Chapter One
INTRODUCTION
1. 1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Environmental degradation concerns humanity and the other forms of life here on earth. Ironically, much of these are caused by humans. Modernization and urbanization have led to serious pollution. Industries, vehicles and the increase in population are majors factors that cause environmental degradation. Carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and chlorofluorocarbon (CFCs) have decreased the ability of the atmosphere to filter ultraviolet radiation. Climatic changes become evident as major cities worldwide become primary contributors of solid waste. Water pollution increases as an estimated 1.5 billion people lack safe drinking water and at least five million deaths per year are due to waterborne diseases. Sadly, although 70 percent of the planet is covered with water, much of these have become dumping grounds of waste. Raw sewage, garbage and oil spills dilute the ocean, polluting even coastal waters affecting the marine as well as human life that depend on it.
Different concepts have been introduced to combat environmental degradation. Consequently, with the determination to reduce pollution, people have become aware that most pollutants are basically their needs and wants. For instance, cars provide convenience for transportation; factories produce products varying from food to clothing, which are either necessities or for leisure; and fertilizers and pesticides increase the quantity and quality of production of crops; yet all of them emit gases that contribute to air pollution.
Moreover, the depletion of natural resources has taken its toll on the fragile environment. Countries require vast resources for economic activities as the demand for supplies have become greater and more complicated. These supplies range from water to fuel, from sand to wood, from aluminium to steel and from plastics to synthetic materials. The processes of extracting resources to produce these products have increased land degradation, changed natural habitats and polluted once pristine waters. The earth’s ability to sustain life and economic activity is now threatened by the way man extracts, processes, transports and disposes off a vast flow of resources.
According to the journal Nature, the earth’s ecosystem services value at an estimate of trillion a year (1999). This began to change the companies’ production methods and consequently, their marketing strategies. However, the number of new pro-environmental product introductions has raised concern among government officials and environmental groups. Products claiming to be safer for the environment have come under close scrutiny. Manufacturers using ambiguous terms such as biodegradable and recyclable may actually be misleading the public because everything eventually biodegrades; and recyclable means nothing for recycling can not be done in all areas. The overuse of terms like these have led to numerous attacks by government officials and pro-environmental groups on these supposedly environmentally-friendly corporations.
According to Environmental Action, these developments have led to consumer confusion. Consumers are unsure of which claims to believe and which claims not to. Consumers who wish to make a difference in the environment have to become smarter shoppers and fully examine not only product claims, but also have to become knowledgeable about the bigger issues, such as the reputation of the companies who manufacture those products. Some companies have tried to hide poor environmental performance by advertising pro-environmental activities, such as donations to pro-environmental organizations, or by modifying their operations in only one country, while continuing to harm the planet by polluting other countries.
Most people today believe that Green Marketing refers solely to the promotion of products with environmental characteristics. Phosphate Free, Recyclable, Refillable, Ozone Friendly, and Environment Friendly are terms being associated by consumers with Green Marketing. Generally, Green Marketing refers to ‘one that can be applied to consumer goods, industrial goods and even services. It incorporates a broad range of activities, including product modification, changes to the production process and packaging as well as modifying advertisement.’ (1994), defined green or environmental marketing as all activities designed to generate and facilitate any exchanges intended to satisfy human needs or, such that the satisfaction of these needs and wants occur with minimal detrimental impact on the natural environment.
While green marketing has taken the US and Europe by storm, consumers and marketers in Asia show few signs of jumping to the bandwagon. However, Japan is an exception, where eco-friendly slogans are celebrated on goods ranging from designer clothes and beer cans to gift wrapping in department stores. In other countries in Asia, environmental problems receive little attention as people concentrate more on economic development. Western ways have spread to Asia, changing old, environmentally sound traditions. The concepts of convenience and disposability — the very qualities which appeal to evolving consumer markets — have dangerous implications for the environment and its resources. ( September, 1991).
In Southeast Asian nations and in the other less developed Asian countries, spreading green product information is difficult. Advertisements in television, radio and newspapers are quite expensive. Furthermore, environmental regulations are also less comprehensive than in developed countries and the general population has a lower level of awareness in relation to environmental issues ( 1996).
In developing countries like Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines, the populace remains largely rural, poor and have minimal access to various media. Their consumers have less awareness on green goods, which lessens the capability to put pressure on retailers to carry environment-friendly products.
On the other hand however, market development in Southeast Asian countries present a good opportunity for market growth, with a regional population of over 500 million people. Once the economy recovers, personal income will increase hence, market segment is likely to be receptive to green products.
In the Philippines, based solely on observation of the laymen’s attitude towards the environment, one can say that the concern for the environment is not that extensive. Recycling garbage is limited only to certain households and organizations. It is common to see people throw their candy wrappers and cigarettes everywhere they please. And come typhoon season, the torrential rains will unearth tons of trash stashed away by the urban populace during the previous months causing flash floods and flood-related diseases.
With this mindset, it would be interesting then to investigate whether the average Filipino responds favorably or not to a company’s marketing campaign using the environment as its driving theme.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
This research is an attempt to find out if there is a relation between the marketing campaign of The Body Shop which has an environmentally friendly slant and the Filipino consumer’s purchasing decision in buying Body Shop products.
Specifically this study aims to determine:
a. )the demographic profiles of the respondents in terms of:
1) Age
2) Gender
3) Status
4) Income
5) Educational Background
b.) the attitude of the respondents toward The Body Shop products;
c.) the respondents’ frequency of buying Body Shop products;
d.) the level of satisfaction of the respondents toward The Body Shop products;
e.) the level of awareness of respondents on environmental problems;
f.) the factors affecting the respondent’s purchasing decision;
g) the effect of The Body Shop market campaign on respondents.
1.3 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
In order to determine if there is a relation between the novelty of a product and the producer’s market campaign, the factors affecting consumer’s purchasing decision must be determined. According to (2000), there are two factors affecting the consumer’s purchasing decisions : 1) the manufacturer’s reputation, and, 2) the product’s ingredients, packaging, and labelling. The idea of environmentalism is usually related to the second factor, which has the following considerations; the danger and damage the product could contribute to the environment, the product’s energy consumption during its manufacturing process, the use and disposal of the product and the materials used in processing the product. Figure 1 illustrates this framework which this study will use.
Figure 1. Conceptual Framework
The demography of respondents which includes the age, gender, status, income, and educational background would form the profile of the Body Shop customers. The dependent variables would be the customer’s level of environmental awareness, their frequency of purchase of The Body Shop products, their level of satisfaction towards The Body Shop product they purchased, and their prevailing attitude towards the marketing campaign of The Body Shop. The market reputation of The Body Shop, their marketing campaign, as well as their product’s ingredient, packaging and labelling would be treated as the independent variables. This relationship is shown in Figure 2.
Dependent Variables Independent Variables
Figure 2. The Independent and Dependent Variables of the Study
1.4 STATEMENT OF THE HYPOTHESES
1. Ho : There is no significant relationship between the independent variables and the consumer’s frequency of buying The Body Shop products.
H1 : There is a significant relationship between the independent variables and the consumer’s frequency of buying The Body Shop products.
2. Ho: There is no significant relationship between the independent variables and the level of satisfaction of respondents on The Body Shop products.
H1 : These is a significant relationship between the independent variables and the level of satisfaction of respondents on The Body Shop products.
3. Ho: There is no significant relationship between the independent variables and the attitude of respondents towards the marketing campaign of The Body Shop.
H1 : There is a significant relationship between the independent variables and the attitude of respondents towards the marketing campaign of The Body Shop.
4. Ho: There is no significant relationship between the level of environmental awareness of the respondent and respondent’s purchasing decision of a Body Shop product.
H1 : There is a significant relationship between the level of environmental awareness of the respondent and respondent’s purchasing decision of a Body Shop product.
5. Ho: There is no significant relationship between marketing campaign of The Body Shop and the respondent’s purchasing decision.
H1 : There is a significant relationship between the marketing campaign of the Body Shop and the respondent’s purchasing decision.
1.5 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
General Objective:
To discover whether the environment-friendly marketing campaign of The Body Shop affects their customer’s purchasing decision.
Specific Objectives:
a.) to collate the demographic profile of the respondents;
b.) to ascertain the level of awareness of the respondents on environmental problems;
b.) to establish the respondents’ frequency of buying The Body Shop products;
c.) to determine the level of satisfaction of the respondents towards The Body Shop products;
d) to illustrate the prevailing attitude of the respondents towards the marketing campaign of The Body Shop; and,
e.) to investigate whether there is a relation between the level of environmental awareness of the respondent and the respondents’ purchasing decision of a Body Shop product.
f.) to investigate whether there is a relation between the marketing campaign of The Body Shop and the respondents’ purchasing decision of a Body Shop product.
1.6 ASSUMPTIONS OF THE STUDY
The following assumptions are posed to support this study:
1) Environmental problems continues to rise, though people are aware of
environmental trends.
2) Due to prevailing economic conditions in the country, consumers
including the respondents have lower purchasing capability on
The Body Shop products.
3) People are aware of kinds of The Body Shop products because of its
marketing efforts.
4) Consumers have a positive attitude toward The Body Shop product so
they will purchase more.
1.7 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
This study will discover if the environment-friendly campaign of The Body Shop is the key factor in the purchasing decision of its Filipino customers. This study will try to show that The Body Shop’s use of the environment as the tagline in its marketing campaign is not an effective way of selling their products to their Filipino customers. Specifically, the researcher would like to show that Filipino consumers do not regard the product’s being environment-friendly as their main reason for buying the products of The Body Shop.
The study will focus only on the marketing campaign of The Body Shop. Since the store carries a complete line of beauty products, for this study’s purposes, only the shampoo line of The Body Shop will be used as the product to be studied. The researcher finds it unwieldy and difficult to make a survey for each of the product lines of The Body Shop. The researcher feels that shampoos are one of the more important items of purchase especially among Filipino women so the researcher has decided to use it for the study. Also, since the prices of the products of The Body Shop are a bit steep compared to similar products in the market, the researcher has decided to limit the respondents to young professional women working in Makati, with ages ranging from 20-32 years old. Understandably, since The Body Shop is primarily a beauty product, the respondents of the study will primarily be Filipino women.
Also, the researcher would also like to determine the level of awareness of the respondents on environmental problems, to see if it affects the purchasing decision of its customers.
1.8 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
Industry
In general, this study will furnish insights on how concerned the young, professional, Filipino women consumers are with regard to the issues involving the environment. Moreover, this study will help the beauty industry assess their marketing campaigns vis-a-vis the attitudes of their consumers towards such campaigns. More specifically, this study will provide the industry with the profile of its core customers, specifically the customers’ attitude towards green marketing. This study could be a good indicator whether consumers expect firms to jump on the green-bandwagon or not. It will serve as a benchmark for companies that want to improve their green marketing campaign as this study provides a framework for the environmental behaviour of consumers. As this study furnishes valuable information regarding the frequency of purchase, the attitude towards their marketing campaign, their level of satisfaction toward the products of The Body Shop and as a whole, the image of The Body Shop products to their young, professional, female consumers, this study would provide the company a better understanding of what goes on in the minds of its buyers when they purchase any of the company’s products. In the long run, they could use this as data for their future marketing campaigns and product positionings.
Society
Few academic disciplines have integrated green issues into literature as in the field of marketing. As society becomes more concerned with the natural environment, businesses have begun to modify their behaviour in an attempt to address society’s “new” concerns. Some businesses have been quick to accept concepts like environmental management systems and waste minimization, and have integrated environmental issues into all organizational activities.
This study would be significant to the society as it would provide information on the real nature of green marketing for consumers to better assess the products on the market. Furthermore, it would inform the society regarding environmental problems and encourage them to carry out solutions to these.
Academe
The study will be of significance to the academe as a reference for future studies on green marketing in the Philippines. The findings of the study will provide information on where consumer demands are heading. It will also provide insights about the subject to enhance classroom discussions in various institutions.
1.9 DEFINITION OF TERMS
Green Marketing incorporates a broad range of activities, including product modification, changes to the production process and packaging as well as modifying advertisement.
Green Products refers to products that are typically durable, non-toxic, and are made from recycled materials, or minimally packaged.
Environmental degradation refers to the destruction of environmental resources whether natural or man-made
Recycling means to pass again through a series of changes or treatments as a process (as liquid body waste, glass, or cans) in order to regain material for human use.
Animal testing is the use of animals to test the effects of products in experiments, studies, etc.
Green Consumers are those customers who utilizes goods that are environment- friendly and described as inconsistent, acting as a green consumer in one market, but not in another, cuts across existing market segments, sophisticated in wants and needs.
Manufacturer refers to the company producing environmentally sound products and makes ‘green’ market campaign.
Environmental Preservation refers to the cost of measure to conserve the resources
Market Reputation is the identity of the a company e. g. as green marketer, e-retailer
Environmental Behaviour refers to the attitude of consumer pertaining to or favoring the environment.
Customer Satisfaction is the perception as to whether the organization has met customer requirements. However, It is widely recognised in the customer satisfaction field that customers’ perceptions do not always conform with reality.
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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