1
Trend Term ... 47
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5
Analysis and Discussion ... 50
5.1
Green Marketing implementations ... 50
5.1.1
ESG criteria ... 51
5.1.2
The Green Marketing Mix ... 51
5.1.3
3 Pillars ... 52
5.1.4
Motivations ... 53
5.1.5
Challenges ... 54
5.2
Industry 5.0 ... 56
5.2.1
New business models ... 56
5.2.2
Towards social & global well-being ... 58
5.3
Revision of the specifically developed framework ... 59
6
Conclusions ... 61
6.1
Answering the research questions ... 61
6.2
Theoretical Implications... 62
6.3
Managerial Implications & Recommendations ... 63
6.4
Limitations of the study ... 64
v
List of Figures
Figure 1: Green Marketing Articles increase ... 18
Figure 2: The European Green Deal (European Commission, 2019) ... 18
Figure 3: The 3 Pillars (Papadas et al., 2017) ... 21
Figure 4: Own developed framework ... 23
Figure 5: Methodological Approach part I (own illustration) ... 24
Figure 6: Methodological Approach Part II (own illustration) ... 27
Figure 7: Revision of the own developed framework ... 60
Tables
Table 1: Evolution from Industry 1.0 to Industry 5.0 (Aslam et al., 2020) ... 16
Table 2: Interviewee Information ... Fehler! Textmarke nicht definiert.
Table 3: Participants Focus-Group ... 32
Appendices
Appendix 1: Interview Guideline ... 74
Appendix 2: Questions Focus Group ... 76
Appendix 3: Coding Table Expert-Interviews ... 77
Appendix 4: Coding Table Focus Group ... 88
Appendix 5: Transcripts Expert-Interviews and Focus-Group ... 91
Abbreviations
GM ………..GM
IoT………...………..…….Internet of Things
EB………...………...…….……….Environmental Business
ESG………..………environmental, social, governance
GWB………...………..Global Well-being
1
1
Introduction
The purpose of this part is to introduce the reader to what will be covered in the chapter.
This is presented at the beginning of each chapter and is adapted to reflect the content of
the chapter.
1.1 Background
“Organizations, governments, and consumers are all taking steps to ‘‘green’’ their lives.
Yet, the question remains: has the green commodity become a viable option in
mainstream society?”(Prothero et al., 2010, p. 148).
As the world's population increases, the requirement for services and goods also grows.
Related to this is the risk of environmental degradation. This includes many aspects such
as climate change, increased pollution, and other difficulties. Companies, every public
institution, and every citizen are therefore in an ambivalent situation, as they have an
impact on the environment through their ecological footprint (Vilkaite-Vaitone &
Skackauskiene, 2019). Associated, the growth of green thinking and the approach towards
Environmental Business (EB) has forced the industry to go one step further to
environmental protection (Peattie & Crane, 2005). Due to the industrial revolution,
constantly growing industrial activities are expected, which are increasing the
environmental impact. To save the world, it is essential to develop a preventive approach,
such as Green Marketing (GM) (Yu-Shan, 2008). The marketing mix elements, including
price, product, distribution channel, and promotion can be planned and performed
effectively to have a smaller impact on the environment (Leonidou et al., 2013).
Within the last few years, GM has experienced a major trend and has taken an essential
position in research as the concern about the environment is rising (Kasliwal & Khan,
2016). Nevertheless, the matter of the development, possible advantages, and
conceptualization of GM stays a current and remarkable area in management studies. The
development of GM is stimulated by the problematic increase in consumption and
positive attitudes concerning eco-friendly products. GM involves sustainability,
environmental friendliness, and social conscience (Vilkaite-Vaitone & Skackauskiene,
2019). To stay competitive and up-to-date companies should include global well-being
2
(GWB) in their marketing strategy. Companies have a responsibility to change something
and as the demand for sustainability will increase more and more products from such a
company will be preferred by the customers (Vilkaite-Vaitone & Skackauskiene, 2019).
Another influential shift in gaining GWB is Industry 5.0. Based on Gabriel’s statement
(2021) innovation will continue to evolve. To remain competitive, the European industry
should redevelop. The importance of this development shows the need to invest in the
future to create a new normal through a more sustainable, competitive, and
environmentally friendly industry (Gabriel, 2021). This includes agreements such as the
European Green Deal (BDI, 2021). The European Union's goal is to become the first
climate-neutral continent in the world. As a result, the economy should not only be
transformed, but also be updated. Digital, as well as green transformation, requires new
technologies. The vision of Industry 5.0 acknowledges the ability of associate degree
industry to attain social group goals on the far side growth and jobs, by creating
production esteem the limitations of the planet and putting the well-being of the industry
and the employee at the middle of the manufacturing process (Gabriel, 2021). From this,
it can be concluded that Industry 5.0 as well as GM are able to support EB processes.
Conclusively, the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us how important it is to act in terms
of current approaches and ways of working. A purposeful productive approach is needed
to rethink the economy (Breque, et al. 2021). Accompanying the digital transformation
becomes more and more important in times of COVID-19, as the digitalization has a
significant role in terms of sustainability (Winarsih et al., 2021).
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1.2 Problematization and Purpose
The current state of the literature covers plenty of research on GM and the necessity for
companies to implement “green” strategies. Most recent research outlines the advantages
GM has on the current market, especially to meet customers’ expectations on product
purchasing and to stay relevant on the competitive market (Purwanti et al., 2019). Since
environmental issues got more important within the society and awareness on this matter
increased, companies already take action to contribute and to prevent environmental
harm. While they are starting to “green” their operational processes they mostly focus on
the visible outcomes, like the product, which is more considered as trend movement
(Ottman, 2011).
Parallel to this drive, digital processes start to develop with the prospect to contribute to
likewise social and GWB, namely the Industry 5.0. This movement aims towards a similar
direction as GM does, in particular, to integrate sustainable processes for the greater good
(Garg, 2015). So, we can expect a connection between sustainable or greening processes
integrated with technological attributes in the future.
Companies have already started to adapt their processes to a “greener” version to reduce
environmental harm as much as possible and integrate environmental concerns into their
business operations. When companies begin to get “greener” within their business,
marketing is one of the most powerful ways to get attention and to raise awareness among
different stake- and shareholders (Abdalmuttaleb Musleh et al., 2019). Such a strong tool
should be used in a correct and effective way, in fact when it comes to GM. The
communication processes between companies and their audience should be implemented
wisely and expediently. There is no sense if companies start new ways within their
business, but customers do not feel involved to share and spread their mission or in the
worst scenario, do not believe them (Abdalmuttaleb Musleh et al., 2019). Therefore, to
remain relevant on the market, the constant progress on innovation during daily
businesses has become more important than ever to every company, likewise for internal
and external communications. The research identified that for long-existing companies it
is sometimes more difficult to change and reshape their operating processes what increase
challenges and pressure. If they fail, smaller, recently established innovative companies
will replace them, and there are plenty of them (Schlosberg & Coles, 2016; Sony &
Ferguson, 2017; Viswanathan & Varghese, 2018).
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Not enough research has been conducted yet to give companies an actual direction and
outlook on how they can approach and participate in the current changes and the coming
age of Industry 5.0. The question arises: How can companies best combine the aspect of
a greener environment with new possibilities of superior new technologies in respect of
understanding and meeting the relevant customers’ needs?
Due to the upcoming growths and movements, the study shows high relevance in order
to outline and connect current developments with future expectations on companies
within the new age, namely the Industry 5.0. GM, environmental health, new
technologies, customized content, and innovation are all key terms that have to be put
into context and their future significance must be made understandable. Both, competitive
advantage and economic growth are the reasons why companies need to understand how
they will stay relevant in the market (Aslam et al., 2020).
The main aim and purpose of the study is to elaborate under which considerations GM
can be successfully implemented by businesses in respect of the changing environmental
processes lead by Industry 5.0 and the associated movement towards EB and GWB. To
complete the study and to connect our findings, we will develop a framework.
1.3 Research Gap
As discussed in the beginning GM turns into a fundamental instrument to create a
sustainable strategy, various companies are already implementing GM. Nevertheless, not
all organizational aspects have been considered so far to become a truly green company.
There is therefore a need to implement a holistic integrated analysis approach (Papadas
et al., 2017). Furthermore, there are currently rare empirical studies on the development
of GM practices. This brings about the necessity of more complex and critical analyses
of GM practices (Fuentes, 2015).
Finally, reflected critically it can be said, that much of what happens using the term GM
has sometimes very little to do with marketing or the environment. Research on how GM
can be successfully implemented as a strategy was already started in Industry 4.0
(Purwanti et al., 2019). In general, to implement GM, it is necessary to project one's
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values, empathize with the customer, and internalize nature and the employees as well as
other stakeholders (Ottman, 2011).
To fill the previously cited gap, this study evaluates the process of preferred EB strategies
accomplished by GM and Industry 5.0.
1.4 Research Question
Due to the complexity of the subject, the study introduces the following two research
questions, which will guide through the research:
Q1: How will the concept of GM and Industry 5.0 contribute to environmental
businesses?
Q2: How can environmental business be achieved within a company without running the
risk of greenwashing?
1.5 Delimitation
Research about GM and sustainability behavior within business processes has started for
a long, yet the trend towards increased implementation can be observed, which is largely
driven by an enlightened environmental policy. Accordingly, companies are driven to
progressively incorporate the topic of GWB into their processes. Because of this
significant role for the future, this study pays special attention to an impending link
between current GM actions and the new age, Industry 5.0, that is predicted to build on
this movement. The intention is hereby to find out to what extent this can be realized and
what challenges may occur. The thesis examines on this matter only the European market
by focusing particularly on the area of marketing.
1.6 Disposition
This study is clustered into six chapters that address the following subjects:
Chapter 1 – Introduction, this chapter includes the general overview consisting of
background, problem and purpose discussion, the research questions, and delimitations.
Chapter 2 – the Theoretical Framework, reviews the literature starting with
Environmental Business followed by Green Marketing and its definition, the Three R’s
of sustainability approach, GM Mix, Three Pillars of GM, Greenwashing, the term
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Sustainability and Global Well-being and its connection to GM and the definition and
introduction of Industry 5.0.
Chapter 3 – the Methodology, starts with the research approach, the strategy, the
sampling approach, the data collection and concludes with the ethical
considerations plus trustworthiness.
Chapter 4 – Empirical Findings: this chapter is committed to the presentation of the data
collected within the empirical primary research.
Chapter 5 – Analysis and Discussion: This chapter mainly discusses and analyses the
interpretation of new findings combined with the literature.
Chapter 6 – the Conclusion provides impulses on future research and recommendations
7
2
Theoretical Framework
The purpose of this chapter is to provide the theoretical background of the topic of future
implementations and developments within Industry 5.0. The first part defines shortly
environmental business and demonstrates existing knowledge about the movement of GM
and sustainability while the second part provides predictions about the future Industry
5.0 and its coming changes within businesses and society.
2.1 Definition of key concepts
2.1.1 Environmental Business
EB describes the actions, developments and concepts that contribute to businesses
concerning environmental aspects. Besides EB the term sustainable business is present in
literature, as well (Scott, 2013). In general, both describe the concept to merge economics
with environmental concerns to maintain a healthy environment. Such businesses try to
find ways to act eco-friendly while staying profitable on the market with a low carbon
footprint. Martínez Hernández et al. (2021) stated that several environmental goals are
“[…] combating climate change, ensuring clean water, and conserving and responsibly
using ocean’s resources” (Martínez Hernández et al., 2021, p. 507). Several studies also
exposed that proactive environmental activities lead to superior business performances
for companies, that allows companies to gain for instance competitive advantages
(Davidson & Worrell, 2001; Pratima & Iain, 2004). However, Darnall et al. (2008) raised
the question whether organizations with institutional pressures towards environmental
commitment benefit likewise as organizations encouraged by their resources and abilities.
The implementation of EB also requires a well thought-out concept, which can, for
example, be documented by companies with so-called action plans to improve
performances from the beginning (Darnall et al., 2008). Evidently, the literature does not
yet provide a broader spectrum and variety of EB definitions and explanations. It can be
assumed that this term is also part of the common knowledge.
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2.1.2 Green Marketing
Over the years 2000-2020, a steady increase in the articles including GM can be observed,
which is illustrated in the following diagram
1.
GM can be seen as a relevant paradigm in marketing literature. The term is largely
debated and can be described as a holistic and complete approach (Polonsky, 1994). There
is not just one type of GM but several (Grant, 2007). The idea of GM appeared
in the
1970 and can be described as a multidimensional construct (Peattie & Crane, 2005). GM
covers more than a firm's marketing claims. While firms must bear much of the
responsibility for environmental degradation, ultimately it is consumers who demand
goods and thus create environmental problems (Polonsky, 1994). GM can be defined as
an organization’s commitment to strategic, tactical, and operational marketing activities
and processes with an integrated goal of delivering, creating, and communicating
products with low impacts on the environment (Cherian & Jacob, 2012). Nevertheless,
GM encompasses much more than the concept of traditional marketing and is suitable for
diverse products, for example, consumer goods, industrial products as well as services
1
* Adapted from Science direct, 2021. These statistics are not meaningful. Only one
data platform was used and relevant and also non-relevant might not or might have been
included or committed. In addition, year 2021 is not included, as it is not a whole year.
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 2 0 0 2 2 0 0 3 2 0 0 4 2 0 0 5 2 0 0 6 2 0 0 7 2 0 0 8 2 0 0 9 2 0 1 0 2 0 1 1 2 0 1 2 2 0 1 3 2 0 1 4 2 0 1 5 2 0 1 6 2 0 1 7 2 0 1 8 2 0 1 9 2 0 2 0
Articles increase from 2000-2020
Articles
Figure 1
9
(Vilkaite-Vaitone & Skackauskiene, 2019). GM promises profits in both the ecological
and commercial sectors (Grant, 2007).
GM usually involves the ecoligisation of various aspects adapted to traditional marketing.
In the first place, however, the management strategy to increase sales is considered and
then the actual GM comes in second place. Various dimensions can be considered within
GM, including the political, economic, and technical dimensions (Kilbourne, 1998). It is
used to achieve differentiation and gain a competitive advantage (Purwanti, I., et al. 2019)
likewise to upsurge the competitive advantage and to stick out from the crowd (Petan,
2020). Through the implementation of GM environmental benefits arise (Mishra &
Sharma, 2014; Papadas et al., 2017). Some authors (Leonidou et al., 2013; Ottman, 2011)
refer to the GM mix a whole, however as reported by Thapa & Verma (2014), GM
includes alone the act of sale. Moreover, numerous authors (Ahmadzadeh et al. 2017 &
D’Souza et al. 2015) state that GM is encompassed exclusively as strategic efforts.
The primary purpose of GM can be defined as the conscious presentation of
environmental protection in the context of product consumption to consumers. The focus
lays on building a relationship that lasts long on equally in terms of communication with
customers and with additional stakeholders by causing the natural desire to care for the
environment. Thus, not only is the environment saved, but also a powerful marketing
strategy is built (Purwanti et al., 2019).
GM involves the creation of complex practices in which the company and its products
have a transparent and clearly defined purpose. Therfore, companies and other
corporations play a much more dynamic role in advertising green products than is
portrayed in the literature (Fuentes, 2015).
According to various authors, the development of GM can be divided into three following
phases: ‘ecological, environmental and sustainable’ phase (Mishra & Sharma, 2014;
Papadas et al., 2017). The first phase (ecological) includes the implementation of a
marketing strategy to reduce environmental issues. The focus was on the main polluters
in the first place (Henion & Kinnear, 1976). However, no meaningful outcome could be
achieved in this phase (Peattie, 2001). Followed by the second (environmental) phase,
whereas GM deals besides ecological problems with other topics like clothing and
10
tourism. Within this phase, customers showed doubt towards the green initiative, and
companies were confronted with the challenge of ensuring the environmental friendliness
of the product and features. In order to implement environmental marketing further
management and marketing strategies are compulsory. Related to green products is a
credible effective communication (Ottman, 1993). Furthermore, a decline can be
observed after an initial boom in the 1990s, which is when green concerns were
considered more as a cost item and a restriction than a marketing role (Papadas et al.,
2017). Moreover, the phase is distinguished by the attribute of socio-ecological
governance, which can help companies gain competitive advantages. There is also a
strong understanding of global issues namely halting biodiversity and climate change
(Peattie, 2001).
The sustainable phase started in the 2000s and is characterized by an increasing focus on
the needs of product consumption, which should have a minor effect on the environment.
To create a sustainable economy, there is a need to take radical marketing measures to
reduce the environmental costs of consumption and production (Peattie, 2001). GM plays
a central role in the sustainable phase. Companies in a variety of sectors start to implement
the concept of sustainable marketing, which includes an orientation to achieve future
concepts and justice as well as needs orientation
(Katrandjiev, 2016). According
Vilkaite-Vaitone and Skackauskiene (2019) the „Analysis of the evolution of GM proves that this
orientation has matured over the past six decades. There is no doubt that GM is still
evolving, so there exists a probability that soon GM orientation will overrun the
boundaries of sustainable phase “(Vilkaite-Vaitone & Skackauskiene, 2019, p. 55).
According to Ottman (2011) and her 20 new rules of GM, the turnaround of new
marketing strategy encourages innovation in services and products, which enable greater
consumer value and strengthen the brand as well as the company. The environment can
be seen as a kind of investment that leads to positive success. However, a comprehensive
life cycle approach is imperative. This means, that it is not enough to only include
individual attributes such as "organic" or "recyclable" (Ottman, 2011). In conclusion,
implementing a GM strategy comes with many advantages like a stronger bond with the
customer, higher profits, accomplishment of companies aims, increasing the competitive
advantage, lower costs, improvement of the brand reputation, and in general improving
the environmental impact and awareness (Vilkaite-Vaitone & Skackauskiene, 2019).
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2.1.3 Greenwashing
Greenwashing defines the term of misleading the consumer about certain environmental
procedures as well as environmental benefits
(Parguel et al. 2011, Whellams, 2018). It
means that companies use allegations that only seem environmentally friendly, but
actually are unclear and untruthful (Nancy, 2010). Greenwashing has its origin in 1980,
where the term has gained high attention over time in terms of exaggerated claims about
environmental friendliness or sustainability so that the company can increase its market
share (Dahl, 2010). Companies quickly run the risk of using greenwashing because they
want to present themselves to consumers as more environmentally friendly to gain their
commitment (Laufer 2003). Moreover, with the increased portrayal of companies as
environmentally friendly, accusations of greenwashing are also increasing. Today, the
term refers to all corporate activities (Whellams, 2018).
Greenwashing in a corporate context can become very problematic as companies portray
themselves as overly environmentally friendly when this is not the case (Nancy, 2010).
The misleading and exaggerated presentation can lead to false hopes of environmental
friendliness towards consumers and government regulators. In addition, greenwashing
can lead to a situation where, if one company succeeds with its strategy, others will also
engage in greenwashing (Whellams, 2018). Therefore, Greenwashing should be a
concern to all parties. Firstly, the consumer must know what is going on and should think
thoughtfully about certain companies. Policymakers should enable certain regulations and
rules with the purpose of discouraging companies from engaging in false advertising or
threatening them with penalties (Whellams, 2018). However, according to Ottman
(2011), consumers are already increasingly aware that it is not the intention of many
companies to protect the environment. The industry is responsible for some of the highest
levels of pollution. Increasingly, consumers are not blaming the industry itself, but the
marketers who develop the strategies. Besides, it is almost impossible for a product or
company to become entirely green through the consumption of energy and resources
(Ottman, 2011).
Furthermore, greenwashing is reinforced by the internet and the media as various
communities, websites and blogs emerge to discuss greenwashing and GM (Ottman,
2011). Due to the increased distrust of green products, there is a danger of the market
12
being destroyed by greenwashing (Polonsky et al. 2010). All in all, greenwashing is the
omission of an environmental ingredient.
Nevertheless, according to Ottman (2011), there are five strategies to avoid
greenwashing:
1. Walk your talk
2. Be transparent
3. Don’t mislead
4. Enlist the support of third parties
5. Promote responsible consumption’ (Ottman, 2011).
Moreover, companies must specify the origin of the green consumer misunderstanding.
This can help reduce the risk of being accused of greenwash and build green trust
(Yu-Shan & Ching-Hsun, 2013).
2.1.4 Sustainability and Global Well-being
Within the development of the research, sustainability and GWB are both terms
concerning EB. It is important for a holistic understanding of this research to clarify on
those terms, even if they are also considered as common knowledge. By promoting
sustainability, GWB is considered as aim of all the ecological actions. Hence, GWB is a
term summarizing equal wellbeing of nature, people and place (Graham, 2018). Further,
it describes the condition of community, nature and the government being in harmony.
GWB is consisting of multiple constructs, like a satisfying way of life, or positive
emotions and wants to turn social inequality, environmental degradation and political
freedom into a healthy and completing together. GWB is important for individuals
especially within the process of self-realization which stimulates positive social
interactions, and evokes effects like empathy, productivity and engagement. General
satisfaction thus describes the aim that the term GWB elucidates (Diener et al., 2020).
As it is detailed in the prior chapters GM portrays in its communication processes
environmental and socially relevant concerns. The movement of the Green Consumer
started in the late 80’s and simply embodied the concept of a proactive movement to
prevent environmental harm by shaping consumption and production behaviour. This
brings about the concept of the GM strategy, a way or possibility for companies to engage
13
and contribute to environmental matters. Besides global warming, carbon offset, the
carbon footprint, a healthy lifestyle, and socially responsible investments, sustainability
is one part of interest within GM (Peattie, 2001; Soler, 2010). One of the various
definitions of sustainability is that it describes the “[…] development that meets the needs
of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own
needs” (WCED, 1987). GM can also be understood as trigger for ecologic activities. GM
strategies are therefore a “[…] response to the challenge of advancing simultaneously in
economic development and environmental protection […]” (Kinoti, 2011, p. 265).
Sustainability is an aim in the consumer's purchasing process as long as the fundamental
expectations of the several products are realized. GM is not selling sustainability but more
an educational message to meet the consumer's expectations towards the worsening
environmental changes by appealing to their self-interest, for example how they can keep
their health and contribute to the greater good for a clean and healthy future. Hence, GM
forms a strong statement about sustainability and leads the communication processes
while companies are starting to incorporate sustainability in their business models
(Viswanathan & Varghese, 2018). However, when the price and quality of green products
suffer compared to ordinary products, most of the consumers will still decide on the
competitive one. Within the GM communication, sustainability comprises mainly the use
of natural resources (Scott, 2013). Pollution and waste should therefore be only as high
as the environment is able to absorb without any long-term consequences (Moro &
Holzer, 2020). Since most of the consumption and production procedures are identified
as environmentally harmful, companies, the government, and environmental societies tied
together to elaborate on future sustainable concepts. GM is the tool for companies to take
action and to get connected by communication to their audience. They can do it for
example by selling a product packaging consisting of natural substances instead of plastic,
or they can use solar-/wind energy during their production and delivery processes. In fact,
improvements in sustainability processes may be taken into consideration as a structured
variable of GM, because it makes a speciality of mission all advertising actions at the
same time as protecting the environment (Kinoti, 2011).
New developed technologies also contribute in the future to reduce waste and pollution.
The so-called “Clean Technology” is the first movement towards the age of Industry 5.0
where the thesis will elaborate on in the following more in-depth (Ottman, 2011a; Peattie,
2001).
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2.1.5 The 3 R’s of helping to approach Sustainability
As GM includes mainly the idea of shaping processes towards more sustainable
businesses, the 3 R’s comprise the concept of “[…] reducing the amount of human imprint
on the planet” (Viswanathan & Varghese, 2018, p. 3; Chawla & Rajaram, 2016). The 3
R’s are explicitly reduce, reuse and recycle and give direction in helping to approach
sustainability in different ways (Chawla & Rajaram, 2016). With the rising world
population, a massive increase in consumption goes hand in hand. Strong influencing and
obtrusive marketing messages drive consumers towards overconsumption habits.
Massive production and massive consumption need to be reduced if the world is to be
more sustainable. Therefore, reducing consumption is a first start to drive manufacturers
towards more sustainable products and processes. This a good way to extend current short
product lifecycles again and give quality more relevance than quantity (King et al., 2006;
Viswanathan & Varghese, 2018).
Higher production and consumption come along with a huge amount of waste which
harms not only our environment but also threatens the health of every human being.
Toxins reach groundwater stock which is also a limited resource, oceans are filled with
plastic, and methanide released into the fresh air. The earth is in unbalance because more
waste is produced as it is able to absorb. The contribution of everybody is needed to give
a little caution about ways that allow us to reduce our average amount of waste. That is
mainly the idea behind recycling processes. Only the elimination of for example plastic
is not an effective long-term solution, because this has become a part of modern society
(Hopewell et al., 2009). Rather the idea of replacement and alternatives develop a
long-term sustainable solution (Jefferson et al., 2009; Viswanathan & Varghese, 2018).
To work against the upcoming throwaway society, the movement of reusing the amount
of waste the world produced so far would be the next step to prevent further damages to
our world. Things that are too good to go may have another use at another place. There
are plenty of innovative and creative ways to avoid throwaways unnecessary waste (King
et al., 2006; Viswanathan & Varghese, 2018).
2.1.6 Industry 5.0
An industrial revolution is understood as profound changes in technological progress that
have an impact on individuals and entire social groups. In retrospect, the history of the
industry can be divided into four different stages of development. These are Industry 1.0,
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Industry 2.0, and Industry 3.0. The fourth industrial evolution takes place in the 21st
century (Vinitha et al., 2020). The first industrial revolution, or Industry 1.0, took place
at the end of the 18th century by steam power and the mechanization of production. For
example, simple spinning wheels, which were used to produce threads, were replaced by
a mechanical version moment (Vinitha et al., 2020). The second industrial revolution
began at the beginning of the 20th century with mass production based on the division of
labour using electrical energy (Deppe, 2020). The idea behind this came from Henry Ford,
who adapted the processes of mass production from a slaughterhouse in Chicago (Wrick,
2017). The third industrial revolution, or Industry 3.0, began in the 1970s and was
characterized by information technology (IT), and automation. The use of human labour
from the series production introduced in the second industrial revolution was increasingly
taken over by the use of machines and robots (Vinitha et al., 2020). The term Industry 4.0
stands for the fourth industrial revolution and can be traced back to the first national IT
summit of the German government in 2006 at the Hasso Plattner Institute in Potsdam
(Kagermann & Leukert, 2015). This is characterized by the application of information
and communication technologies (ICT), and builds on the third industrial revolution
(Vinitha et al., 2020). The core element of Industry 4.0 is the linking of products and
processes via the internet and the networking of systems along the entire value chain
(Deppe, 2020). However, Industry 4.0 does not focus on the environmental sustainability
of production systems, this linkage has yet to take place (Erol, 2016).
The upcoming age, namely Industry 5.0 and the related Society 5.0 is embossed by
technological growths and globalization processes on a human-centered perspective
which is mainly expressed through innovation to keep competitive advantages and
economic progression high (Aslam et al., 2020). While the importance of robots and
artificial intelligence is constantly growing, likewise augmented reality, the Internet of
Things (IoT), innovative ecosystems, and smart societies describe the idea towards
human-machine-centered interactions (Aslam et al., 2020; Breque et al., 2021;
Nahavandi, 2019). According to Aslam (2020) while Industry 4.0 is mainly fixated on
productional improvements, “[…]Industry 5.0 is more focused on combining human
brainpower and creativity, keeping sustainability and ambidexterity in mind” (Aslam et
al., 2020). Furthermore, Industry 5.0 is not only aiming for increasing profits or
maintaining cost efficiency within businesses by adopting innovative technologies, but it
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also includes the aspect of an increase of prosperity including the society, workers,
investors, and most important for this research the environment. Therefore, within
Industry 5.0 societal, social, and environmental parts are considered to ensure GWB
(Breque et al., 2021). This starts already with the “greening” of various processes which
are already visible in GM activations. The table below gives an overview of the evolution
of the different ages of Industry.
Table 1
Evolution from Industry 1.0 to Industry 5.0
Note adapted from (Aslam et al., 2020)
Still, there are some obstacles and problems concerning the implementations of future
business models, due to the multiplicity of innovations and the increase of interconnected
devices (Aslam et al., 2020). In order to make innovation implementable, it must be
user-centered, financially viable, and marketable. For example, IoT devices should meet user
needs by implementing technological advancements (Nahavandi, 2019). Based on that,
Aslam points out that “[…] with the emergence of IoT and Industry 5.0 concepts, the
proper alignment of enterprise model (business model) and information systems, together
with the alignment of physical and cyberspace, is very important for making innovation”
(Aslam et al., 2020).
2.1.7 Green Deal
Whilst the new age, Industry 5.0 is involved in environmental businesses and this research
is focusing on developments of GM, the term Green Deal needs to be explained in context.
The Green Deal is a concept created by the EU commission in order to reduce and prevent
17
environmental degradation in the long run (European Commission, 2019). Their main
aim is to stop the entire greenhouse gases by 2050 and shape the European economy
towards resource-efficient, modern, and competitive with the main aim of a sustainable
European economy.
An action plan was created which informs about required investments to process the
transition that targets towards:
• Investments in eco-friendly technologies
• Supporting the industry to enhance innovation
• Cleaner public/private transport availabilities
• Energy-efficient buildings
• International partnerships to improve global environmental standards
These measures are intended to promote the efficient use of resources in order to establish
a clean economy and to efficiently reduce pollutions (Bundenkanzleramt, 2021). The
implementation of a European climate law is the first step to advance these proposed
developments properly. The Green Deal is further described as a strategy for the societies’
needs to shape their living and working habits to produce and consume healthier in the
future. Commissioner President Ursula von der Leyen estimated within her speech in
2019, while introducing the Green Deal strategy that high investments are necessary to
realize the aims of this project, in particular investments in the economy and its future
development (European Commission, 2019). The figure below summarizes the goals of
the European Green Deal.
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Figure 2
The European Green Deal
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2.2 Presentation of the core models
2.2.1 The GM Mix
When a company decided to start a greener business, they need to be aware that
implementing GM strategies is a process or philosophy that covers and incorporates all
departments of a company. The differences between GM and traditional marketing should
be distinctly and portrayed by using suitable and long-term GM activities with high
commitment. The best way to do so is by converting the traditional Marketing Mix to the
GM Mix including product, price, placement, and promotion. In addition, GM activities
should be presented not only to a companies’ current customers but also to new customers
to enlarge market profits (Ottman, 2011; Padhy & Vishoni, 2015). Within the GM Mix,
all components must be coordinated properly and overlap with one another to prove
consistency and trustworthiness towards the receiver of GM messages (Leonidou et al.,
2013; Ottman, 2011). In fact, Padhy and Vishoni (2015) stress the importance to maintain
honest and transparent communication to increase identification of the brand as well as
to strengthen trust between brand and consumer (Padhy & Vishoni, 2015).
Green Products are characterized by long-term usage with a high rate of sustainability
(Ottman, 2011). The resources used for the respective product should also guarantee
quality and relevance on the market. It is also the company's responsibility to display the
information about the green product in its packaging to make it trustworthy for the
customer (Fraj & Martinez, 2006). Therefore, the product itself, the packaging, and design
should be made up upon the concept of the 3 R’s (reduce, reuse, recycle) and present
clearly identifiable features regarding sustainability for the customer (Purwanti et al.,
2019). Every product is the visible tangent for the customer that connects him directly
with the brand and acts more like a tool than as identification (Fuentes, 2015). For this
reason, the product is the outcome of a company’s position towards sustainability
(Cătălina et al., 2015; Leonidou et al., 2013; Vilkaite-Vaitone & Skackauskiene, 2019).
Green Prices
are always expected to be higher than for regular products. The higher the
price for a special product or service, the higher the expectations of quality and usability.
For Green Products, consumers are eager to pay extra money due to the perception of
higher benefits regarding the environmental impact. On the contrary, they must also show
manifestly benefits for the customer over the traditional product alternative, resembling
performance, usability, taste, or attractive shape. If companies fail on that the risk of a
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significant decrease of trustworthiness and relevance comes along that could harm the
image of the brand and their communications purposes. In short: high prices lead to high
class (Ottman, 2011).
Green Places include all the distribution, production, and consumption places where the
company is involved. The greening of places includes mainly reducing emissions that
occur when it comes to transportation of the products or in manufacturing fabrics
(Vilkaite-Vaitone & Skackauskiene, 2019). In fact, the idea of a greener supply chain is
one of the main drivers where sustainable processes still need to be improved
Vilkaite-Vaitone (2019) mentions Adidas as an example that removes within their supply chain
virgin plastics. It seems likely that in this area more potential is able to get revealed in the
future than it has been so far (Purwanti et al., 2019).
Green Promotion is the key to a successful GM Strategy. Benefits and actions a company
offer with their products should be portrayed clearly and accessible to the audience and
highlights the environmental aspects. Relevant information should be added to the
product directly and the communication tools should fit sustainable communications
(Vilkaite-Vaitone & Skackauskiene, 2019). For example, printed flyers or booklets can
be made from renewable materials or even replaced with online advertisements which
will be further expanded by new technologies and the coming age of Industry 5.0
(Cătălina et al., 2015; Vilkaite-Vaitone & Skackauskiene, 2019).
2.2.2 The 3 Pillars
Implementations of GM become an more and more important tool for many companies
mainly to meet their social responsibilities towards society and the environment
(Vilkaite-Vaitone & Skackauskiene, 2019). However, to meet the requirements many companies
interfere with obstacles and challenges within operationalization processes due to a lack
of practice and a concept for implementations (Papadas et al., 2017). The potential of GM
is theoretically high but practically limited and still lacking in holistic applied strategies
(Papadas et al., 2017). In order to arrange GM, Papadas (2017) introduces 3 pillars as a
construct of GM orientation. The core of the framework consists of strategic, tactical,
and internal GM and offers a multidimensional fundament towards implementation
processes. Likewise, Vilkaite-Vaitone (2019) outlines on the same thought the 3 pillars
strategic, tactical, and operational GM orientations. In connection to this approach, the
term Green Marketing Orientation (GMO) represents the firm’s environmental actions
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and connects the 3 Pillars with GM actions (Papadas et al., 2017). Figure 3 below
illustrates the three pillars.
Note: Adapted from (Papadas et al., 2017)
Strategic GM activities are defined as long-term actions which aiming to combine
corporate environmental targets with proactive environmental strategies towards external
stakeholders (Banerjee, 2002; Papadas et al., 2017). Partnerships and collaborations with
suitable companies or NGOs strengthen and expand environmental activities in the long
run. Furthermore, strategic GM is responsible for managing the cumulated green actions,
the clear identification of the relevant target market, and the realization of various green
promotions (Vilkaite-Vaitone & Skackauskiene, 2019) (Shi & Yang, 2018). As revealed
by Menon and Menon (1997), the idea of “entrepreneurial” marketing surrounds the
actions towards social responsibility to meet the expectations of relevant stakeholders
(Menon & Menon, 1997; Papadas et al., 2017). This strategy includes long-term
environmental activities mainly concerning sustainable business approaches concerning
internal processes (green logistics, eco-packaging) as well as market-oriented processes
(advertising, green-labelling) (Vilkaite-Vaitone & Skackauskiene, 2019). In contrast,
Figure 3
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Tactical GM is focused on short-term, respectively operational activities which mainly
represents the idea of shaping the traditional marketing mix into a greener version (Padhy
& Vishoni, 2015; Vilkaite-Vaitone & Skackauskiene, 2019). The same thought portrays
Vilkaite-Vaitone (2019) with his separated operational GM orientation. Besides gaining
the customers’ attention within daily business processes, social values and relevant
benefits must be added on different commercials (Vilkaite-Vaitone & Skackauskiene,
2019). The components product, price, placement, and promotion of the marketing mix,
will be adapted towards greener processes to encourage sustainability and environmental
changes by reducing pollution or saving energy and waste (Papadas et al., 2017).
Moreover, the 3 R‘s, as introduced in the last chapter, show here clear relevance and form
the basic principles in the development of green business processes in terms of
sustainability. Lastly, Papadas (2017) spends extra attention on the Internal GM
orientation that describes communications about environmental approaches and the
corporate green culture inside the company and its shareholder (Papadas et al., 2017).
Every organization needs to promote internal awareness between their employees
concerning their environmental contributions. Every company works from the inside out,
which underlines the necessity of internal employee involvement to reach high external
performance (Papadas et al., 2017). Employees will contribute to the values of the
company and even develop new skills and ideas to support the internal culture. It can be
said that in a top-managed company every member of the organization will share the same
vision and is working on sharing it with their environment.
2.2.3 Specifically developed theoretical framework
Based on the literature review we developed our own framework to illustrate the
interconnection between the single factors connecting and influencing the GM behavior
and the movement towards Industry 5.0. By constructing the framework, we evaluated
two main components/players, Industry 5.0 and EB as the general aim of a future
idealistic economy (Aslam et al., 2020; Breque et al., 2021; Martínez Hernández et al.,
2021). While we perceived GM and the Green Deal as affecting factors responsible for
enhancing the Industry 5.0 development, Industry 5.0 comprises more the concept of
shaping one’s business towards more environmental commitment. We also added
Greenwashing as a negatively influencing component raised through misleading GM
activities.
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Companies benefit from following that movement by staying relevant and competitive on
the market by adapting resource-efficient processes as a necessary step for the future
(Vilkaite-Vaitone & Skackauskiene, 2019). That progress is unavoidable and will be
intensified in the future. It can be predicted that the earlier a company starts to adjust their
business towards resource-efficiency, the more relevant and sustainable their existence
will be on the market in the future.
Figure 4
Own developed framework
Figure 5
Own developed framework
Figure 6
Own developed framework
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3
Methodology
The purpose of this chapter is to investigate the chosen scientific approach and methods
applied to evaluate the research questions and to unfold the research gap.
Own illustration
3.1 Philosophical Approach
To justify and maintain high standards in research quality, the development of the relevant
content is necessary. Towards a philosophical approach, the truth and reality of facts are
represented by research ontology that occupies the origin of reality and the truth (Bleiker
et al., 2019). Many researchers faced the question about the real truth and actual reality
which is built from “[…] psychological processes such as memories and beliefs, and
social factors, interactions and experiences” (Bleiker et al., 2019). According to
Deshpande (2018), the reality or assumptions people are making about the world within
the philosophy of science is defined as paradigms. They are seen as a tool to determine a
researcher towards his problems and operate as a guide to establish apt tools and methods
to solve the research problems (Deshpande, 2018).
Accordingly, two main philosophical positions developed to explain and categorize the
concept of research which is represented by different designations within the literature
through positivism and interpretivism/idealism/relativism/constructionism/hermeneutics
(Deshpande, 2018; Nunan, 2020; Rod, 2009; Saunders et al., 2016). A positivist is
described as a quantitative researcher who considers scientific and objective observations
and spends high concentration on reliability within the collection of data (Nunan, 2020).
Figure 8
25
In contrast, the interpretivist (idealist, relativist, constructionist) undertakes data
collection by integrating subjective existences and developments (Deshpande, 2018; Rod,
2009). The truth implies therefore the results of social interactions and sets its focus on
qualitative data (Bleiker et al., 2019).
This study intends to collect and interpret in-depth data from people who are facing the
necessity of a sustainable approach for future businesses (Bleiker et al., 2019). Therefore,
this study addresses a subjective reality approach by analyzing and interpreting
qualitative data. In this context, reality is defined as “[…]a projection of an individual’s
consciousness” (Chung & Alagaratnam, 2001) and the research results are surrendered
with a qualitative nature by collecting insights and experiences of social human beings
(Deshpande, 2018).
3.2 Research Approach
To develop successful research with relevant results, it was the first step to define the
actual marketing research problem (Nunan, 2020). Hereby it was important to evade
either a broad statement of the problem or a narrowed one (Nunan, 2020). It was rather
necessary to focus on the specific and relevant factors of the problem to preserve exact
guidelines on how to conduct the actual research best and to aim the purpose of the
research. The research problem which is defined in the introduction of this thesis was
supported within our literature review and the secondary data but still does not provide
the solution, it rather helped to understand and interpret the data we gained with the
primary research. Therefore, the primary research will enforce solutions to the actual
problem which will be made upon our defined research questions (Saunders et al., 2016).
While we decided to consult the interpretivist attitudes of research, the study was
constructed through an inductive approach of reasoning. This implies that the data and
the results were collected by their researchers without any preceding framework but
guided by the already mentioned two research questions (Ngozwana, 2018; Nunan, 2020;
Saunders et al., 2016). Hence a qualitative paradigm was constructed which paraphrases
subjective, holistic, inductive, observational, and process-oriented measurements
(Deshpande, 2018). The in-depth questioning methods allowed the students to generalize
a framework by getting perspectives and valuable data from relevant experts. By
26
analysing and interpreting the findings and outcomes at the end of their whole data
collection, the findings will be interconnected and lead towards a new framework (Nunan,
2020).
3.3 Research Strategy
Since this research was constructed to enrich current knowledge and recent observations
with new findings the students imply their research process by using qualitative methods
as they help on discovering, interpreting, and generating current and future developments
to infer on a new theory (Deshpande, 2018). For this qualitative type of study, various
research strategies were suitable including experiments, case studies, observations, or
interviewing (Nunan, 2020; Saunders et al., 2016). The latter was particularly interesting
for this research as it provided several techniques to interview people. Among
semi-structured, in-depth interviews and focus groups, the students linked semi-structured
interviews with focus groups. Semi-structured interviews used compared to in-depth
interview structured questions and specify an answer category (Nunan, 2020). This
method allowed to approach deeper in the underlying context of the research and provided
a great intensity of qualitative knowledge (Saunders et al., 2016). Nevertheless,
interviewing was strongly dependent on the interviewer's influence and ability to lead
target-oriented through the interview process. Another challenge was obtained by
analysing and adapting the data afterward. For this, the students developed a coding map
to structure the results and the gathered data properly. The combination of these two
methods was considered as an overarching possibility to gather enough valuable data to
solve the research questions and the lack of information in this area (Nunan, 2020).
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3.4 Research Design
Own illustration
In general, a research design can be classified by either a conclusive or exploratory
approach (Nunan et al., 2020). Referring to our chosen research approach of inductive
character, our research design was of exploratory nature. Exploratory research is mostly
used by researchers to approach their research problem without any prior data base. A
better understanding of the topic can be established, and data can be explored in more
depth (Saunders et al., 2016). Further, exploratory research can be executed by either
qualitative or quantitative style (Nunan et al., 2020). For this study a qualitative approach
of the relevant data was selected to collect in-depth data that is required to construct an
own framework at the end of our research.
3.4.1 Secondary Data Collection
The data was primarily collected as secondary data analysis, whereas the term refers to
the literature review. It was used to obtain a deeper knowledge of previous research, to
identify a gap in the literature (Snyder, 2019). Through an effective literature review as a
research method, a solid basis for theory development and the advancement of knowledge
was established (Webster & Watson, 2002). The approach of the literature review was an
integrative review, which aimed to analyze and synthesize the literature on a particular
topic so that new perspectives and theoretical frameworks could emerge (Torraco, 2016).
In the process of conducting a literature review, there were four phases to follow, ‘1.
Figure 9
28
